What's New at Novel Writing Help?

Apr 9, Plotting a Novel's Beginning

Tue, 09 Apr 2013 21:23:01 GMT

Plotting a novel is a long and not entirely straightforward business. Out of all the tasks that you have to perform during the planning stage, writing a plot is by far the largest.

Apr 3, Saying Goodbye to the Characters You Have Created

Wed, 03 Apr 2013 19:46:36 GMT

Writers can become very attached to fictional characters when working on a novel. Not that I need to tell you that, because I'm sure you've already discovered it for yourself.

Jan 17, On Character Change In Novels

Thu, 17 Jan 2013 20:41:59 GMT

When you think about it, a plot in a novel is ultimately all about character change. Without the character undergoing a transformation, there would be little point in writing or reading fiction at all.

Jan 14, Finding Writing Ideas In 2 Easy Steps

Mon, 14 Jan 2013 15:54:04 GMT

Writing ideas are made up of four basic ingredients: character, plot, theme and setting. Don't fall into the trap of coming up with an idea for just one of these things.

Jan 6, How to Handle Theme in Literature

Sun, 06 Jan 2013 16:56:29 GMT

Theme in literature is a topic you don't find covered in many novel writing guides - at least not in any depth. This might make you think that themes aren't important.

Jan 6, Anatomy of a Novel: Chapters and Parts

Sun, 06 Jan 2013 16:42:28 GMT

Logically, there is no need for chapters in novels at all. You, the writer, could start the book on page one and keep going right to the end.

Jan 6, What Is a Plot In Fiction?

Sun, 06 Jan 2013 16:07:33 GMT

At first glance, defining a plot hardly seems worth bothering with. A plot is everything that happens in a novel, right?

Jan 5, Third Person Omniscient Point of View - Novel Writing Help

Sat, 05 Jan 2013 17:35:20 GMT

The third person omniscient point of view is most associated with nineteenth century novels. Its advantage is is the total freedom it offers a writer.

Jan 5, First Person Point of View Advantages - Novel Writing Help

Sat, 05 Jan 2013 16:52:01 GMT

First person point of view is the default choice for many novel writing beginners. Not only is it thought to be the easier viewpoint to handle, it is believed to be somehow warmer, too.

Jan 4, Third Person Point of View Advantages - Novel Writing Help

Fri, 04 Jan 2013 17:58:00 GMT

The three advantages of third person point of view I want to talk about here are: 1) It is more objective, 2) It is less claustrophobic, 3) It is more immediate than first person.

Jan 3, Writing in the First Person - Novel Writing Help

Thu, 03 Jan 2013 20:16:15 GMT

Writing in the first person voice is one of those areas of novel writing that seems simple at first glance, but is a little more complicated if you want to write like a professional.

Jan 2, "Road-Testing" a Novel Idea - Novel Writing Help

Wed, 02 Jan 2013 18:14:07 GMT

What is the point of testing a novel idea? Writing a novel is a huge commitment, both in energy and time, and you don't want to give over a significant chunk of your life to writing the wrong one.

Dec 31, Writing in the Third Person - Novel Writing Help

Mon, 31 Dec 2012 16:33:25 GMT

The key to writing in the third person like a professional is to have a complete understanding of the logic behind 3rd person viewpoint.

Dec 18, How to Find Good Titles for Novels

Tue, 18 Dec 2012 20:02:36 GMT

Never underestimate the importance of great novel titles. They matter artistically and, perhaps more importantly, they matter commercially.

Dec 5, Descriptive Writing and the Five Senses - Novel Writing Help

Wed, 05 Dec 2012 17:30:15 GMT

One of the key tasks that a passage of descriptive writing has to perform is to appeal to all five of the senses. The picture that your novel paints in a reader's mind should be so much more than a visual one.

Nov 30, Writing Opening Lines in Novels - Novel Writing Help

Fri, 30 Nov 2012 17:39:01 GMT

Opening lines in novels are by far the most important sentences that any writer will write. I don't mean they are artistically the most important.

Nov 20, Take Pleasure in the Art of Rewriting

Tue, 20 Nov 2012 21:47:42 GMT

Today's quote comes from Raymond Carver. Carver is famous for writing short stories, not novels, but his words nevertheless illustrate today's tip perfectly...

