How to Write a Novel: Conclusion
Writing is simple, but no one said it was easy.
If you’re feeling overwhelmed, remember the metaphor of the iceberg.
There are only a few things you need to get started, and you can learn all the hidden depths of the craft over the rest of your writing career.
What do you need to do right now to take the next step?
Go back to basics of story
Keep it simple. All you need is:
• A character
• In a setting
• Who has a goal
• And who has to overcome conflict on the way to achieving that goal while
• Someone or something tries to stop them.
• They either achieve their goal or fail
• And along the way, they go through some kind of transformation
If you’re lost in your novel, take a step back and distill it down to these things.
Go back to the basics of writing
Open a blank page in your notebook or on whatever device you write on.
Set a timer for five minutes.
Write.
Stay motivated
When I started writing fiction, I didn’t know any authors or even anyone who wrote. I worked my day job as an IT consultant, and I couldn’t talk about my creative dreams. It was lonely as I had no community.
I started listening to podcasts and audiobooks and I followed writers on Twitter, which was new back then. I read motivational self-help books and kept myself going with affirmations that I slowly turned into reality.
I still do these things, because we all need motivation to make it through the difficult times.
I have a cork board by my desk with quotes pinned on it. Here are a couple of them:
“Have you made art today? Have you written 1000 words? Are you a step closer?”
“Measure your life by what you create.”
“Trust emergence.”
“Huge shifts in ambition require huge shifts in behavior.”
You need to find ways of motivating yourself. Whatever works to keep yourself going.
I share more tips in The Successful Author Mindset, and you can join me every Monday on The Creative Penn Podcast, available on your preferred podcast app. I always share personal updates about my writing — including the difficulties! — as well as interviews and resources.
Don’t get distracted by publishing and book marketing
There is a lot of information out there on publishing and book marketing, and a great deal of advice about the best way to reach readers, sell more books, and make money as a writer. I have other books that cover those topics if you want to learn more.
But if you have not finished a first draft and self-edited your novel yet, ignore it all.
It is a distraction.
You have nothing to publish and nothing to market if you have no book.
Get back to writing and think about the rest of it later.
Write the next book
“When I ask you to write more books, I am urging you to do what will be for your own good and for the good of the world at large.”
—Virginia Woolf, A Room of One’s Own
Writers write.
We can’t help ourselves.
It’s how we discover what we think. It’s how we express ourselves. It’s how we help other people. It’s how we live.
Writing my first novel changed my life, although perhaps not in the way that I hoped!
I did not hit the bestseller lists and make millions. In fact, barely anyone even noticed when my first novel came out into the world.
But it freed my imagination, and I stepped into a new way of life. I held my first finished novel in my hand and I knew I could make it as a writer.
I had so many ideas for stories once I’d written that first one. The experience of writing opened the floodgates of creativity. I got the bug! Perhaps you will, too.
I wish you all the best with your novel. May it change your life.
Happy writing!
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You can download the questions, bibliography, and more resources at www.TheCreativePenn.com/writenoveldownload
If you’d like to work through the material in writing, you can find the print edition of How to Write a Novel: Companion Workbook at www.TheCreativePenn.com/writenovelworkbook
