We had been wanting to write an entry with guidelines and clues about how to write a novel. Especially because, when we search the internet, there are many guides that offer advice only to write a certain kind of novels: commercial ones. From Central de Escritura we want to offer an alternative vision.
For this, or we will give general keys that do not lead you towards one type or another of a novel. We have taken these tips from classic writers and, of course, from our team of creative writing teachers. They are general principles that will undoubtedly serve as a guide, especially at the beginning (writing a novel, as they say, is like exploring a deep and deep well).
Guidelines for writing a novel: prior preparation
Let's place ourselves in the moment before embarking on creative writing. While it is true that many novels have been written in this way, on the fly, it is not advisable for a beginner to jump into the ring. A text as long as a novel involves many structural problems, and sometimes a minimum prior planning can be very helpful.
Suppose you had an idea to write a book. Well, what you could do next is an outline of the characters that will appear, a general outline of the plot (if there is one) and, finally, a small technical sketch where you will specify some features: if it will be in the first person, what will be your verbal tense, if the tone will be comical or not, how will the descriptions, characters etc. be?
Having a guide and a reference when writing a novel can be decisive at times when we get stuck or do not know if we are on the right track.
Writing a novel is a physical exercise
The English writer Martin Amis, said in a youth interview that writing a novel seemed to him an exercise, literally, strenuous from the physical point of view. This simile is shared by many. Because, without a doubt, writing tires, and writing a novel over months, even more. Therefore, according to the simile, it is advisable to have adequate training.
If you do not have the habit of writing, impose an hour a day to generate a minimum continuity. You will see how little by little it becomes easier for you to write for long periods. Of course, writing a novel requires perseverance. If you leave several days, you will notice, when you write again, the stagnation of those who have lost their habit. Also, there is nothing as difficult as starting to write a book.
Therefore, write with the discipline and delivery of your usual sport.
Learn with the best
To speak of writing a novel is to speak of bigger words. Not so much for the qualitative, but for the added demands of the quantitative. A novel is a very long text that demands some kind of internal coherence. Maintaining it and knowing how to sketch the parts of the structure with solvency requires practice, tenacity and a lot of mastery of the technique. And many times what is missing are not ideas to write a book, but the knowledge of how to do it.
Therefore, an interesting way to start writing a novel is to do it under the guidance and tutelage of a teacher. James Joyce as a teacher of Beckett and Svevo, for example. Here, in Central de Escritura, we have a literary workshop focused on the writing of novels. It is given by Jaime Mesa, author of Alfaguara, who enjoys international prestige. The novel writing course includes a theoretical part, as well as exercises. Another interesting element: it lasts nine months, period in which the student can be, at all times, in contact with the teacher and develop their own project.
The guide and the tutelage of someone experienced in writing novels, can be a fundamental first step to consolidate some patterns of writing and stylistic keys.
Some common mistakes when writing a novel
In this section we will review some common errors -of a very general and orientative type- when writing a novel. It must be considered, in the field of literature, that every norm can be subverted, and that sometimes literary greatness can be found in texts with "technical" errors. Well, technique is not everything: but a necessary part. Some of these tips are taken from the literary critic James Wood, others from our teachers.
Confuse narrator and writer : Unless the tone is purely metaliterary, when a fictional narrator speaks, we must watch to maintain its internal coherence. Sometimes, an overabundance of observations, or too many explanations by the narrator himself, can enrarecer the naturalness of fiction. A classic example is found in novels in which, suddenly, the author begins to lecture the reader, producing a sudden and strange distance with the narration.
Superaddivivation and baroqueism : The greatness of style does not consist in searching for elaborate words and using complex syntaxes. Try to stay at a language level that you control, or that you know you can control in the long haul. We must disregard the unconscious desire to please the reader. Many times, this desire can lead us to add an excess of adjectives in the text, bombastic words, etc. Such choices are not wrong when writing a novel, but if they are not developed with technical knowledge they can go wrong.
Harmony in tone and structure : Long-distance texts have a problem of temporary dilation. As one can be months writing a novel, it is especially difficult to maintain throughout the text a tone unit, and in general the structural unit. Perhaps a few happy weeks took us to write comic passages, and then the blackest melancholy took us to dark descriptions. We must know how to harmonize the text of the novel so that its modulations are functional and credible for the reader.
Laziness : Writing a novel is a long-term creative task: it requires dedication and perseverance. Leaving it "for tomorrow" is one of the worst mistakes a writer can make.
These would be some guidelines for writing a novel. We invite you to leave your comments, with contributions, opinions ... Well, from the experience of each one, we can pick up other interesting writing guidelines.
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