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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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Conceptualizer: a Story Planning Program

January 23, 2023

Programming, Writing

fiction, javascript, literature, programming, writing

There are fiction authors who need to plan every, single, detail in advance – they’re called “plotters”. Then there are writers who write by their seat of their pants – hence they’re called “pantsers”. In reality, most authors fall somewhere in-between. The truth is, we all need some degree of planning for most works (except perhaps stream-of-consciousness or heavily experimental). And so, we could all benefit from a story planning program.

As with everything I make – programs, books, or blog posts – the intended audience of Conceptualizer, my story planning program, was first and foremost myself. That is, I started to make a story planner because I felt I could benefit from one. I’m certainly not a plotter (though not a pantser either), but I like to keep some sort of notes regarding what will happen when.

And so, perhaps ironically, this sort of selfishness can be very useful to you, too! Let’s take a look at Conceptualizer, what it does and how it works, and at the end of this post I’ll include a link for you so that you can try it.

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Why and How I Made Up a Literary Agent

January 2, 2023

Writing

book, fiction, literary agent, literature, society, writing

Quite a provocative title, you must admit. It’s true, I essentially made up a literary agent when I couldn’t find one. The problem is, it worked… sort of.

Much of our existence – as creators and generally – is ambiguous and self-contradictory. People are complex beings, there are no simple answers. And so, though I’ve generally disowned my past as a published author, at the same time I still use the designation on Amazon, Goodreads, and such platforms. I also use it in the introductory pages of my books. It’s supposed to be some sort of sign of merit.

This is all bullshit, of course.

I’m only playing a part doing that; it’s the persona of a writer selling a book. I don’t really believe being a published author means anything in terms of quality. By the way, I also mention I have a PhD in English literature, but I don’t think that means much either.

It’s all a performance; theatrics.

Which is the topic of today’s story, too: Why and how I made up a literary agent. This is something very few people know (perhaps as few as three: the “agent”, the publisher, and myself). I’ll talk about the why’s and how’s, as well as the aftereffects. This should reveal to us a few things about the publishing industry.

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