Set timelines and writing time periods
This is a tough one, because if you are a novice writer, you have no idea how long it would actually take to write a novel. Something good to look at is NaNoWriMo. (National Novel Writing Month – held every year during November.) NaNoWriMo is an international challenge, and all writers are welcomed including novices. The challenge is to write a 50,000 word novel within 30 days. Those of you who have never heard of it probably think that this is an impossible task, but it can be done. Naturally your first draft is sh*t, (please excuse Hemingway’s French) but so is your first draft of anything. It is a tough challenge, you have to write around two thousand words a day, but you can definitely do it.
So let's look at a more realistic target - how about 25,000 within a month? That's 1,000 words a day, and you even have five writing-free days in that period as well. To me, 1,000 words is about one hour's worth of work.
The other way to keep yourself motivated is to calculate how long you think it will take to write each chapter. Mark it on your calendar so that it’s a constant reminder to yourself.
Setting writing time periods is a good way to balance your personal, professional, and writing life. Set aside an interruption-free period every single day so that you can write. Make sure that your partner, spouse, children, etc, know that this is your ‘writing time’ and to only disturb you if there is an emergency. I know that this is a luxury for some people to be able to do this, especially with family obligations, but it really does help with the progress of your book, not to mention, your own ‘writer’s headspace.'
Fleshing out the Chapters
This is when you take your plan, and you flesh it out into detailed chapters. You obviously need a start and a finish, not to mention all the 'in-between' bits and pieces that help move the story along. This is also the point that you may want to update your plan, just incase you have a 'chapter epiphany' during this stage.
It’s good to cliff-hang your chapters if you can. (This is a really handy tip to keep your reader reading.) Cliff-hanging helps to make your novel an un-put-down-able read. It also keeps your readers interested in the plotlines that you will weave throughout the process of writing your epic novel
For tips on writing scenes, check out this link on how to build tension with scene analysis when writing a book.
Starting to write
I knew I would eventually get there. I know that it’s a lot of work before you even start, but believe me, its good to get these things out of the way. The pre-novel writing stages will allow you to focus entirely on writing out your story. It means that you’re not planning halfway through, or conducting loads of research. Admittedly, you will probably have to do a little research while you are writing, but probably more to fine tune the details in your novel. It means that you know your characters inside-out, and how they all tie in with each other, and most of all… it means that you know your plot, and the story that you wish to tell.
So - write. Write, write, write! Don't stop! Once you get into the flow, it will be over before you know it.
Don't stop writing until you have reached a point where you are happy, but don't write a novel that is 200,000 words long because that is not nice to an editor or a publisher. Definitely check out novel size guidelines... that's a big piece of advice. I usually write books to be around 80,000 - 90,000 words in length. For me, that is enough.
I know that when I finish writing a book, I always feel a sense of sadness wash over me, because I feel the sudden loss of my characters and the world I have created for them. My character's lives have evolved because of what I have dreamt up and that means a lot to me. I often feel like I am missing family members when I finish writing. Other times I'm sick of the characters, particularly if their personalities annoy me, but most of the time I miss them.