I've written loads of short stories and expanded into articles and poems, yet I haven't even attempted a novel. I want to try doing one but need advice on where to start. Thanks in advance :)
I've written loads of short stories and expanded into articles and poems, yet I haven't even attempted a novel. I want to try doing one but need advice on where to start. Thanks in advance :)
David: I have expanded some paragraphs to my story 'Never Forgotten' so could you look at that and see if that's what you mean by expanding the descriptive elements :) thank you for the advice :)
Robert: thank you for your advice it is really appreciated I will definitely take it into account when I start my first novel :) thank you again
Well, I've written both short stories and novels in the past and, frankly, I find novels somewhat easier. They tend not to be constrained so much by word count and so you can explore several issues in more detail than perhaps you would be able to in a short story.
For me, the only thing which really changes is my style of writing and how concise I am in terms of plot development.
You still need an over-arching storyline. Remember that you can write a much bigger and more intricate plot for a novel. Also remember that you probably won't know all of your novel's content at the start (unless you have meticulously planned it in advance - an alien way of writing to me).
Once you have the idea, loosely decide where you are going to set it, who your characters will be (again, you probably won't know them all at this point. I often start out with only two and soon have a cast of about twenty or so by the end) and your opening scene vaguely in your head. When I say vaguely, I mean "It was a dark and stormy night out on the moors" type of vaguely.
Then just write. Remember that you can expand on themes more in a novel. If you wish to entertain back story you can. You can also explore your characters in far more detail than perhaps you can in a short story. For me, this is the attraction of writing a novel.
Also, don't be afraid to rip it all up and start over if you feel the idea isn't working. Keep the file, keep the characters (they often transplant quite nicely from one novel to another with possibly a makeover on the way), keep your research, but don't be afraid to start over if it isn't working.
Then spend countless hours in the shower wondering about such things as "do blonde highlights work with brown hair?", "Would my character really drink vodka, or is he more a Chardonnay man?" and wondering why you started in the first place.
Also, take time to relax and do something else to keep yourself from going totally cuckoo during the writing process. Walk the plants and fertilise the dogs, for example.
But above all, enjoy it. If you love the story, it will come through in the writing.
In my experience, novels always look daunting as you type those first few words and they are a real labour of love, but they are oh-so-worth the satisfaction that you get when you type "The End" and, having edited it to death, actually mean it.
Victoria
Why not try some simple writing exercises?
(Incidentally - I hope the last post has typos in it ;-) )
Why not try taking even just odd paragraphs from some of the work you have already written and expanding the descriptive elements in them? Find out if you can build up the images you are working with...
Have you considered that writing is just a different form of painting a picture? Bulk it out enough and you might even say that it is sculpture ;-)
In any art form we are unlikely to be able to hit perfection straight away - they all take practice. It makes sense to at least direct the practice in the way that we want to head.
I think that just keeping on writing short stories and hoping that inspiration will spark a novel is one way of doing it - but - if you really want to move on to longer works - it just makes sense to practice the elements of how to do it...
All you have to do now is figure out what those elements are ;-)