My Top 3 Novel Writing Tips

Andy sent in this question about my top novel writing tips...

"First off, love the site - so much great fiction writing info. Just wondering what your best tips for writing a novel are - like if you had to pick just 3 things?"
- Andy, Down Under :-)

That's kind of a broad question, Andy, but I'm happy to run with it. I guess you could say that the whole website is packed with novel writing tips - providing great creative writing advice is what I do!

But, still, if you want me to narrow it down to just three things, here they are (in no particular order)...

1. Learn Your Craft

I get to deal with a lot of newcomers to novel writing, and one of the biggest problems I find is that way too many of them aren't serious enough about learning their trade. They are passionate, sure, but they don't want to put in the hard work of learning how to write fiction.

And that is just crazy.

You never meet a doctor who flunked out of medical college, or an architect who just wanted to build things and couldn't be bothered with all the technical gibble-gabble. So why do a lot of beginners assume that there are shortcuts to writing fiction successfully?

So that is the first of my tips for writing a novel: learn the rules - including when to break the writing rules - and thereby become an expert.

How do you do that? Simple - bookmark this website and return to it frequently!

2. Don't Rush Your Writing

You've probably heard me bang on about this one before if you have spent any time at Novel Writing Help, but it's worth repeating...

Writing a novel takes time - maybe five years, maybe one or two if you push it, but certainly not 30 days (not if you want to get your novel published).

Come to think of it, not rushing your writing is linked to the first of my novel writing tips, because learning the craft of fiction takes time, too.

3. Be Yourself

Write what you want to write, not what you think you should write, or what you believe will make you look good (more intellectual, for example), or what you believe will make the most money. Instead...

• Write the kind of fiction that excites you and that you're passionate about (life is too short, and novel writing is too challenging, not to).

• Write the novel you would like to find in a book shop, except it isn't there because nobody has written it yet.

• Write the novel you would write if you took money out of the equation and you were doing it just for fun.

In short, forget about success...and you just might succeed.

I said these novel writing tips were in no particular order, but I lied. That last one is the most important.

If it has struck a chord with you, you should review the section on How to Become a Writer before going any further with your novel writing.

Harvey