Hi, I am beginning to write a novel and I am just wondering what are some good tips to bear in mind whilst writing Thanks
Use this: "I'm sorry," said John. Instead of: "I'm sorry," apologized John regretfully. Thats pretty much the only rule I know is certain. *Waits for rebuke of smarter person.*
That's way too broad to even start to answer. Software? Fonts? Outline or not? When to edit/revise? Characters - number, gender, protagonist, antagonist, name? Plot - focus on that or the characters? Descriptions? Prologue? Length? Genre? Publishing? Start writing. When something comes up - ask away!
I would get some good software. I started writing with just Microsoft word, it drove me crazy due to how hard it is to organize and move stuff around. So I started using some writing software (many offer free trials to see if you like it).
My only advice is just keep plugging away. You will reach points where the story or characters start to change. If it's good, just go with it. You'll reach a point where you become frustrated or discouraged. Fight through it. You'll reach a point where you want to rip the whole thing up and start from scratch or you start to doubt if it's any good or not. Just keep moving forward and believe that what you're writing is good. Most of all, have fun with it and enjoy the process.
Have you tried LibreOffice? It's free, and has a lot of functionality you might find helpful. I guess the biggest tip you can get this early is to just write, write some more, and keep writing. Your stories will improve over time, just like any other craft. Did you have any particular question in mind? Anything specific you are stuck on? Like shadowwalker pointed out, your question is too broad for any of us to give you any sort of good answer.
Use this: "I'm sorry," John said. Instead of: "I'm sorry," said John. Thats pretty much the only rule I know is certain. *Waits for rebuke of smarter person.* My suggestion would be to post short stories or novel chapters on here for critique. Go to the critique section and critique other people's work. Check out some library books on fiction writing. Some will connect and others won't. I like "On Writing" by Stephen King as a good starting point. Read a lot. Write a lot.
A published author came to my school some years ago and he said something that I just thought was the smartest thing an author could do. His name was Neal Shushterman (He writes the sort of thing middle-school kids would primarily read. Weird little supernatural stories.) He said, "I always write my first draft by hand. That forces me to go back and re-read my work after editing, when typing the final draft and I can catch anything I missed." Hope that helped. I know writing by hand isn't exactly the most appealing thing in the world, but that's a small sacrifice in the long run
