Monday 19 March 2007

This is the process I use to write a novel

Having listed it all out here it appears quite a technical process, which I suppose it is, but that is just me and the way I think. There are no rules about how a novel should be written – you should adopt whatever techniques feel most comfortable to you.

As I write for children/young adults I concentrate on visualising what I write. Modern youngsters are used to visual media, Film, TV, video games, internet, so I use a lot of script writing techniques to help me focus writing visually. This is how the creative process goes:


I start with a an idea.

I sum up the essence of the idea in a single sentence, e.g. ‘Ideas which arrive before their time can only destroy.’

I create a draft hook – summing up the plot of the book in less than 250 words.

I then work out the main plot points of the novel making sure they fit within the following eight point story arc:

Stasis – the place the story starts from.
Trigger – the event that kicks off the story.
Quest – the direction of the story.
Surprise – the unexpected event the protagonist has not prepared for.
Critical Choice – the hard moral decision which the protagonist has to take.
Climax – the high point of the story.
Reversal – how the protagonist / situation has changed.
Resolution – how the story ends.

I also make sure the plot elements fits within a framework of twenty-two ‘story beats,’ of my own devising, which are pointers on the journey relevant to the genres which make up the particular story I’m working on. For example if I’m using an Action/Scifi/Saga mix then I will include all the story beats for each of these genres and ensure plot points pass through all of these way-stations.

I map out the main plot points of the novel on a graph. The graph has three highs, each one higher than the last. This is a visual representation of a three act play. Within each act there will be a number of further highs and lows, the number is not prescribed. This helps me work out how much dramatic emphasis to put on each plot element.

Starting at the end of the novel, I backtrack through the plot points adding major scenes, each with a direct cause and effect from the one before. This helps to create a tight train of cause and effects from the start of the novel to the end and keeps the story going with out losing direction or pace.

I then prepare scene brief which is a technique I’ve borrowed from script writers: working in the present tense, from the front of the novel, I break down every major scene into it’s constituent minor scenes and add in key dialogue. I keep going until I reach the end of the novel. This is the point where I divide everything into mini stories – some of these mini stories will be a chapter long, others stretch over several chapters, and some will over lap. They key is to ensure each of these mini stories follows the eight point story arc so they feel complete to the reader.

Before I write anything else creative, I sit down and analyse the growth of each character: what are they after, what are their main drivers, how are they going to grow/change over the course of the novel? I then map out each character’s personal story using a flow chart: recording each major challenge, surprise, change, and reveal (aha moment). Once this is completed I revisit my scene brief and ensure each of these moments is worked into the main story.


You may be thinking by now that there is very little creativity going on. In one sense you would be correct, but all the different strands of the story, the sub plots, and character stories are essential to the novel. The art of novel writing it being able to layer all these different element of a story on top of each other and weave them in so they become invisible – I just find it easier to lay them all out where I can see them at this stage of the process rather than struggle to see them through the mass of creative prose at a later stage.


This way I don’t lose my direction halfway through the novel and end up cutting massive chunks to make the story work. I get all the agonising over with first. There is also a physiological advantage: usually, once you have written something down it takes on a life of its own and becomes almost set in stone, but because I haven’t started the first draft yet I feel free to change and chop anything I like.


The extended scene brief (this is the last stage before the first draft). Still writing in the present tense, but in note form, I cram each scene as full of information as I can. I describe the setting in each scene as though I am there looking about; I note what it looks like, smells like, sounds like, and I note what things feels and even taste like. I walk through the action with the characters and record their dialogue. Then, stealing another technique from script writing, I work out my camera angles: wide angle description here, zoom in to the hand holding the knife, cut to this character diving, cut back to the knife, pan out to the full scene again, etc. this helps the prose I’m about to write have the visual impact I desire.


At last I come to the first draft. The process up to this point will have taken six months to a year to complete. Now I start to write the novel for real, and with the mass of information available to me it is surprisingly quick. I change the prose to third person, and pick and choose from the information crammed into the extended scene brief, and use the camera directions to guide the focus of my writing.


Having completed the first draft I then re-write it from start to finish editing as heavily as I dare along the way. Every sentence and every scene gets reviewed and re-written or chopped. This is the second draft.


With a completed second draft, I send the manuscript out to selected, trusted, people who have volunteered to read the story and provide feedback. For those who prefer not to work in an electronic medium, I upload the whole manuscript to Lulu.com and self print it into a paperback book. I’ve found many people feel more comfortable with something which looks and feels like a real book.


Once I have the feedback from my reviewers I start re-writing – the third draft.
The third draft is edited, and becomes the fourth draft. Then I stop.


Finally, two to three years after starting the whole process, I’m ready to approach the market, and start sending query letters and selected chapters to agents in the hope they will take on my novel and sell it to a publisher.