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As a winner of the previous Novel Excerpt Competition for The Little Lit, here are some tips for writing that have helped me greatly. What works for me may not work for everyone, so take these with a grain of salt. 1. Getting into the Mindset of Writing a Novel This is assuming you’ve already got your big idea. i. Just do it. I get it. The task is daunting, with so many thousands of words ahead of you. It’s all about baby steps. Too often we hesitate, making promises to “start someday.” Nothing gets done if you don’t start. I broke up my first novel into its separate three acts. So much more manageable. An act every month or two. Within three or four months, you’ve got yourself a first draft. Then you do it again and you’ve got a second. Just start, with baby steps. ii. Devote time to it, every day if you can. Don’t wait for inspiration to strike, or it most likely never will. The more my brain got exercised each day, the more inspiration came, and the more I overcame narrative issues. For me it’s two hours a day, every day. More than that on Monday, which is one of my days off. It starts slow, but by the hour mark I’m flying. iii. Patience. As someone whose patience isn’t the greatest, this was key for me. It will take months. Anything good takes time. 2. Gaining the Confidence to Submit/Share your Writing You might be thinking, “What happens if people don’t like my writing?” To me, it’s not an issue of if, but when. There will be people who won’t like your writing. It’s inevitable. The biggest authors on the planet have naysayers leaving one-star reviews on their blogs and websites, so you won’t be alone. Go check them out. What gave me the confidence to submit to competitions was the understanding that if I didn’t share, no one would be able to like it in the first place. If I did share, at least someone out there would be able to see it and (fingers crossed) like it. It’s a risk every writer takes, but if you take no risks, nothing happens. I’d rather somebody not like my work than for no one read it at all. Start small. A trusted friend, family member partner, or spouse. Pseudonyms aren’t a bad idea to hide behind, also. 3. How to Self-Edit Your Work i. Before you do anything else, read a lot. You will absorb much more than you think on basic structure, spelling, and grammar, to name a few things. ii. Read dialogue out loud. Old advice, but it’s true. You’ll notice what seems natural and what doesn’t, whether a sentence is too long, and other aspects that seem off. iii. Familiarise yourself with conventions and stick with whatever you choose. Is your work going to be written in a US, UK, or NZ English style? iv. Get second opinions. Other people will know if something is off about your writing. v. Don’t listen to every second opinion. The customer is not always right. Take some advice with a grain of salt. If nine out of ten people like your scene, maybe the book just isn’t for the tenth person, and that’s okay. vi. If you are an outliner, keep it. It’s your roadmap. vii. Go with your gut if the scene feels off when writing/editing the book. You will develop a sixth sense for this the more you work on it. Certain scenes won’t feel right, or they may feel forced. Sometimes you shouldn’t force yourself to stay with the scene as outlined if your gut is telling you otherwise. viii. Listen to your characters. Goes with the previous advice on going with your gut. Sometimes your characters will make decisions for you. You will get a sense of who they are and what they will do. Often, writing decisions are a no brainer when you know your characters deeply. ix. “Kill your darlings” … or better phrased, “Be open/willing to kill your darlings.” This doesn’t mean, “Oh, I loved this scene, so I have to delete it to show how tough an editor I am.” Just pay attention to what serves or advances the plot and be willing to delete what doesn’t. Some moments in your novel are just fluff. Look at what serves the overall novel best and act accordingly. x. Look for repetition and trim it down, unless the repetition is intentional. Readers notice repetition. 4. How to Construct Memorable Characters i. Make them flawed or give them vices. People are flawed. Even heroes have flaws and vices. ii. Give them insecurities. If they’re not particularly flawed, give them something they are insecure about. This could give them an interesting journey. Everyone has insecurities. iii. Give them limitations. Disabilities, societal prejudices, and family/peer expectations all make for good limitations for your character to overcome (or not). iv. Give them a personal goal beyond just solving the novel’s core conflict. Something beyond just “bringing down the empire in a fantasy world”, for example. This could be a relationship issue, career goals, money problems, etc. v. A combination of all four. Just don’t make your character a perfect person solving the novel’s conflict. This is likely to be boring. Even having a hateable main character is better than a boring one, in my opinion. BY WILLIAM FORRESTER