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HelloOoOo everybody!
I've recently had an influx of new writers join my Patreon-exclusive Discord writing group, and with new writers come new questions. The one question that has popped up the most is some variation of this: “I have an idea for a book! What do I do with it?”
First and foremost, I wrote an entire step-by-step guide to the writing process that goes all the way from the idea phase to the professional edits. So you know, you could just read it. You can actually order a copy now, the link is right here. Do it!
But if you haven't ordered it yet, here is a summary of what you gotta do before the drafting phase. These are all the steps that will hopefully make the drafting process a lot less overwhelming. Unless you go with the first tip, that one's just gonna make the whole process harder.
This video is sponsored by Scrintal. As always, all opinions are my own.
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Number 1: Just Start Writing
According to the writing community at large, there are two types of writers, plotters and pantsers. Plotters plan their stories ahead of time, and pantsers write by the seat of their pants, which essentially means that they go into the writing process with little more than an idea. Personally, I think this labeling is reductive. Technically, all writers are some mishmash of being a plotter and a pantser. It's just a matter of which way you lean. I don't know a single pantser who doesn't have at least some idea of the direction they're headed, and even the most hardcore plotters like myself, still make up some content on the fly.
All that said, do I recommend fully pantsing a novel? Absolutely not. If you don't have at least some kind of plan, you are increasing your odds of writer's block, of writing yourself into a corner, or abandoning structure altogether and just creating a meandering plot. All that said, some writers do prefer this method, so I'm throwing it out there. You can't say I didn't give you all your options.
Number 2: Thought Dump
If you decide to go the planning route, which I personally recommend, the first step is to thought-dump. This is where I write down all my ideas for the story. Good or bad, it doesn't matter, I write ‘em down. The ideas don't have to be in sequential order. They don't have to be organized in any way. They can be setting descriptions, they can be fight scene maneuvers. They can be kiss scenes, character descriptions, or entire strings of dialogue. This part of the process is messy, as dumps often are. So long as you can read and understand your own ideas, that's all that matters. The point is to get them out in the open so that you can organize them later. There's not a whole lot to say on this step. If you think it's complicated, you're overthinking it.
Number 3: Map Everything Out
Got some characters in mind? Write some character profiles. Need to create a fictional universe? Start world-building. And of course, this is the time to start plotting your actual story. I recommend doing these three activities in tandem because they have a direct effect on one another. The characters you create are going to move the plot forward. The plot is going to have an effect on world-building. The world-building is going to directly affect the characters, and so on. Do not build the setting and characters first, and then save the story for last. Remember, the plot is the foundation of your book. Your setting and your characters need to fit your story, not the other way around. This is why you wanna do all three things at the same time.
Now how you map these elements is up to you. You can do it by hand, you can do it on a poster board. I personally recommend doing it digitally via a platform like Scrintal, a web app that combines mind mapping with the power of networked note-taking. I have an affiliate link for it here.
Number 4: Research
Once you start building your plot, characters, and setting, you’re gonna notice holes in your work because you don't know everything. This is when the good old Google machine is gonna be your best friend. Not quite sure how to structure a novel? Google it! Not sure where the climax is supposed to be? Google it! It's toward the end of the book, right before the falling action and resolution.
And of course, you're probably going to need to research content for your book. Does your story take place in ancient Rome? Time to brush up on your history so you make sure it's accurate. Does your character need to remove an arrow from someone's body? Time to research how to do it correctly so that the dummy doesn't bleed out. And of course, are you writing mental or physical illness? You probably wanna portray that accurately, so it's a good idea to research the crap out of the body and brain.
Number 5: Outline
There isn't one single way to outline. Outlining looks different for every author. There are snowflake outlines, bookend methods, clustering, or topic outlines. You need to choose the method that works best for you. Or take an existing method and tweak it to suit your needs. For example, my outlining method is a modified version of the topic outline.
How much or how little you outline is up to you. There are skeletal outlines which basically means that you only outline the major plot points of your novel and everything else you figure out on the fly. Then there are people like me who create extremely detailed outlines. My outlines can be 20 to 30 pages long. You don't have to do that if you don't want to, you create the outline that works best for you. That's what trial and error is for.
Basically at this step, you're going to take all the mapping you did, and then organize it into an outline of your choosing. This will make the information a lot easier to manage. It'll put your content in sequential order, and it will help decrease your odds of experiencing writer's block. It's easy to know what to write next when it's spelled out right in front of ya.
So that's all I've got for you today!
I hope this post helps ya out as you turn your little baby idea into a full-blown novel. If you want more info on what to do before you start drafting your manuscript, be sure to check out Shut Up and Write the Book, my step-by-step guide to crafting your novel from plan to print.
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