How to get started on a novel

1. Outline the story.
You don’t need anything massive here. Just a basic outline that you can follow as you write out the details. Otherwise you will be writing ideas down as you go, and if you’ve ever taken a trip without a map or direction, well, you know where that can lead…

2. Point of view (POV)
The point of view should be decided before starting you’re novel. You can use: First Person Singular - "I", Third Person Singular - "he or she" And the omniscient or universal narrator who sees all e.g., "God". Use the "omniscient" viewpoint sparingly and have a limited number of POV characters. Try to avoid switching the POV too much.

3. Dialogue
Read out loud what you write, or want to add to the story, to yourself and to others and get thier feedback on if the dialogue sounds like “real-life” dialogue or not. You want to avoid having you’re charactors sound "canned" or overly dramatic... which brings us to our next tip!

4. Dramatic license
Have you seen those commercials where the actor/actress asks, “What is drama?” then says, “Struggle”, or “Love triangle". They are summing up in one or two words the drama in some role they are playing. Can you sum up the dramatic basis of you’re story in a word or a few sentences?? If not, it’s time to redo the plot.

5. Escalate the tension
I bet you can relate to this concept… at the beginning of the day you are ok, but as the day progresses the stress and conflict begin to escalate until the end of the day when you scream “I can’t take anymore of this!” You’re story should also build tension through conflict as it progresses to it’s big finish.

6. Scene description
Have you ever read a book that went into so much description of the surrounding area that by the end of it you knew the shoe size of everyone in the city? Try to keep the descriptions of objects to a minimum. Most people want the drama (see above) of people and situations, rather than a weather report.

7. Exercise the brain
Writing is just like anything else you want to learn to do. The more you do it, the better you get. Write short stories, ideas for stories, articles or poetry or limericks. Doesn’t matter as long as you write often!

Remember this … even is you’re story is pure genius but it is obscure and people cannot relate to it, you may have a problem selling it. Give the story elements of drama that the greatest majority of people can relate to or understand. Otherwise, you're book may not be discovered as genius until society catches up with you're ideas!

Article Source: http://www.rightbiz.com

Jan Michaels is a self-described relationship expert (why is his girlfriend laughing?) that is truly in love. When not writing amusing articles, he doesn't do much of anything really important, unless feeding the cat counts. You can see more of his musings or various and sundry humorous items at: www.brunkco.com/toofunny Or, you may contact him at: hiredgun@brunkco.com You may use this article in your opt-in newsletter, blog or at your site as long as it is reproduced as above.

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