The Different Stages In Writing A Novel And How To Master Them

You have always wanted to write a novel, but you haven't been able to act on it because something or the other has always hindered you. That's not to say you didn't try at all, but maybe you did and lost steam halfway for various reasons.

While this fact is definitely not something to take solace in, you'd be pleased to know that even bestselling authors go through it. However, the thing that separates them from aspiring authors is that they face this rut with a repeatable novel-writing plan.

In this guide, we will look at the steps involved in writing a novel. Each step builds on the one before it in a systematic way by developing characters, storyline, settings, and more until you have a refined manuscript.

1. Come Up With A Story Idea

Devise a story idea rife with conflict since it's the engine that will engineer your plot forward. Take the time you require to wade through your plot lines and pick the one you'd like to read and are the most enthusiastic about.

It has to engross your senses so deeply that you can't leave it alone. That idea and the will to explore it will draw you to the writing board and inspire you to create a novel that you have always wanted to read.

2. Find Out If You Are An Outliner or A Pantser

If you are an Outliner, you like to chart everything before you begin writing your story. You like to meet your characters and know them first and how they are going to make it through the story.

If you're a Pantser, you begin with the tiniest fragment of an idea, and then you make up a story through discovery.

3. Compose The Plot Outline And The Protagonist

There are many verified and previously tested story structures that resonate with audiences. While coming up with your plot outline, start with a few basic plot templates to ensure you're covering every base.

Most plot outlines include setting up the scene, an inciting incident, progressively harder challenges and conflict, and a climactic ending. Once you define that, start fleshing out your protagonist.

While devising the plot, make sure that you have a character arc for the protagonist in which they grow to be a different, a better person towards the end.

4. Expand Your Story Idea Into A Plot

After you have devised your unique story idea, try to expand it into a plotline. While novelists have their own approach to a plot, there are a few basic sections that if you cover will help you flesh out the story.

These sections or elements all include a variation of an opener, incidents that trigger future troubles, crises that compound the inherent tension of the plot, the climax, and the conclusion.

5. Research Throughout The Process

While fiction, in essence, is completely fabricated, it must be convincing if it is to succeed. Even fantasies have to make sense to seem worthy enough to partake in.

Once the idea has been embraced by the reader, whatever comes next should be logical. Successful research is essential to deriving the precision required to carry out this work.

True information adds taste and credibility. Get the specifics incorrect, and your audience will lose faith and confidence in your story.

While building your world, consult atlases to understand the geography of a place and its cultural norms. Devour encyclopedias to gain a little bit of knowledge about everything so that you are constantly thinking on your toes. And last but not least, write with a Thesaurus by your side always.

6. Determine The Story's Point Of View

Choosing the viewpoint from which you are going to tell your story can be difficult. The perspective from which the story is told is more than simply deciding which voice to use: first person or third person (second person is seldom used).

It's all about choosing who is really going to be your narrator. The basic rule is to have one viewpoint character per scene.

Your audience will experience your story from the viewpoint of the narrator. Whatever they see, touch, hear, or smell will be felt by the user, so decide that beforehand.

7. Start Things From The Middle

From the very first page, you must catch your reader by the scruff of their neck. However, that doesn't mean you start at the end.

It means avoiding registering the scene and the description of the world in painstaking detail and instead of starting from a simple scene from where you can begin to tell your story.

Don't think very much about initially detailing all the background to the audience. Keep on writing and trust the readers to extrapolate. The purpose of every sentence should be to provoke the reader to read the next.

8. Exacerbate The Protagonist's Issues

You have entranced your audience with a captivating opening and have plunged your protagonist into massive trouble. Everything you build from now on has to focus, in part, on how the protagonist learns from it and grows as a result.

Whatever you choose, remember that strife is the driver of fiction and that if you were to give your hero an invincible plot armor, the story would quickly become very dull and monotonous.

9. Tie Everything Into A Climax

The final conclusion, the crescendo of the emotional plot point, arrives when your protagonist faces their greatest test, their climax. At this point, the stakes are usually dire, and losses are irremediable.

The tension that has been stacking momentum all through the course of the present climaxes to an ultimate confrontation where all the major book-length setups are repaid.

Make your climax as satisfying as you can to the reader as a reward for sticking together with the story all this while.

10. Leave Readers Satisfied

Since climaxes are so tense, the endings always fizzle out. Take care not to let it happen with your story.

While the ending of the story may not be as exciting as the climax, it should try to try to be interesting and thought-provoking. It's should also tie loose ends in the story while also packing an emotional punch.

In order to do all this efficiently, it's important that you don't rush it. Take the time you need to write a hugely satisfying end.

Conclusion

If you are new in your writing career and aren't too confident about how and where to start, these tips can act as a guiding light to show you yours initially. Apart from these tips, you can also start writing on a novel writing app that will help you start writing the story you want to and stay motivated until it's completed.