So You Want to Write a Novel: Part One -- The Idea

So you want to write a novel: Part 1 – the Idea

I’ve come across dozens of people who, after I tell them I’m a writer, say to me, “I’ve always wanted to write a book.”

Why don’t you?

If you’ve somehow stumbled onto my blog, then you’ve made the conscious decision to start reading up on this marathon that you want to undertake. Because writing a book is a marathon that lasts a few weeks for some, and a few years for others. But how do you get started? I’m about to start writing a new book myself, so I thought I’d catalogue the step-by-step process, from idea to agent, to give some of you a glimpse into how the process works.

Disclaimer: This is my process. It’s different for every person. Do NOT feel pressured to conform to one way of writing. We all have to find our groove, this is only one option.

What do you need when you get that brilliant idea? How do you go from inspiration to chapter one? Honestly, this is the craziest part of the process for me. For several weeks beforehand, I go through a “musings” phase. This is when I absorb as much inspiration as possible, stretch my creative muscles and let my ideas take form in my subconscious. Often I need some time to sit back and think about everything before I even get started.

Once I’ve got all the Thinking done, I move onto writing some of this down in note form. Before I start a novel, there are some things I NEED to know. I’ve learned it’s far easier to plan, plan, plan than to go back and try and fix major plot issues later down the road. Some writers don’t like to do as much notes as I do—often they take an idea and just run with it. I do this too in some ways, but in order for me, personally, to take writing from a hobby to a profession, I need to stop saying to myself, “Ah, I’ll figure it out later” and start with, “Let’s deal with this now.”

Many things change from beginning to end, but before anything happens, I need to know The Bare Bones:

Characters:

 Main Character

è Who are they when they’re alone? Are they quiet? Easily bored? Extroverted? Introverted? Do they prefer a loud party or a quiet walk through the park?

è Who are they with people? How do they act around those they like? Those they hate?

è What motivates them? What do they want more than anything in the world?

è What makes them angry? What gets them depressed? What makes them want to give up?

è What is their biggest dream? Their biggest fear?

Once I’ve answered all these questions, I move on to secondary characters, a love interest, and antagonists. Planning out things like appearance, nationality, sexuality, ect., are just as important, but I find those very easy to plan out, so I try to focus on the things that aren’t always so obvious to me.

Note: Antagonists don’t necessarily have to be characters, but they must be well-thought out. Your antagonist is just as important as your protagonists, and must have wants and desires that are as believable as your MC’s.

Plot:

 Main Plot:

è What is the major problem at hand?

è Who/what stands against the MC? Why?

è How does your MC plan to fight back to achieve his/her goals?

Subplots:

Subplots can be a great thing, so long as they don’t overcrowd your story. I always tend to overdo it, so I try and plan out which subplots will play an active role.

à Decide on what kind of subplot you want. Is it a romance subplot? One of self-discovery? One related to the MC’s family/home life?

è Why is it in your book? Is it really necessary, or is it simply a darling you don’t want to kill?

è What does it add to your story?

Setting:

Your setting is, in a sense, its own character. It should receive just as much attention as the other components of your novel.

Basic:

è Where are you setting your story? Why?

è Does this setting have a connection to your characters/plot?

è How does your atmosphere reflect your story?

Worldbuilding:

è How does your world function? Even if you’re writing a contemporary novel, the town/city you set it in should have its own unique characteristics.

è Where do people get their food/water/medical supplies, ect?

è How does the landscape affect how the people live?

è What is unique to the world you’ve created?

è What beliefs/prejudice/myths are prominent in your culture?

Voice:

è What POV will you use? Is it 3^rd person, 1^st, or 2^nd? Do you have an omniscient narrator? How many narrators will you use? Is this in present or past tense? (Or perhaps future tense?) And of course—WHY?

è What tone will you use? How does your narrator affect your word choice, diction, style, ect?

è How will these decisions affect the story you’re trying to tell?

Research:

è What don’t I know that will better my story in some way or another?

è What things could I incorporate into my story? What is something I’ve been interested in that might work well with what I’ve already chosen to write about?

Anything else?

è Is there anything I want to plan out before I start writing? (Certain deaths, character traits, plot twists, ect?)

 

Once I've answered all these questions, and I feel I have a decent grasp on my idea, the characters and the world, I move onto the opening pages.

 

Oh joy. Those damn opening pages.

 

TBC...

Teaser Tuesday: Riot

I want to get caught up on some of my blogging now that ZAP's officially in the agent's hands. (Yay) I figured I'd do a teaser tuesday for Riot, my new WIP, which is YA/adult/thriller/contemporary/dystopian/sci-fi with a bit of cooky animal facts thrown in the midst. Unfortunately, I don't have a professional pitch written. But Riot is the story of how 4 boys go down the wrong path and become "the bad kids."

