What do you need to write a novel?
What do you think you need to write fiction? You probably have no idea, right? But I know just what you need. An idea, dedication and coffee. You might think that the most important is an idea but you are wrong. The most important thing to have when attempting to write fiction is dedication. Everyone has ideas but not everyone has the dedication to make that idea a reality and that separates success from failure.
But it is also true that you definitely need a great idea. Otherwise your intended audience will find your works very boring. In order to find this you will need a lot of creativity. Don't be afraid to get the wildest ideas. That's what fiction is all about. It entertains readers. If you have dedication and an idea you will probably manage a manuscipt very quickly. Perhaps a month or even a night. But it will be full of silly mistakes and inconsistencies.
This is where coffee comes in. You need to be awake but more importantly you need to be alert. Alert enough to maintain good sentence structure, grammar and flow. This will also help you avoid inconsistencies which avid readers hate quite a bit.
So if you have coffee and dedication but no idea you will also fail horribly. You will be grasping at weak ideas for your plot and it could take you months or even years just to make up a weird but poor plot. And quite simply if you have coffee and a brilliant idea but no dedication then your idea will remain just that, an idea. So that's what you need to write a novel.
While that makes up the skeleton of what you need, fiction is mainly read to give the reader enjoyment and excitement. I doubt that your dedication or coffee will matter much to your audience however your idea will. Your idea needs to be launched in such a way that reading it exhilirates your reader. According to the Writer's Digest website there are five things that need to be paid close attention to in order to entertain your readers.
1. Start with tension
You will have heard that you need to start with action. This is wrong, Why? What good is the action if it doesn't fit into the plot or even make sense. It’s better to start with tension, like a character not achieving their ambition or goal—can’t save the life of a loved one, can’t beat a rival in a race, etc.
2. Know what your characters’ wants are
Interesting stories come from characters who want something. Romeo and Juliet want each other. Harry Potter wants to beat Draco Malfoy and Slytherin in Quidditch. Hannah Baker wants the people who led her to commit suicide know how they hurt her. Writing a fiction book requires that you have compelling characters who have wants that trigger the events of the book when they can't get what they want.
3. End each chapter on the edge of a cliff
You do need to leave readers with unanswered questions. This doesn’t mean you can’t answer questions during the book, it just means you need to create new ones as you go along. Be creative. Fiction is built on the curiosity and anticipation of readers. If you don’t spark their curiosity (especially at the end of a chapter), what incentive do they have to start the next one? What is going to keep them going reading your book at 3 am when the alarm is set for 6 am?
4. Give your characters obstacles
The obstacles can be as difficult as you want (and should be pretty darn difficult to help spice up the story). But the key here is that they have to be able to overcome the obstacle no matter what it is—drug addiction, in love with a person who’s on the antagonist’s side, etc. Fictional writing is strongest when characters face tough odds and still come through in the end. However, that being said, in certain cases characters do not always overcome the conflict. This serves to create a certain effect or it may portray an idea or a message.
5. Understand your audience
Are you writing a fantasy novel? A crime novel? Erotica? Fiction genres are different and are told in different ways, so audiences of each have different expectations that you need to cover. For example, if you’re writing crime fiction, you have to reveal what happened early and spend the novel solving the crime. If you’re writing a thriller, your story is dedicated to characters trying to stop whatever it is from happening. All these categories also have archetypal audiences. Pay close attention to how these audiences behave and what they usually like.
If you can achieve all of the above then success is definite. Just remember spelling and grammar.
