In the third part on writing your first novel, you’ll learn how to create an outline for your story, and how to make time to do all the research you need.
Every story needs a basic outline that summarizes how events will pan out. Without it, you’ll quickly lose your way. Your characters and world also need a certain amount of solidity. Characters must be dense and interesting enough for readers to care what happens to them, and your world needs to be believable. Details matter—and for that you need to do some research.
How’s the Patient?
First off, how is the writing routine going? Are you getting faster and more focused? If you’re feeling confident, ramp up your daily word count to 1,250 words a day. That’s three pages a day—no problem, right? (Right?)
1. Draw Your Outline
Before you go on a writing journey, you need a map of how your novel’s structure. It doesn’t need to be overly detailed, but should highlight the main plot points, character arcs, and the overarching theme(s).
“I’m a relatively disciplined writer who composes the whole book before beginning to execute and write it. Of course, you can’t hold–you cannot imagine a whole novel before you write it; there are limits to human memory and imagination. Lots of things come to your mind as you write a book, but again, I make a plan, chapter, know the plot.” —Orhan Pamuk, Big Think
Plot by Chapters or Key Scenes
Some writers prefer to plot their entire story chapter by chapter, outlining the events that occur in each. Others focus on key scenes, the pivotal moments that drive the story forward. Whichever you choose, having a roadmap will keep you on track as you navigate your story’s twists and turns.
Choose a Point of View
The point of view (POV) impacts how your readers will connect with your characters, so selecting the right one is crucial to your story’s success. Experiment with different POVs to find the one that best suits your story’s tone and theme.
Crafting the Ending
There are three critical parts to a novel: the beginning, the middle, and especially the end. How you finish your narrative will leave a lasting impression on your readers. Think carefully of:
The resolution: Tie up loose ends. Close the central conflicts. Try to make resolutions align with the story’s themes and character arcs
Character endings: Each character’s journey should reach a natural conclusion. Do they achieve their goals—or do they face the consequences of failing?
Emotional impact: How do you want your readers to react to your novel? How should they remember it? Whether it’s satisfaction, sadness, or surprise, the ending should stir something within your audience.
The good news is that you can plan your novel from almost anywhere. As a little-known but mildly successful author once said:
“The best time for planning a book is while you’re doing the dishes.” –Agatha Christie.
Write down your outline and keep it close by as you write your story. Include thoughts and insights that may not seem important at first. You may be surprised to find how useful they can be later in the writing process.
2. Do Your Research
Now that you’ve got a clearer picture of your characters, the world they inhabit, and an outline, it’s time to fill in the missing pieces.
By now your characters should have some depth and personality, to the point where you can think of them as real people. If they still feel two-dimensional, take a look at other writers’ works with similar personalities to deepen your understanding. Do your characters have specific professions, hobbies, or backgrounds? Do some more research and expand their biographies.
If your world is vastly different from your everyday life, you may need to research all those details first. They make your world feel real. Try using visual aids such as mood boards to help flesh out your world.
And if you’re writing historical fiction, accuracy is key. Make sure you’ve meticulously described these events:
“Historical fiction is a collaboration between the time in which it’s written and the time that it’s writing about and the far future, when we don’t know what people are going to think about yet.” —Emily Barton.
Lastly, try to anticipate what types of questions your narrative choices might provoke as the story unfolds. As your story gathers momentum, it may go in a completely unexpected direction—and that’s okay. In fact, it’s both spooky and exciting, because it means your story has taken on a life of its own. Enjoy the ride!
3. Housekeeping
Well and good, but you still need to make time to write. Plan your writing sessions strategically. When will you have the time? Every morning before your day starts, or will you use the weekends instead?
“I only write when I’m inspired, so I see to it that I’m inspired every morning at nine o’clock.” –Peter De Vries.
Most people opt for a daily approach, but the only thing that truly matters is reaching that 50,000-word goal—the length of a short novel. Make it as easy as possible for yourself to stay committed.
And don’t forget to schedule break times. You won’t be able to write every single day, and your creative brain matter will benefit from some rest.
4. Get Organized with iA Writer
As mentioned earlier in the series, iA Writer can help you stay laser focused while you write—but it’ll also help you keep all your documents organized:
- The Library comes with lots of useful features like smart folders, favorites, quick search and clever ways to navigate big documents. More on that topic here.
- Cloud storage: Back up your novel. Do it, and don’t wait—be it on iCloud, Google Drive, Dropbox or even a USB stick. You can add your cloud-based backup as a favourite to the Library, so your latest version will always be close at hand.
- Writer on iOS: If you’re synced to iCloud, you can continue working on your story from your mobile device, like when you’re on the train, or during your lunch break. Those little breaks are useful if you don’t have much time to write at home.
In the last part of this series we’ll help you create a writing setup to help you stay happy and focused. Nearly there.