"I like to mess around with my stories. I'd rather tinker with a story after writing it, and then tinker some more, changing this, changing that, than have to write the story in the first place. That initial writing just seems to me the hard place I have to get to in order to go on and have fun with the story."

Nov 19, Take Pride In Every Small Achievement

Mon, 19 Nov 2012 20:55:58 GMT

Writing a novel can sometimes seem like a never-ending task. Sometimes you can work from dawn until dusk and, because you are not quite "in the zone," it feels like you achieved nothing at all.

Nov 2, 3rd Person Point of View In Two Varieties - Novel Writing Help

Fri, 02 Nov 2012 17:40:07 GMT

The two varieties of 3rd person point of view I want to discuss here are the third person cinematic and character viewpoints.

Oct 29, What is Theme In Fiction?

Mon, 29 Oct 2012 09:46:53 GMT

According to the Oxford English Dictionary's definition, theme is the subject of a piece of writing. Now, that might be factually correct (who am I to argue with the dictionary people?)

Oct 25, The Four Characteristics of Literary Novels

Thu, 25 Oct 2012 16:25:26 GMT

What separates literary novels from other types of novels - principally, genre fiction? The standard response is that literary fiction is strong on character but weak on plot.

Oct 14, Subplots and Point of View

Sun, 14 Oct 2012 19:53:36 GMT

Every point of view character that you use in your novel (beyond the standard leading viewpoint character) is effectively adding another subplot to the story.

Oct 9, How to Add Symbolic Meaning to a Novel

Tue, 09 Oct 2012 16:38:25 GMT

Understanding what symbolism is and why it is important in novels is a good start, but this knowledge is hopeless if you don't know how to add symbolic meaning to your own novel.

Oct 9, Where to Use Symbolism in Novels

Tue, 09 Oct 2012 16:36:45 GMT

There is a huge danger of overusing symbolism in novels, or of being too ambitious with it. Take the Lord of the Flies example I mentioned at the beginning of this series of articles.

Oct 9, Why Writers Should Use Literary Symbols

Tue, 09 Oct 2012 16:35:04 GMT

In the previous article - What Is Symbolism? - I pointed out that one advantage of literary symbols is that they allow the fiction writer to say a lot with a little.

Oct 5, More Keys to Successful Novel Writing

Fri, 05 Oct 2012 11:53:26 GMT

The two biggest keys to novel writing success are a willingness to work hard for as long as it takes, and a deep knowledge of your craft. What else does it take to succeed as a writer?

Oct 5, Novel Writing Secrets

Fri, 05 Oct 2012 11:50:37 GMT

There are just two secrets to writing fiction to a publishable standard. But despite the fact that these novel writing secrets are actually just plain common sense...

Oct 2, Why Write a Novel?

Tue, 02 Oct 2012 10:51:02 GMT

As you know, it takes a lot of hard work to write a novel - and with no guarantee whatsoever that the novel will be successful. So what is the payback? What are the perks? Why bother to become a writer at all?

Oct 1, Are You Ready to Publish Your Novel?

Mon, 01 Oct 2012 16:29:51 GMT

If you are serious about publishing a novel, take my advice and do not submit it for publication until it is as good as you can possibly make it.

Sep 22, Nine Examples of Foreshadowing in Fiction

Sat, 22 Sep 2012 13:56:34 GMT

Having dealt with the nuts and bolts of foreshadowing in the previous article, it's now time to look at some concrete examples of foreshadowing in action.

Sep 18, The Importance of Details in Writing

Tue, 18 Sep 2012 16:10:32 GMT

Using strong details in writing is what makes the difference between language that springs to life and words that remain flat and uninspiring.

Sep 1, Bringing Settings In Novels to Life

Sat, 01 Sep 2012 19:10:37 GMT

If you followed the earlier advice on how to get to know a setting in a novel, you will now know your setting like you know your own neighborhood.

Aug 29, Write About a Setting That Inspires You

Wed, 29 Aug 2012 16:30:28 GMT

The setting of a novel is not its most important element. That distinction is shared equally between character (or the who of the story), and plot (or the what).