It being Valentine's Day, I figured I should post something fluffy and romantic, and if you're looking for any of that here, I'm afraid to say you're SOL. Sorry! Guess I'm super unromantic this year. ;)

Here it is, lurkers, your teaser:

Chris waves off the joint and lights himself a cigarette. I close my eyes and listen to a mud dog howl. Its cry is long and sad and lonely. When I open my eyes, Chris twirls his cigarette, then holds it like a pen, the burning tip aimed to his left hand, the unscarred one. Just when I think he’s going to burn himself, he spins the cigarette and takes another drag.

“You know,” Chris says, simple as that, easy as pie. “I think I want to kill my parents.”

I stare at him until he turns to look at me. His face is smooth—no anger, no jest—and his eyes are a clear, watery blue. He looks at me and I look at him and I think, yeah, no one deserves to kill their parents as much as you do, Chris.

Then Chris cracks a smile. The laugh that bubbles out of him is smooth and easy, and I can’t imagine him as the kind of person that would actually hurt anyone. He doesn’t have scars or disfigurements. He’s not hanging out in alleys and beating up kids for extra change. He’s not a monster; he’s just a kid.

Then again, what do I know about monsters?

WIP Wednesday

I don't often do these, mostly because I'm convinced all my snippets of writing are MUCH better in context, but today I figured, what the hell.

Right now, my current project is a steampunk with dragons. (Yes, that is how I pitch it to everyone, why do you ask?) I pumped out three chapters today, and am debating whether I'm up for a fourth.

Here's the end to a scene. Charlotte has just won another round of the Steel Talon Tournament, where dragons face off against walkers.

Charlotte closed her eyes, and let victory wash over her.

There wasn’t any joy in it, she found. There was elation, a thrill, even pleasure in knowing that she made it one step closer to her goal.

But there was no joy in this.

Beatrice screamed over the cries of the crowd. “No! No! Let me go! I can put it out! I can put out the fire!”

A hand touched her arm and Charlotte turned, finding Riley at her side. His brow was creased in concern.

“Are you all right?” he asked.

Charlotte’s lips quivered, and she feared the answer would never again be ‘yes.’

She wrapped her arms around his middle and held him, tightly, as all around her the world burned.

WIP Wednesday: Crash

So, if you've been following me on Twitter, you know I've been bitching and whining about my current WIP, Crash, the sequel to Shell. I'm currently 78K in, God only knows what the final wordcount is going to look like, but I'm finally almost-sorta-close-to done. There are lots of problems with it, but I'm hoping to be able to sit down and fix them during revisions.

One of the problems I've been struggling with (though it's a minor one) is the case of my character Vetis. During Shell, it became a running joke between me and my beta that Vetis was gay, mostly because of how he acts towards another one of the guy characters. And as that draft came to a close, I knew, without a shadow of a doubt, that Vetis was in love with this boy. It never once came up as more than hints, but it was obvious to me.

But as I keep writing him, it becomes really apparent to me that Vetis is really in love with this boy, and I don't know what to do about it. On the one hand, I don't want to boil down his motivations to just being in love. On the other hand, I'm not sure if avoiding this characteristic is good for his character. Back again, it's not essential to the plot, and I'm not sure if it would justify his character to bring this piece of him to light. And back again, he's really, flaming gay.

At the moment, it's not an issue, but I know it might be when I get to the third book.

Either way, here's an excerpt. It's Vetis and another main character discussing Seth. (AKA, Jamie, AKA, Rhamiel, AKA, the boy Vetis is madly in love with.)

“Is he okay?” she asked.

“He’s fine,” Vetis said, grabbing his jacket from the couch and shrugging it on. “Just a little sick.”

Dahlia scuttled forwards. She shot a glance at her coworker before she hissed, “Is it him?”

Vetis stilled for half a beat, his eyes growing distant. Dahlia was hopeful. From the moment Seth stepped into the café a change came over Vetis. Vetis, the silent one, the shadow, who came to her gigs to quell his boredom, had completely transformed. He’d approached Seth, something he had never done before as long as Dahlia had known him.

“No,” he said at last. “It’s not him.”

Dahlia’s shoulders slumped. “Who is he?” she whispered. She wanted to go on, to say, you never act like this. But she didn’t dare push it. Not on these rare moments when he spoke to her.

“A friend,” Vetis said, meeting her stare with his own. “A very old friend.”

Shell + Crash: Setlist

Hello everyone! Thanks to the wonderful support I received on my dorky post about contemporary YA, I've decided to keep with my contemp idea and really try to see where it goes. I've decided on a tentative title: HOW TOBY RIDEWOOD ACCIDENTLY ON PURPOSE BROKE THE WORLD. Catchy, eh? It's a nice change from my one word titles I've had going on for a while.

