In this post, we are still on character development. Why you ask? Because they are the most important part of the story, of course J

What you need to do is analyze your characters, what do they do to each other? Which direction are they going? Is that one in love with that character? And also the most important question of all: what will interest your readers?

When dealing with character development, you need to be ruthless. Most first time writers stop when they reach this are because they don’t know what choice to make because the possibilities are so fascinating and they cant make a choice.

Keep moving the story forward event by event and try to remember that each change might change a character. You get to decide what changes there are in the novel.

As you develop your characters ask yourself “Why?”,  “Why does he or she do this?”, etc.

Todays Assignment:

• Finish developing your characters
• Begin planning out events in the story.
• Make choices regarding your characters

p.s many people have searching how to write a novel introduction. I will write this up into a post after the “How to Write a Novel” series has concluded.

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Put the names of your characters on a piece of paper, one paper each. If you can use some 5×7 index cards.  Begin planning the ”life story” of your characters.  Who are they? How old are they? What are their likes and dislikes?

As they come to you, write them down on their respective papers. Just remember that every character needs to have a reason for being in the story.

Develop the stories plots and characters together. One important rule in creating a novel is to never separate your characters from the plot. They must do something that contributes to the plot and brings the story to its climax.

The characters have to be believable so that people reading your novel can feel that they could exist for real.  Two important things about your characters that will draw them to the reader are their actions and purpose in life.

The protagonist of the story must be strong, because this is your stories major character. You will want your readers to care about the protagonist.

Todays Assignments

• Develop your characters, and cut out characters who do not belong in your story.
• Begin developing your plot along with your characters
• Develop your protagonist.

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First things first, one thing I would recommend is incorporating what you know and what you care about in your first novel. This will cause your story to flow a bit easier. Another thing about writing a novel is that it cannot bore the reader, it has to be interesting.

Don’t start out too big with your novel, but rather look for a story that is small but means something to you.  Don’t reject ideas that wouldn’t lead anywhere in your novel, write those ideas down and file them away. You never know that they might become part of your next novel.

I am going to debunk a little myth here: you don’t always have to write what you know. The person who wrote Memoirs of a Geisha wasn’t a geisha, he was a man and he learned about the lives of geisha through research.

Okay, here is your assignment for this post.

• Pick your characters, because they are harder to choose then the actual story.

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Lets begin the first part of our little e-course. First off, make sure that you have a nice arc of time to write. Even if you start wanting to scrap it all and perhaps, go watch some television keep focused. These emotions are all normal and it is important that you don’t let anything faze you from reaching your ultimate goal of creating a novel.

Remember to create some time in your schedule to relax as well, for example you could set a time to write an hour in the morning before heading to work, and 2 hours after you have your dinner. After those two hours, put your supplies away and do something fun like spending some time with your family. It is also a good idea to choose a day or two during the week for non-writing days.

Now comes the first big assignment of this e-course, but don’t fret there is no right or wrong answers.
Decide which story you want to write, you don’t need to have al the details thought out but rather a vague idea so that you can begin the writing process.  When writing a novel, procrastination can be your biggest nemesis. The time has come for you to begin planning your novel rather then talk about it.

Todays Assignments
1. Make a schedule and follow it to the best of your ability.
2. Also plan relaxation time.
3. Decide upon the story you want to write.

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At the end of this series, I may turn this into an ebook which will be free to download.
Writing a book can be difficult, but if other people can do it, why can’t you? You never know, you could be the next great novelist of our time.

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To be a good writer all you need is the right amount of passion and a gentle nudge into the right direction. That is what this series will basically be doing. The important thing is to try, and don’t make excuses as to why you can’t be a writer.

If you think time is a restraint, think about other writers. They are most likely dealing with children, husbands pets, running their home and in some cases their other job. Yet they still find the time to write. Create a schedule for yourself and devote at least an hour or two a day to writing your book.

Remember, some things can’t be learned but other parts can. This concludes the Introduction to the How to write a novel series and be on the look out for part one. For now, just choose your writing spot and stock up on paper, pens and/or pencils. If your using a computer, do the same because there are some things you might need to jot down.

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