Rock-Basic Novel Writing Tips

Right off the bat, I’m going to say this: Writing novels is not for me. So far, all I’ve done in as far as writing is concerned is make a few bucks out of writing essays and short stories. However, these novel-writing tips might help us as well, who knows?

These were not made by me, I simply compiled some tips I’ve read here and there.

1. Have a Writing Style that is Conversational

One way to attract readers is to avoid using words and expressions rarely spoken in everyday life and avoid too much detail in descriptions. Write stories as if you are talking to a friend.

2. Use Strong Words

Make your reader’s imagination soar by using words that entice them. Improve your vocabulary.  Use short but powerful sentences.

3. Do Research

If you’re writing a novel about a detective solving a crime, it’s better and more believable if you are consulting an actual police officer or detective about your novel. Ask them what their opinions are and insert them somehow into the novel.

4. Have Patience

Writing novels take a long time, spanning months and sometimes even years. Be patient and keep at it until you finish your work.

There you have it folks, four simple tips for writing a novel. Now grab a pen and start writing. I’m going to sleep.

Tip: Start From the Bottom

When writing, especially if you're a beginner, you have to understand and accept that you won't be a superstar over night. Or that you would write a blockbuster novel on your first try. It just doesn't happen. But you know that already.

Writing Tip: How to Edit Effectively

Editing your work means cutting your words or adding to your piece. You might not enjoy removing words that you thought long and hard to write, but the results are a smoother and simpler piece ready for consumption.

Writing Tip: How to Create a Fictional World

Let’s face it. The world isn’t a good setting sometimes. There aren’t enough fire magic or extreme landscapes for your heroes to conquer. You have to invent your own world, where you, as the writer, command what is and what isn’t possible.

Writing Tip: To Write Faster (pt.2)

Okay, since the last "to write faster" tip wasn't really a tip to write faster, here are some of my tips for writing short articles for less than an hour.

Writing Tip: To Write Faster

I was reading a forum for writers once, and I stumbled upon a particular thread with someone asking for advice about how to write faster. He said he usually takes about three hours writing a single piece of writing, whether it's an essay, a short story or forum post.

Writing Tip: More on Describing an Object

As previously mentioned, when getting rid of writer's block, one of the many things you can do is to describe an object. And here's the good thing about it: you don't even have to have "the block" to do it. You can use it to spark your imagination or add flavor to your story!

Five Stages of Short Story Development

Every story-writer is different. They all have different approaches to writing a narrative. They have different styles that, through the years, they have perfected. As in almost everything in life, you simply need to find what works for you, and stick to it, making only a few adjustments here and there.

But if you need something to get you started, here's what works for me:

Writing Tip: Keep a Journal

One of the tips outlined in this blog is to always carry a notebook with you. In a similar vein, it is important, as a writer to always write your thoughts or opinions somewhere, whatever form they may be: a drawing, newspaper clippings, an abstract idea, whatever. You need to keep a journal. It's going to be a goldmine later.

Writing Tip: Describe an Object

Sometimes the solution to writer's block is as simple as describing an object. Any object.

How to Find a Setting: Recall a Place

After work, try this little experiment. You can do this in your living room or kitchen on your leisure time, when you are most relaxed.

Recall a place from your past: a former house, your grandma's house, your local beach. Anything.

Writing Tip: The Benefits of Reading

To be a good writer, you need to read a lot. Find books that interest you and make you imagine. Find authors that you like and grab their books. Experience them. See the world through their eyes.

If you don't have any favorite authors or topics, you can get any book, even those not well-acclaimed by the critics.

Writing Tip: Don't Discard Ideas

Have you ever felt it? You begin writing the first sentence, and then the next, then the third, the fourth... and then... nothing. You're stuck. You don't know what to write anymore. You read back the first few sentences you have written and then you realize it's not that good. So you delete them all and start from scratch again.

The Most Successful Short Stories

A story, no matter how bizarre, has a chance of being read and accepted by certain demographics. Remember this, the readers you want to read your story might not like it, but surely, there are people who will appreciate it, even if you don't know it.

However, to be read by many people (not just a certain demographic), you have to look at what is being widely read and not and write a story based on them. Stories such as:

The Anatomy of a Successful Short Story

How a short story’s success is measured is defined by the person who wrote it. I could write a story with the intention of selling it. In this case, I would rate the success of my short story based on how many dollars I have in my pocket from the sales of my literature. On the other hand, if I was a Grandfather who wrote a short story simply to make my grandchildren smile, then the rate by which I would measure my story’s success is based on how big and how inquisitive their eyes become when they read it.

