7 steps to writing the draft of a novel Posted Sep 19, 2022
How do you write a novel? I can't give you an exact formula, but I can give you a recommended working method. Do you know when they say someone starts with the roof on the house? Well, in the case of the novel, the mistake is to start writing the draft. Writing the draft is the last step, and also, write yourself; no need to turn to a term paper writing service. Today I'll tell you my (abbreviated) method for writing the first draft.
1. Develop the idea
A novel doesn't come out of nowhere, and there is always a root idea, something that sets your imagination in motion.
The first thing that happens is a spark, a connection between elements we don't always detect, and an idea emerges from there.
Ideas don't always come in the form of a plot; sometimes, we just know the conflict, the trigger, or the outcome.
They are often simple pieces that could belong to any kind of plot, a character, a scenario, or a phrase.
2. Theme, conflict, and premise
When you are more or less clear about your idea, you need to determine its theme, what conflict your protagonist faces, and what the novel's premise is.
Knowing these details will help you to create the plot and, later on, to select the scenes of your story because you will include only those that are relevant to the theme and that lead to your premise.
3. Define the main plot
Once you are clear about the theme, the premise, and the main conflict, you have to think about your characters and their universe.
You know the conflict, and you know what you want to tell. In this phase, you will have to develop all the story elements well to create a unique plot in which some pieces fit with others. Any change in one piece affects the others.
Your protagonist's personality affects how he or she deals with the conflict, but so will his or her environment, other characters, or the setting.
The plot takes shape as you develop all the elements, and you can select what best fits what you want to tell, which you have determined in the second step.
The main plot is that of the main character. And it is the main conflict of your novel. It's the one you're going to tell in the synopsis of the novel or the one you'll tell when someone asks you what your book is about.
4. Work on the secondary plots
Once you know the plot of the main plot, it is time to finish shaping the rest of the plots.
It is common for the main character to have more than one plot, with two conflicts (one internal and one external, for example) that feed into each other.
It will also affect the conflicts that the secondary characters in your story have.
This is the time to develop your protagonist's second conflict, fit its chronology with the main conflict, and create or explore secondary character conflicts.
What happens to the secondary characters in their plots will affect the main plot. You can't work with plots in isolation but always with the main plot in mind.
I always create the plots chronologically so that all the events of all the plots fit together perfectly.
5. Decide how you are going to tell the story
Once you know the story, the main story, and the secondary plots, when you have all the information, it is time to consider how you will tell it.
At this stage, several decisions must be made, and, again, they are related pieces. A change in any one decision affects the rest.
You will decide, for example, whether to tell the story chronologically or whether you want to tell it in an unordered way.
You will also have to decide who tells your story. Even if you have it clear from the beginning, there is almost always more than one option for choosing a narrator. And the story will change depending on who tells it and how they tell it.
Choosing a narrator also involves choosing a point of view and verb tense.
6. Structure the novel
Structuring is easy when you are clear about all the plots, who is narrating, and from what point of view.
It's time to convert the plots into scenes, considering the point of view.
Once you have the scenes, you only have to organize them in the way you are going to narrate them, interspersing the different plots and following the chronological structure you have decided on.
The outline provides a panoramic view of the novel, allowing you to review and make sure everything fits together. Or make changes easily by rearranging scenes.
7. Write the draft
The last step is writing. You know the story (and you're dying to write it).
You have a card for each scene, and you know roughly what has to happen in each of them. Where you're going and where you're going.
This stage is when you write the novel. A first draft, of course. If you've done the work well before, you won't have the typical structure problems, and you'll be able to write and concentrate only on writing. Once finished, let it rest. In a few months, you can tackle the rewrite.