Anyway, I promised you guys a setlist from Shell (currently on sub) and Crash (current WIP). I do use a lot of music when I write. I plug in my iPod when I sit down to write and zone out so I don't have to pay attention to anything else going on. Music inspires me a lot too, but I've never really given it much thought. I mean, I love music, but I'm not a music-person. I grew up with band geeks who could hear a song once and then play it on whatever instrument tickled their fancy, so I've never considered myself musically knowledgeable.

But I figured I'd do a blog post about some of the songs that inspire me. Who knows, maybe when (if) these books ever make it to print I could do up a CD and give it away in a contest.

Either way, that's a long ways from now, so let's start, shall we?

SHELL

All the songs are linked to the music videos on youtube so you can have a taste of what I'm talking about.

Missing by Evanescence. This song always, ALWAYS, reminds me of Jamie Winchester, one of my MCs. Jamie is a sweet, kind boy who is a little depressed and is the typical "sacrifice." Something about Amy Lee's haunting voice makes me think of Jamie and his problems, and the chorus, oh the chorus, always reminds me of a major plot point which I'm not going to talk about for fear of spoilers. This song actually helped inspire a specific scene near the end of the book. Three guesses what happens.

The End by Classic Crime. This song always makes me think of the other MC from Shell, Adam Fenn. The slow tempo and the singer's voice just always reminds me of Adam, and the lyrics fit him PERFECTLY. It gives me shivers thinking about it sometimes. Mostly, this song makes me think of what Adam would say to himself. He doesn't have much of a self-esteem, despite his cocky and carefree attitude most of the time.

Univited by Alanis Morisette. This song 100% inspired Leila Litt. I was listening to this song and an image popped into my head of a girl of Indian or Middle Eastern decent wearing a veil and riding a camel. So many sexy images came out of this song, which later ended up being transferred into sexual tension between Leila and Adam.

Down by Jason Walker ft Molly Reed. This song is Vetis, my sort of maybe anti-hero. OMG, Jason's voice is so much what I imagine Vetis's voice sounds like. Really, this reminds me of Vetis's life as an angel, him rebelling and casting into Hell. I think this song really illustrates his longing for his return to Heaven.

(If my beta readers are reading, I'm sure you're wondering where Avery's song is. She's another major character, but Avery wasn't inspired by a song, and I could never really find one that really fit her character. She was actually inspired by Harry Potter, but that's a story for another day.)

All You Did Was Save My Life by Our Lady Peace. This song to me, really illustrates Adam's relationship with Jamie, (and Arthur's relationship with Seth). Because Jamie does save Adam's life. Over. And over. And over. And over....


CRASH

All Around Me by Flyleaf. This song birthed Dahlia Slade. I was listening to the song and all of a sudden I was struck with an image of a punk girl wearing ripped fishnets, long brown hair singing on stage in front of a crowd of people. Even though Dahlia's character has changed since then, I think this song still encompasses her passion, and how she puts her heart into everything she does.

When I'm Gone by Three Doors Down. This song is Arthur Fenn, and I have no idea why. The lyrics don't really fit him, (besides the chorus, and even then that's a stretch) but the guitar here and the singer's voice just create the perfect atmosphere. Arthur is hard and soft, a lover and a fighter, and I think this song captures that dual aspect of him.

Crashed by Chris Daughtry. This is Seth Beckett, and really the whole book itself. I listened to this song once and couldn't get it out of my head. All I could see was Seth, fighting his way through the troubles of his life. The line "Then I crashed into you, like a runaway train, you will consume me, but I can't walk away." That IS Crash, and Seth too. Plus, the line about bursting into flames kept bringing up an image of Seth, quite literally, on fire, so I ended up adding that scene into the book because I couldn't get it out of my head.

Cold as it Gets by Patty Griffin.(Couldn't find a youtube video for it. Look this song up, it is amazing.) This song is another one of Vetis's. His character really fits the slow songs best. The haunting sound of the singer's voice makes me think of the struggles he's gone through. Plus I can't shake the image of him in old west times in a cowboy hat and riding a horse looking for Rhamiel. So much love.

Made of Steel by Our Lady Peace. This is Jynx's song. It started off as a joke, because Jynx is essentially a robot, but it grew on me. And really, he does want to be the hero in the end.

It's Not Over by Daughtry. This song is totally another one for Seth. It ain't over until it's over, and I think it demonstrates Seth's stubbornness and his unrelenting will.

Anthem of the Angels by Breaking Benjamin. This one is kind of general, and that kind of speaks about the relationship with the characters, especially between Jynx and Seth and Arthur and Seth. It just sounds dark and bleak, and I think it shows the world they're living in. It feels hopeless, and that's really how this book feels closer to the end.

Well, there you have it, I think. My playlist. What I wrote to, and am still writing to.

Peace,

-Katie