How to Start: A Five-Step Guide to Prepare for Your Novel

It can be hard to start a story. Just how do you transform an idea into words, then transform those words into a plot? Faith Blum, NaNoWriMo participant, shares 

I’ve always been fascinated by how other people get started in their writing process for a new project. 

My first novel was inspired by a picture and a story contest. For that novel, I had no outline and very little character development. I just wrote one word after another. 

Since then, I have taken on various preparation methods for my writing projects.

For short stories, I do very little. For novellas, I do some character development and create a very loose outline. For novels, I write a flexible outline to get me started, but I don’t necessarily follow it. There are many times that the characters dictate a different course of action that works out much better than I could have ever planned.

“When the inspiration is there, I take it and I take it fast.”

When I outline a novel, I’m usually not very detailed to start. I have a rough idea of what I want the book to be about and what should happen, but beyond that, I just let my imagination and characters go. If I ever get stuck for more than a couple of days, though, I’ll outline the next few chapters with a lot of detail so I can get a move on.

When I’m excited to start a project, I don’t spend too much time planning it. If I need to tighten it up later, I can do that in the editing process. Or if my plot is too helter-skelter, I’ll take a break and do some outlining to put the book on the right track again. When the inspiration is there, I take it and I take it fast.

“Find a method that works for you.”

For an example, here’s what I plan to do in the following month as I start my new novel:

Write up a rough outline on what I think my main character wants in his book.
Do character sketches for the main characters.
Decide which pens and notebooks to use for the rough draft (yes, I write by hand).
Figure out a daily or weekly word-count goal.
Read through my outline and do any little bits of research I think are needed.

Once these are finished, then I’ll get started writing to my heart’s content. As I write, I sometimes do a little research, but if I don’t have time, I’ll just make a note to research it later.

If you’re just starting a writing project, you need to find a method that works for you. Or more than one if needed. As I’ve said, I use various methods myself and I now have twelve published books. If one thing doesn’t work, try another. The main thing to do is to keep writing.

Faith Blum started writing at an early age, and used to think she could write better than Dr. Seuss. Now that she has grown up a little more, she knows she will probably never reach the success of Dr. Seuss, but that doesn’t stop her from trying.  When she isn’t writing, Faith enjoys doing many right-brained activities such as reading, crafting, playing piano, and playing games with her family. She currently lives on a hobby farm with her family in Wisconsin.

Top photo by Flickr user Gerry Snaps.