Q: Where do you currently live and have you lived there all your life?
Q: When in your life did you realize you wanted to be a writer?
Q: Any chance that the readers will be able to read that first story?
Q: Where do you get the inspiration for your characters in the novels?
Q: Can we expect more novels from your pen in the near future?I enjoy any romance novel, but my favorite author is Nora Roberts.
A first time writer usually gets down to writing a novel in the language style she or he finds comfortable. In my opinion, this is the correct way to do it. However, and this is a big BUT, this is usually not the style the publishers want. There are certain rules they expect all authors to obey and finding these rules can be a daunting task.
In the previous post, I referred to books to read on the subject, but afforded no details. I can only comment on the books and resources I read and used to try further my education in the writing business. First, as I said previously, you need to join a writer's forum where you can get advice from other writers and some honest critique on your work. I found My Writer's Circle an invaluable source of advice and the pool of knowledge is extensive. There are many other forums like this and many other blogs offering advice. It really pays to read them. It also pays to read other people's writing and take note of the comments they receive.
James N Frey wrote a series of books dealing the pain of writing a publishable novel. He wrote these books in non-technical language, easy to understand even if your first language is not English, and offer a step-by-step guide to writing better fiction. For a novice, like me, the first read almost make you want to throw in the towel, thinking you will never get it right. On the second read and when you start applying the techniques, the task becomes a bit more manageable.
There are probably thousands of books like these in the shops and some may even offer better advice. Do your research and learn as much as you can.
Above all - KEEP ON WRITING!
All stories start with an idea. Ideas are easy to find - just look around you and take notice of the environment, but mostly the people. Peculiar habits of friends, family and strangers often spark an idea for a character in a novel or short story. A family member or friend who reacts predictably to his or her environment affords the writer a wealth of information upon which a character can be build. Take notice of the manner in which people talk and gesture. In short - pay attention to others and the ideas for a new character will flow.
Characters are not enough to build a story on. You also need a plot or story line. In other words, what is the story about? You need to be able to summarize in one sentence what the central theme of the story would be. If someone reads the story, he or she must be able to identify the central theme. A romance novel's theme would for example be "friendship grows into love" or "helping someone in need leads to love". This central idea is the 'premise' of the story.
Most people think finding an original premise is an impossible task to accomplish, as there are thousands of romance novels, mysteries and science fiction books for sale. Even if your idea involves the classic romance between teenage sweethearts who grew apart over the years only to find each other later in life, it would still be your own unique characters with their own personality doing the romancing. Your characters will develop the story in their own way and if you stay true to the personality you gave the character, there will be no duplication of another novel.
Once you have the idea or premise of the story, you can begin to develop characters for the story and plot an outline of how the story will develop. Some people do not create an outline for a novel and choose to write and see where the story takes them in their imagination. Although this works for some, you may easily find yourself, after having written a couple of thousand words, in a corner and not knowing how to proceed with the story. The internet contains several free downloadable software packages to assist in planning the outline of the novel as well as writing the actual story - yWriter4 is a free program and can be of value to a novice writer.
Above all, read as many books on the subject of writing as you possibly can and visit free online forums for tips and ideas.
