Write Your Novel Step By Step (Part 4)

This is going to be the third excerpt on writing your novel. I am going to try and put these editions out as quickly as I can but that is only when time allows. I love writing and that is what I am doing all the time. Am I a good writer? I don’t know. What I do know is that I am getting to be a better writer with every word I put on paper and you too can become a good writer. To write your novel just follow these steps that I am laying out and at the end you will have something that at least you are proud of.

16. Believability

It doesn’t matter if your character is evil or good. What does matter is that your reader believes he is real. When I write I make believe I am the character, I talk out loud and I take my time to imagine what he is doing next. Your characters actions will define his purpose. Your story is going to be a lot harder to believe if you have way too many characters. Some authors can pull it off but not a lot. So you are better off having a few characters of which you can make your audience focus on.

17. Your Best Friend.

A writer’s biggest challenge is developing a protagonist that is consistent through out the entire story. You have to remember this is your main character. Basically your story lives or dies off the actions of your protagonist. If your reader doesn’t care about the protagonist then he isn’t even going to make it from cover to cover.

18. Character Development

You have to figure out who you need for characters. You have to figure out what these characters are going to mean to one another. In some stories the characters love one another and in others they hate each other. You have to ask yourself what your readers want. Sometimes you have difficult choices to make. For example a character that you and your readers are in love with might have to be killed off to make the story take that next leap. Don’t get stuck on your decisions because if you do then that is where your story will end. Sometimes you have to be hard but that’s part of the business. I would recommend trying a few different things with your character. However don’t go with your heart. In this case you have to go with what you know is going to work. It’s your chance to play devils advocate so take the chance and run with it.

19. “Why”

As you get further into your novel you’re going to have quite a character built. You’re going to have the pages on your scribbler just filled with different points to your character. By now you should even know your characters shoe size and what color underwear they like to wear. Always ask the question why of your character. Secondly what’s even more important than that is answering it in your scribbler.

20. Be You

So many new writers like to try and make themselves sound like some one else. My favorite writer is Stephen King and I enjoy writing the same genre as he does but I can guarantee the two of us don’t sound anything alike. When I write I talk it out. What I am trying to say is I write out loud. Some of your work is going to get very ugly and awkward but you can deal with that later. So make sure you develop your own style and your own voice.

Okay this is the end of my fourth lesson on my step by step series on how to write a novel. Remember not everyone is going to write the perfect novel but at the end of the day if you keep following these steps I guarantee no matter what you will have something that you are proud of.

Dale Mazurek


Dale is presently in the process of getting his first novel published. He has also started dabbling in short stories. You can find some of these on his blog at http://stcajo-readshortstories.blogspot.com/ And lastly he deals a little in the affiliate marketing gig which can be checked out at http://www.7dayebook.com/?hop=stcajo orhttp://stcajo.profitlan.hop.clickbank.net You can also contact him at stcajo2011@yahoo for any info on his writing or products.

In writing my novel I learnt a lot of things the hard way so I just wanted to put this series out there for would be writers to help them on their path to writing their own book.