On Sunday, when I couldn’t write because my young children were interrupting me, I logged on to Twitter, and saw a link to an article on eHow.com entitled “How to Prepare Before Writing a Novel”. Curious, I found and read the article. (I started this post a few minutes after I saw the link and read the article, but then, as usual, I was interrupted before I finished this post, so it’s been days since I read the article and mentally drafted the reaction that I’m only now getting the chance to type.)
While the article had some common-sense ideas that might be helpful to some writers, I had to laugh while reading it because this process doesn’t work for me. (Granted, the article’s author did say that the steps are for those who can’t just sit down and start to write.) So far, I haven’t needed to do all of this prep work before writing. I get ideas–often whole scenes with dialogue–throughout the day, or even in my sleep, and then it’s a race against time to type or write down as much as I can remember before the memory of the idea/dream recedes or I am interrupted. This idea or dream gives to me the main characters, the setting, the basic outline and plot.
Here are the steps that the article suggests:
- Step 1 – “Decide what the novel will be about” and choose the novel’s themes.
- Step 2 – “Choose the plot and characters.”
- Step 3 – “Flesh out the characters.”
- Step 4 – “Flesh out the plot.”
- Step 5 – “Choose the setting of the novel.”
- Step 6 – “Choose the tone for the novel.”
- Step 7 – “Write preliminary exercises for the novel.”
- Step 8 – “Outline the novel.”
My reactions:
Step 6 should be part of step one. Step 5 should be earlier, as well, perhaps step 2 (or step 3 if step 6 becomes step 2). Actually, the more that I think about it, step 5 should also be part of step one. Setting can determine a novel’s genre.
Frankly, putting Step 7 before Step 8 makes no sense. Step 8 should be one of the first few steps, not the last! If you’re starting to write parts of a novel, but you don’t yet have an outline, then why not just start writing? Why bother creating an outline at all? If you must follow these steps consciously in order to prepare to write a novel, then an outline should come first. Also, why flesh out the plot before choosing setting or tone? I usually flesh out the plot as I write.
Here is how I would number the steps:
- Step 1 – “Decide the type of novel, the novel’s themes, tone, and setting.”
- Step 2 – Choose the plot and characters.
- Step 3 – Flesh out the characters.
- Step 4 – Outline the novel.
- Step 5 – Flesh out the plot.
- Step 6 – Start writing!
