Eight Foundational Novel Writing Tips

Writing a novel takes commitment, writing discipline, and pre-planning using a story outline that makes crafting a story easier for beginning and veteran fiction writers.

I started writing a rough draft in April and finished by the end of May (about 40 days), did a couple of re-writes in the ensuing weeks, and have sent off the first three chapters to a publisher. It’ll be about 80,000 words. I’m polishing it, making it smooth, while waiting for a response to see if the publisher wants the full manuscript.

There are 8 Novel Writing Tips below. First, my background. Although I had a concentration as an undergraduate in fiction writing, short story, and playwriting I never had a desire to write a novel. One person in my classes is a renowned literary author and has sold several critically acclaimed novels, screenplays, etc. Me? I liked writing short pieces for immediate feedback. During my writing career, I’ve written non-profit radio spots about holidays around the world, brochures, video scripts, and newsletters.

I enjoyed the challenge of having readers get emotionally involved with what I wrote in a brief amount of words and then eliciting a call to action. I felt writing a novel was a risk. Who would want to spend months or years researching and writing a story only to have it rejected over and over?

But during the past several years, the thought of writing a novel grew in me. I surprised myself as I became attracted to writing romance novels. It may be have been because of the intense stress my family was enduring and I felt like I had to cling to everything I could to hold on to my wife. Who knows. But it seemed like there were stories brewing inside of me.

As a sometimes actor, I’ve been in a high level workshop for several years and I’ve written several scenes which have been well-received.

So I wrote a series of short stories about a husband and wife and their romantic trials. I may still develop it. After all, I thought I’d crank out a few short stories rather than slave over a novel. Rejected. But my short stories were rejected by one editor who gave me really good marks for dialogue, character development and said it was too realistic for the romance genre. So I read a Debbie Macomber novel. And I read Janet Evanovich. And I read others, too.

So I started writing a novel . . . got about 130 pages in and thought to myself “where is the story going?” It remains unfinished.

So I wrote a rough draft of a novel in about 40 days after: writing fiction during my undergrad years, writing a series of short stories, writing an unfinished novel, and acting in hundreds of scenes.

Here are my 8 novel writing tips based on my experience and the reading I’ve been doing.

Tip 1 Read novels

Read novels you enjoy or find novels in a genre you enjoy and read those. You’ll learn how to break them down to see how the writers have opened the stories, how the characters develop (or don’t develop), and how they react to the conflict they face. Hopefully, you’ll also recognize expository dialogue – dialogue that’s giving too much information and is stilted – versus dialogue that flows and is natural.

“Whats that?” Ben asked while setting down his cereal.

“What’s ‘what’?” his father raised his hand to swat another fly that made its way into the kitchen.

“Dialogue that flows?”

“Don’t know. Guess it’s the way people really talk. Don’t you think so?”

Ben took his phone from his pocket. “Yeah, suppose so.” His fingers moved rapidly across the keypad sending another text to Georgie.

Tip 2 Novel writing instruction

Read The Novel Writer’s Toolkit by Bob Mayer. Seriously. Buy it here via Amazon. I read it. I’m re-reading it and I will continue to re-read it. Give it as a gift for a writer you know.

Bob Mayer gives excellent input on planning the novel, crafting an outline, developing characters, and wisdom in what to expect in the publishing process. He really hits all the bases.

He confirmed my thoughts on using an outline to guide me through the process of writing a novel. I put together an outline after I got started on my recent novel and rather than be held as a slave to it, the outline helped guide me through multiple characters while keeping the end of the story in view.

I felt completely free to adapt the outline as needed and it’s been a good guide in the writing process.

Bob Mayer’s book is concise (I like concise) and provides terrific information. He got published after writing three novels (his third one got published and that led to his first two novels getting published. But he had to write three.)

Apply the tips he offers.

Tip 3 Develop characters

Develop interesting characters who burn with desire – they’re passionate. Write a backstory just like actors will do when they’re studying a scene. Write a backstory on the main characters that’s a few paragraphs long.

They can’t be ho-hum. Let’s say you write about a cold, aloof old man living alone with his money (Silas Marner) and not much happens in his life. Until one day, he sees an orphan girl and . . . he’s forced to care for her and his world changes.

When you read novels you like, what are the characters like? What kind of situations do they face? What predicaments do they get thrown in to because of their choices and how do they get out of them?

A woman on a walk sees a fairly new car, it’s the make and model she’s interested in buying, but the car is dusty and it’s in one place day after day—it’s never moved so she puts on a note on the windshield asking whoever owns it if they would be interested in selling the car. She leaves her cell number – or her email address – or both. What happens to her? This could be the opening for a novel, or screenplay, that is a romantic comedy, a spy drama, a slasher story . . . you name it.

Readers want fascinating and memorable characters and they want to see them get stuck in corners with no way out . . . until a way is found at the last possible moment. This can happen in the most mundane of relationships.

Tip 4 Outline story

Outline the story. This doesn’t mean you have to know all the details or invent the details. Some will flow from the story as they should. However, you should know the beginning, the major conflict, and how you envision the story ending. Try to stick to that so you don’t ramble everywhere and get lost. Mayer addresses this.

Outlines help and they’ll let you make discoveries along the way.

Tip 5 Points of View

Write from one or two Points of View. Don’t try and tell everyone’s story in the novel – especially a first one or two novels. Tell the hero and heroine’s stories from their point of view. Example one person point of view:

Jill set down her cheeseburger and leaned back in her chair, folding her arms. She watched Mac pick up his burger and take a bite with one hand. She felt something light and fluffy tickle her leg. Ah, Scruffy, she thought. She figured their 7-month-old terrier could teach Mac a lesson.

It's pretty clear whose point-of-view we're using to describe the action.

Here's an example of multiple points of view:

Jill set down her cheeseburger and leaned back in her chair, folding her arms. Mac looked at her, picked up his burger, and took a bite with one hand. Scruffy, sniffing air thick with meat, brushed against Jill's leg as he wandered into the kitchen. He looked up and saw Mac's jaws grinding away while Jill sat silently.

Multiple points of view may be contained in their own chapters. Writing from one person's point of view, or the points of view of two people is much easier to handle for the beginning novelist.

Tip 6 Writing as discipline

Write when you don’t feel like it.

On many days you’re not going to feel like writing a novel. Bob Mayer wrote in his book, and I believe it, that if you only write when you feel inspired then you’ll never get anything written. True! I agree. I wrote my novel in 40 days while heading to court on guardianship issues and figuring out how in the world I was going to ever develop an income. There were tensions at home and tensions all around. But I stuck to the writing schedule.

Mayer says that what you write when you’re not inspired is usually about as good as when you feel inspired. Writing is a discipline.

Tip 7 Rewrite

Take time to pause and rewrite. He mentions another tip in his book. Don’t jar the reader. I agree. Expository dialogue or using only short choppy sentences can jar the reader. Okay? Overly long and smooth, flowery sentences, intellectually crafted using a passive voice, filled with wonderfully flowing romantic adjectives can cause a reader to get lost. So find a pace and voice.

Tip 8 Normal language

Use everyday language for contemporary novels regardless of the genre: Christian fiction, erotic romance, chick lit. Write like you talk. The depth of a novel and its language comes from the Idea, as Mayer describes it. I agree with him and I’ve always agreed with him even before I read anything he wrote.

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