Ten Tips to Help You Finish Writing Your
Novel
by: Ann Roscopf Allen
- Set aside a time to write and keep it sacred.
- Remove all distractions while you write.
- Outline your plot.
- Avoid the intimidation of a blank computer screen.
- Keep a draft mentality.
- Don't feel compelled to begin at the beginning.
- Organize your files, especially if you are not
going to write in order.
- Revise, revise, revise.
- Don't be afraid of putting yourself out there.
- Only you can determine when you are finished.
[ Read
Full Article ]
|
|
 |
Writing a Book
A Beginner's Guide to Writing a Novel
by: Rachelle Arlin Credo
No one is born a novel writer. But do you believe that
we all have the capability to be writers? Impossible as
it may seem but the answer is yes! If we have the passion
for it and if we strive to make it happen, novelwriting
can be as easy as writing ABC. Writing is actually not
a very complicated thing. It is just like drawing, painting,
and even cooking. It is an art! Your imagination is all
that it takes to get it started. What makes it hard is
not writing itself but how people make it hard than it
really is.
The first key to writing a novel is the ability to dream
and imagine. Think back to when you were a little child
and dreamed. Your imagination took you to places you've
never been before. It made you do things you never thought
you could do. Having superpowers...being in strange places...the
conditions are limitless. Writing a novel is actually
imagination translated into words. You close your eyes
and let your thoughts drift while creating a web of consequential
ideas. Afterwhich, you write them down on paper.
The second key to writing is formulating the premise of
your novel. Let's say you'd start with a huge asteroid
moving about in space. Then suddenly it collided with
another asteroid and instantly created an explosion. Some
of the explosion's debris fell down into the earth's atmosphere.
By accident a person comes in contact with it. These sequence
of events could be your initial start in which you let
your mind take hold of and run with to produce the succeeding
events.
 The
third key would be creating a stream of spontaneous ideas.
Once you have the initial idea, sink down into it and
allow yourself to be completely absorbed. Let's say after
the person comes in contact with the asteroid debris,
he gains supernatural powers! And then he notices some
new changes in his being, not just physically but also
emotionally and psychologically. This is where an avalanche
of new ideas start coming in. You will notice that you
are no longer directing your story but your story is directing
you. That makes writing now so easy. You don't need to
analyze anything because the story now starts to play
like a movie. All you have to do is put them into words
as the story plays in your head.
Next, make sure you are able to retain your daydreaming
and concentration as one event goes after another. This
state is now called the "alpha state". According
to Judith Tramayne-Barth, this is the place between consciousness
and sleep. Time stands still when you are in this state.
Words keep coming to you until you start to feel pain
in your legs and in your waist and then you suddenly flick
consciousness and you become flabbergasted because you've
not only written one or two pages but five or more without
even knowing it!
The next key would be to practice flipping in and out
of the "alpha state". You can do this by rereading
what you've written and internalizing it as if it was
your first time. It might take you time, as much as hours
or even days before you are able to go to your "alpha
state" again but once you're adept at going into
the zone, it would only be a matter of minutes before
you start writing a new dialogue.
So, you've finished your story! Now it's time to do the
final touch-ups. There is still one last thing that you
need to do. Yea, you guessed it. You need to check the
entire story again for spelling, punctuations, grammar,
correct word usage and coherence. You might even need
to revise it a few times before you are able to arrive
with the final output. But don't fret, it's not much work
really compared to writing the entire novel. What's important
is you now have your own novel, written by yourself, using
your very own imagination. How much more proud could you
get?
About the Author
Rachelle Arlin Credo is an entrepreneur and relationship
coach. She also works as an image consultant and part-time
writer. Formerly a contributing scribe to The Freeman
and Sunstar Philippines, her literary works have been
published in various magazines and online publications. |
|
