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Fiction Writing Tips

How to Start Writing a Novel: Tips and Examples

January 30, 2023

book, creativity, fiction, genre, writing

Beginner as well as more advanced fiction writers often struggle with a seemingly simple question: How do you start writing a novel?

Just to be clear, I’m not referring to the textual part – that is, narrative strategies beginning a novel; its first few paragraphs. If you’re looking for that, here are 17 ways to begin a novel.

Instead, in this post I will show you tips and examples on how to start writing a novel in the sense of how to set up the foundations. In other words, in this post I will share with you the bare minimum you need to know before you even think of typing the first word.

As I often say, many people – and that includes authors – believe that a writer just “comes up with stuff” out of nothing. That’s simply not true. Writing a novel involves a subconsciously long, complex process beginning with experiences, memories, and imagination. These come before you decide to write a book.

But suppose you already have these set; you have had experiences that have fueled your imagination.

What next?

Let’s find out!

how to start writing a novel — “Writing a novel is not as hard as you think,” said Mr Whiskers

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How to Make a Book Cover: Ideas, Examples, and Problem Points

December 12, 2022

Fiction Writing Tips, Writing

art, book, fiction, literature, marketing, writing

4 comments

There are many things troubling indie authors looking to self-publish, and one of them is undeniably how to make a book cover. More importantly, how to make a book cover that is both marketable and true to the art.

As you might have noticed from past posts, I have a pretty strong opinion regarding the balance between being a writer and being an artist. In a nutshell, I consider the two mutually exclusive, though in this imperfect world most of us try to find a balance between the two.

And making a book cover that supports your novel is definitely a matter of balance.

Should you go for aesthetic meaning or mere eye-catchiness? Should you prefer familiar, known solutions or something more unique, drawing attention? Perhaps the simpler the better?

We’ll take a look at these and much more in this post. I’ll share with you all I’ve learned about making a book cover that both serves its marketing purpose and respects your art. From book cover examples (drawing on my own painful experience) and ideas on how to proceed, to more general – dare I say, philosophical – problem points having to do with book covers, there’s certainly something interesting for you.

As a bonus, I’ll also share with you my most favorite book cover of all time!

This is the same cover image you can see on my post self-assessing my work. The evolution of my book cover designs is also interesting to follow, from the oldest (top left) to the newest (bottom right)

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How to Write Sex Scenes: Why It’s Hard and How to Do It

September 26, 2022

Fiction Writing Tips, Writing

creativity, descriptions, fiction, literature, sexuality, writing

4 comments

Yes, there are many puns to be made about sex, so I couldn’t resist one with the title – a low-hanging fruit, really. However, the truth is that sex scenes in fiction are a very serious thing. For reasons we’ll speculate about in this post, even experienced writers can make a total cock-up of sex scenes (uh-oh, another pun). More importantly, I’ll offer you some ideas on how to write sex scenes for your novel in a way that does justice to the narrative.

Here’s an early disclaimer: Sex in fiction is as diverse as sex in real life, with the added complexity genre brings into the picture. In other words, you would write sex scenes in romance fiction in an entirely different way compared to literary fiction. I’m certainly not an authority in the former; I can’t stand it.

Ultimately, as with every other writing-tips post I’ve written, this is a set of ideas. Some of them might be something you find useful, others less so. You are the authority on your work, so approach what you find here with the proper skepticism and use it to your benefit.

How to Write Sex Scenes — Sometimes, less is more. Just as this stock photo exemplifies, to write a sex scene that serves your narrative, you don’t have to always be explicit

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