Gather data and info from “reliable resources” on the Internet.

You will eventually end up with an extensive mindmap that will help you to outline your book. Write down every thought you have about the book and information you get from researching and keep branching off from whichever bubbles the thoughts relate to. These ideas, as they get fleshed out, will become the basis of my book chapters. I start with a central topic or theme in the book and surround it with smaller bubbles of secondary topics or ideas. To mindmap a book, I like to use the “bubble method. Set a timer and start writing – don't worry about fact or accuracy. This is true regardless if it is a reverse harem story, sci-fi space epic, or underwater action-adventure.įirst, start by writing down all the ideas you have. Research is a necessary part of your book when you learn how to write a novel. How do I write a book that requires so much know-how? Submarines? I’ve read about them in Tom Clancy’s The Hunt for Red October. And I’ve never handled “sophisticated weapons” that shoot real bullets. At the end of the book, the protagonists escape via a submarine from Russia, only to be pursued by another submarine that ends in a big battle 3,000 meters underneath the ocean. They are pursued by assassins with a lot of sophisticated weapons. to Europe, from London to Paris to Athens. You have the idea for your book, but the next step in learning how to write a novel is researching.įor instance, I’m writing a story where the protagonists become involved in an international scandal that takes them from the U.S. A great book I recommend for this is the 10-Minute Declutter: The Stress-Free Habit for Simplifying Your Home by S.J. If there is any factor that will slow you down or kill your motivation, it is a room full of clutter. For example, when I have a three-hour writing session, I do 50/50. You can balance your online time between sitting and standing. For sitting, you want a chair that is comfortable but not too comfortable. The first is the standing desk, which helps you avoid the unhealthy practice of sitting down for long periods. There are two types of desks and you should consider setting up your writing area with access to both. Schedule every hour that you commit to your author’s business. The best way to manage this is by scheduling your time on a calendar. Your book will get written faster if you writing goals for each day and week. There is nothing like writing and having your favorite author looking back at you as if to say, “Come on, you’ve got this!” Print these out if you can and place them around your room. Find at least twenty photos of authors you want to emulate. Here are a few ideas to boost author productivity and make your writer’s space something you can actually get writing done in. You won’t get far with writing before you’re doing something else. In my experience, if you live in chaos (ex: noise, distractions, beeps, a loud TV) you’re setting yourself up for failure. When learning how to write a novel, you should ask yourself if your environment is the best place for writing.Ĭan you focus or is your room filled with distractions?Īre you alone or do you have friends, roommates, and family members surrounding you? Your passion for the book idea comes out of your passion for learning about telling this kind of story. Romance? You’re reading love stories every waking moment. If you write sci-fi, you must have read sci-fi a lot. You have knowledge of this kind of book and the subject matter in it.

You’re writing 60k+ words of this novel so if you lose interest, you’ll stop writing. Or, it can be something a bit more specific, almost like a writing prompt: Two teens, from rival families, fall in love and in a shocking twist of events, choose to die together rather than live apart. It can be something broad, like: Tragic teen love affair that ends in suicide. So, what’s the big picture of your novel? Try to write your novel idea in one sentence. You can't learn how to write a novel if you don't have an idea for the book in the first place. Of course, every novel starts with a book idea. Here are the steps all new authors should take when learning how to write a novel: 1.

Launching your book How to Write a Novel in 15 Simple Steps

60 day novel writing challenge