Where do you get your ideas? If I had a nickel for every time I’ve been asked this wrong-headed question. . . . Ah, well. When a non-writer asks me this question, basically, I just smile and lie, because the truth is more complicated, less magical, indeed, a good deal grubbier than most people who […]
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Before you start writing your novel, it is my firm opinion that you need to have at least a general idea of what the story is (plot), who’s in it (characters), and the world in which it takes place (world-building). In the previous article, we discussed designing your novel’s premise. Once that step is completed, […]
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Writing the first draft has always been the most grueling part of writing a novel for me. Always one to attack my challenges head on, however, I used to set an ambitious daily minimal quota for myself, counting out how many clean, carefully thought-out pages I would need to write each day in order to […]
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We are often told that ‘real writers’ don’t wait for inspiration to strike, but produce a set number of words/pages on a regular schedule. While this kind of productivity may sound like it calls for heroic self- discipline, there are ways to make it a little easier on yourself. The force of habit and the […]
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