These measurements are connected- for how can you sell or capture a reader’s imagination if your story isn’t good? Here are some things to remember for your short stories to be successful.

1. Relatable Characters

The characters always come first. No reader would read a story when he or she could not relate to a character. A reader must have somebody to root for; somebody they can associate with.

2. Enemy

No story would be worth reading if the protagonists simply get what they want. They need to have nemeses, people who would want nothing but to see them fail. They can be subtle or outlandish evils. Perhaps they don’t need to be evil at all. They just need to be people who want to achieve their own goals, which just happen to go opposite of your main hero’s goal.

3. Short Timeline

This is why they are called “short stories.” The events in your story must happen on a short time span only, a few moments on your characters’ lives.

4. Intriguing Ending

The ending’s goal depends on you. Do you want to close the entire story? Do you want the reader to think more? Do you want them to read the story again? Do you want to keep them guessing?

Your ending doesn’t necessarily have to be a happy one- heck, it need not be an ending at all; it could be just a transition, where you know the protagonists will have a better time adjusting to. For the ending, I would suggest an ending where there is much more to do, and the characters know that their journey is not yet finished.

This way, I know where to pick up if I decide to write a sequel. It also has a bonus of letting the reader know that the characters are alive and well- getting through life- just like them.

Writing Tip: Show, Don't Tell. Most of the Time

It has been taught in countless seminars and Story Writing Basics classes, yet many people seem to forget it: Show, Don't Tell. After all, it is easier to just tell readers that a character "smells bad" than "People wince and wrinkle their noses when Jose walks by."

It is a good advice, tried and tested for decades and decades. However, to have a good story, you have to know when to show and when to tell. Just as it is boring to "tell," it is as excruciating to read many words just to know that a person is cruel.

Everything in life, including short story writing, is about balance. Finding just the right time to describe something as an author is as effective as "showing."

In stories where you, as an author, have gathered enough momentum for narration, it is best to continue telling than abruptly stop to "show." It will only lead to distraction by the audience and unnecessarily breaking off a well-gathered momentum.

Experience will let you know when to show or tell, but for now, don't be fooled by the absolution implied by the "show, don't tell" rule. Sometimes, telling is the best way to show.

Short Story Writing Tip: Have an Outline

Yes, writing outlines is boring. It forces you to think ahead instead of meticulously writing down everything about a scenario, or what the characters feel, or the atmosphere of the scene.

Do you want to know why you feel that way? Because you don't want to advance your story. Or at least not yet. You want to dwell on the mundane details first: maybe put some flowers on the table of a restaurant? Maybe describe a largely unnecessary character a little bit more?

Short Story Tip: How to Measure your Words

A good short story is exactly that: short- an array of emotions, action and character complexity wrapped into a thousand-or-two word narrative.

Short but powerful words grip readers by the throat and makes them interested enough to read the next sentence to find out what happens next. Following a strict word count requirement forces you, the storyteller, to be more creative and view your piece with a fresh set of eyes.

Writing Tip: Make Little Attempt to Edit While Writing

Best-selling author Bo Sanchez said it best in one interview, “I write liberally, I edit conservatively.” This should be the code all writers live by. Writing liberally means not caring about the rhetoric or grammar, rather, writing as if no one is holding you back except the ink on your pen and the fire in your heart.

Writing Tip: How To Find a Fresh Voice

For writers, the “comfortable rut” is like a having a girlfriend (or boyfriend) who is too perfect. Sure, you’re content, sure they take care of your needs, but you know that something is not right. Deep down, you know trouble is just waiting for that perfect timing to launch its ugly face in front of you.

Okay, I still have to work on my analogies, but you get the point, right?

What, you may ask, is my problem with being comfortable? Well, nothing in general, really. In almost all aspects of life, being comfortable is a very nice thing. I won't mind living in a big house, with two dozen cars and supermodels throwing rose petals at my feet.

But I’m not talking about that kind of comfort. I’m talking about Writer’s Comfort. Writer’s Comfort is when you tell stories after stories from a single standpoint. Imagine talking about the lives of prostitutes from a cab driver’s point of view, and then in your next story, the plight of children from a cab driver’s point of view again, and so on and so forth. Your story becomes a tired version of the same thing. You may do it because you like that point of view and you’re “comfortable” with it, but that’s where the “rut” comes from.