How to write a novel

How to writing a novel is easy. Writing a good novel is hard. That\'s just life. If it were easy, we\'d all be writing best-selling, prize-winning fiction.

Frankly, there are a thousand different people out there who can tell you how to write a novel. There are a thousand different methods. The best one for you is the one that works for you.

In this article, I\'d like to share with you what works for me how to writing a novel. I\'ve published six novels and won about a dozen awards for my writing. I teach the craft of writing fiction at writing conferences all the time. One of my most popular lectures is this one: How to write a novel using what I call the "Snowflake Method."

This page is the most popular one on my web site, and gets hundreds of page views per day, so you can guess that a lot of people find it useful. But you may not, and that\'s fine by me. Look it over and see How to writing a novel, decide what might work for you, and ignore the rest! If it makes you puke, I won\'t be insulted. Different writers are different. If my methods get you rolling, I\'ll be happy. I\'ll make the best case I can for my way of organizing things, but you are the final judge of what works best for you. Have fun . . . with learning on how to write a novel!

First you need to come up with an idea. You can try reading other books, watching movies, listening to music, etc. For inspiration, or just wait until that perfect idea "hits" you. The best ideas come when you aren\'t trying to think of anything.
Write down all your ideas for characters, events, places, or anything else. Later you can reference this list when you are ready to begin writing.
Decide what you want your book to be about. At this point you just need to know the basics. Who will the main characters be and what will they try to accomplish.
Think of a setting for your novel. Choose the year, the genre, and other "beginning details."
Create your protagonist. Remember, the protagonist is not always the "good guy," they\'re simply the main character; they are the person your story is about. Make sure you create an original and believable character. To be believable, they need to have a past, fears, hopes, dreams, and desires, family, job/family troubles, friends, associates, and a present
Develop your plot. Is your protagonist trying to accomplish a goal? What steps do they need to take to get there how to write a novel? This is called the main conflict. What is the problem? Does trying to solve it create more problems? Plot advancement. Is your protagonist going to be a different person by the end of the book? Make sure your plot ties in with the theme of the book and leaves lots of wiggle room for things you might want to change later.
Create your supporting characters and antagonist. They should all have an important role in the book, or be part of the scenery. Don\'t include people that don\'t move the story along in roles with lots of action or dialogue. It\'s boring and weighs down the story. They need to be believable too, just like your protagonist. Even if their fears, wishes, hopes, desires, motives, and past are not revealed to the reader until the end or never, you still need to create them so the characters can revolved around them. Characters are people too, at least if you want to be a successful writer.
Rewrite. The story is really written during this part. Editing and rewriting is what makes the story good -- a first draft will almost always be bad. Just rewrite. There is really no limit to the amount of time spent rewriting, so just keep doing it for how to write a novel.
Show someone what you\'ve done. Friends or family can help, as can some online communities. Consider joining a weekly or monthly creative writing group to get some more feedback.
Keep rewriting. A great story is never truly finished, and as an amateur, you really don\'t have any time restrictions. If you don\'t have the patience to write a good novel, you probably should drop how to write a novel.