Although there are no strict rules on how to write a novel because it largely depends on your creativity and your writing skills, there are some basic things you should know and do to make your novel more interesting to your readers.
Get inspired: You produce better output when you’re inspired. You can receive inspiration by observing people, taking a walk, thinking at your favorite spot, watching a movie, among other things.
Get organised: Account for your characters, your plot, your theme, the setting and so on. Write them out to have a general idea of what you want to write. You can also consider starting with a summary before you proceed to write the full novel.
Start writing: After your initial planning stage then you can start writing your novel. At this stage, don’t bother editing until you have finished your first draft and also make sure you don’t write the book halfway and abandon it. Ensure you finish what you have started.
Introduce your conflicts early: You can improve the readers’ experience by introducing the conflict early in the book. People love to read books that will reveal their emotions – sympathy, anger or admiration – but when the book seems perfect with no conflict, they are likely to abandon the book.
Add verisimilitude: Let your descriptions be realistic and believable. Writing things that seem improbable may offend your readers’ sensibilities and cause them to lose interest in your book.
Create suspense: A great novel gets even better when it is filled with suspense. This fuels the reader’s interest and holds his/her attention. If there is nothing to look forward to, the reader might drop the book and never pick it up again.
Edit your novel: When you are done writing your first draft, take time to read through and edit your manuscript. You should also subject your writing to the scrutiny of another writer or preferably, a professional editor.
These are just a few things to know before writing a novel. When you take note of them, you are more likely to produce a novel people will enjoy reading.
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