Aug 26, It's Not Called "Imaginative Writing" For Nothing

Sun, 26 Aug 2012 16:41:34 GMT

All good fiction writing is imaginative writing. If a writer makes nothing up, she is effectively writing autobiography and should probably stick to non-fiction.

Aug 26, The Trouble With Autobiographical Fiction

Sun, 26 Aug 2012 16:04:09 GMT

What is the difference between writing autobiographical fiction and writing about what you know? It is one of the biggest areas of confusion that exists for novel writing beginners.

Aug 26, Where Do Novel Ideas Come From?

Sun, 26 Aug 2012 15:32:38 GMT

The answer is simple, of course: novel ideas come from right inside your head. If you read the previous article - What Are Novel Ideas? - you will know that ideas are made up of 4 ingredients.

Aug 16, Why Writing a Novel Isn't Like Baking a Cake

Thu, 16 Aug 2012 16:00:55 GMT

Perhaps the biggest problem newcomers have with writing a novel is knowing where to start and how to keep on going to the end.

Aug 15, Surviving First Draft Blues

Wed, 15 Aug 2012 16:46:41 GMT

Writing a first draft of your novel is both a scary and a magical time. It is scary because facing a blank sheet of paper and having to fill it with words takes grit.

Aug 12, How to Switch Viewpoints In Fiction

Sun, 12 Aug 2012 16:37:42 GMT

When you switch viewpoints from one character to another in a novel, remember that your job as a writer is to make the transitions as seamless for the readers as you can.

Jul 10, What Type of Novel Is Best?

Tue, 10 Jul 2012 16:17:17 GMT

If you are at all confused about the different types of novels, you are not alone: publishers and booksellers aren't always sure, either.

Jul 6, How to Become a Successful Writer

Fri, 06 Jul 2012 10:37:14 GMT

If you really want to know how to become a writer, I can tell you what to do in a single word: write! Want to go one step further and become a writer who makes a living from doing what they do?

Jul 2, Meet Your Writing Muse

Mon, 02 Jul 2012 13:18:20 GMT

Who is your writing muse, exactly? It is the source of all the creativity you will need to draw on to write your novel. The muse lives in the right-hand side of your brain.

Jul 2, Kissing Writer's Block Goodbye

Mon, 02 Jul 2012 13:09:41 GMT

Writer's block can afflict any part of novel writing, starting with an inability to come up with an inspiring idea in the first place. Mostly, though, it is associated with writing a first draft.

Jun 28, Be the Best Novel Writer You Can Be

Thu, 28 Jun 2012 16:50:47 GMT

Becoming the best novel writer you can be is such an obvious goal to have that it hardly needs saying - but I am going to talk about it anyway.

Jun 25, Creating Unforgettable Characters In Fiction

Mon, 25 Jun 2012 16:27:01 GMT

Creating unforgettable characters in your novel is important. If you can get a character to live on in a reader's imagination long after they have turned the final page, you could go far as a writer.

Jun 12, The Complete Guide to Interior Monologue

Tue, 12 Jun 2012 16:29:57 GMT

Interior monologue is the fancy literary term for a character's thoughts in a novel. The stream of thoughts we all have running through our heads is more often called internal monologue.

Jun 12, The Two Types of Interior Monologue

Tue, 12 Jun 2012 16:28:19 GMT

In a nutshell, the two varieties of interior monologue you will find in a novel are long ones and short ones. A short interior monologue tends to happen in the middle of a scene.

Jun 12, Should You Write a Character's Thoughts In Italics?

Tue, 12 Jun 2012 16:24:57 GMT

In interior monologue, italics are used to represent a character's thoughts as they actually think them in their head (i.e. the precise words they use).

Jun 12, Should You Use Tags In Interior Monologue?

Tue, 12 Jun 2012 16:23:17 GMT

Interior monologue tags, also known as thought tags, are exactly like the ones you use in dialogue - their only real purpose is to make it clear to the reader who is speaking or thinking.

May 25, StoryWeaver Review

Fri, 25 May 2012 14:46:07 GMT

I love StoryWeaver. It is both a very simple and very clever piece of story development software, and its low price tag puts it well within reach of struggling novel writers.