10 Tips to Write a Novel

You will certainly have noticed that so far, I have insisted on the need to be organized and to plan things: preparing folders, the chronology, thinking in advance about potential inconsistencies… So now let’s talk about spontaneity.

If you’re writing the story you want to tell, it’s very likely that new ideas will come up during the writing process, while you’re truly immersed in the world you’re creating. You then become at the same time reader and author; you’re discovering what you are writing (it’s a little complicated to explain; better let you experience it).

During these moments where inspiration flows in, and which often are transition parts with nothing in particular happening (otherwise the scene is probably very clear in your mind and there is no space for unexpected elements), it can happen that we suddenly write down something spontaneous: a new character pops up, a scene develops in an unexpected way…

You think it’s strange? After all, as the author, aren’t we supposed to master our tale? Of course, and yet…

What matters though is whether to keep these new elements or stick to the plan. And in general I would advise keeping them, especially because I believe that when we write a story we truly care about, inspiration (no matter its source) can only enrich the tale. And so it’s not uncommon to discover that this unexpected event gives depth to the story in the end, or that this character you created out of the blue can be used again later on, etc.

That being said, following this piece of advice certainly doesn’t mean not following the previous ones! Especially paying attention to consistency; very seldom will a new element have no impact on the rest of the story. And sometimes you just need to accept that the idea was plainly bad and only makes things more complicated for no real reason, and thus discard it (even if you understand this at the very end of the adventure, once the book is fully written).

If we look at the “Chronicles of Galadria”, the example that comes to mind is the characters Tyv & Paeh, which we meet early in volume 2. I had absolutely never planned them in my story. In a sense they came up of their own accord! But thanks to them I was able in volume 6 to drastically strengthen an atmosphere I had planned early on to create, and it would have been a much more difficult task without them.

So dive into your story when you write, let it guide you when necessary, and in general keep everything that comes out of that relationship. Then apply the previous tips to keep the tale consistent, and be honest with yourself to remove what, all in all, doesn’t belong to the story.