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Overview – How to write a

novel
If you want to learn how to write a novel, we’ve come up with a step-
by-step guide that will help you through your journey. These are just
suggestions offering general outlines and processes, but keep in mind
writing is a creative process and different authors have different
molds.

Without further ado, here’s our guide on how to write a novel that will
(hopefully) inspire you to put pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard…).

Inspiration
Inspiration for a novel can come from anywhere: a train ride, a dream,
a nightmare, the pasta aisle at the grocery store… you get the point.
It’s always a good idea to have a small notepad handy so you can jot
down your ideas, or I guess your phone’s notes app will do just fine.

Whatever the case, make sure to write down a few sentences and
feelings that you can later use in your novel. You should also think
about past events in your life that have stuck with you: a family
camping trip, the birth of your sibling, that time you got pneumonia.
Moments that have stuck with you can make really great scenes in
your novel.
Tip: Write about something that you would see yourself reading. Don’t
pick a topic just to try and please other people; Pick a topic that you’re
interested in and excited about.

Genre
You’ve written down a bunch of ideas and scenes, fantastic! Now’s the
time to choose your novel’s genre. Here’s a list of popular genres you
can choose from:
– Fantasy fiction
– Mystery fiction
– Historical fiction
– Modern literary fiction
– Sci-fi
– YA fiction
– Children’s fiction
– Biography
– Auto-biography/memoir

Tip: Read a bunch of books in the genre you’ve chosen to get a feel of
how you should write yours.

Setting
You’ve got the genre locked down, now we move on to setting. Where is
your novel going to take place? Which city? Which country? Which
planet? A parallel universe, perhaps?
What kinds of people will be living there? Is your novel set in the past,
present, or future?

You can have lots of fun with the setting(s) of your novel, but think long
and hard about it before you move on. The setting is a huge component
of your novel; it will determine the tone and overall mood.

Characters
You can have so much fun with this step of the process. You need to
come up with the characters in your novel, and here are some
important characters to include:
– Protagonist
– Antagonist
– Mentor
– Sidekick
– Randoms

Make sure your protagonist has depth; she/he doesn’t have to be


likeable, but they absolutely have to be interesting. No one wants to
read a book with a boring protagonist.

Your secondary characters should also have depth; they need to be


dynamic and believable. Always think of your characters as real
people; that’s the real key on how to write a novel.

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