How to write a novel - Part Two
And so continue our step-by-step instruction on writing your novel.
1. Think about the situation. After choosing a genre, you must go to a location that should not be limited to a city or a village. It's all about your imagination, which is limitless and can bring characters beyond the universe. Choosing the right setting will determine the mood and tone of your novel, and will serve as the medium against which the plot unfolds. Think carefully about the following questions: Will the events of the novel unfold in a situation familiar to you? On what time continuum is the plot of your novel based? In the past, present or future? Will the events of your novel unfold on Earth, or in space? Will events take place in the same city or district, or in several places? Determine the time range of your story: month, year, decade, etc.? Will the finale be optimistic, or will the novel be full of pessimism?
2. Think of the characters. The most important and basic will be the protagonist, who should be as specific as possible, with recognizable features and worldview. The main characters do not necessarily have to be positive, but they must necessarily be related to each other, and they must be described in such a way that they become memorable. The reader must somehow associate himself with the main characters, find common ground with them. This is what attracts readers to literature. Remember that heroes do not have to like, but they should be interested. For example, Humbert from the novel "Lolita", which can cause contempt, but he somehow attracts and his personality is interesting to readers. There must be several main characters in the novel. Do not limit yourself to just one. Interest is caused by the same event, told from different points of view. Secondary characters are called upon to reveal and strengthen the personality of the protagonist, showing the environment in which he exists, in which he was formed, as a person. Think about how you want to see the main characters when you surround them with characters in the background. In this case, all the characters in your novel do not necessarily have to be fixed from the very beginning. They can appear in the course of writing the novel, as you create your creation. Sometimes it turns out that you start writing about someone you think is the main character, but it gradually goes to the background, giving way to another character. It all depends on your inner voice and inspiration. Trust him. Many writers write off their heroes from real people, trying to imagine themselves in their place, even temporarily mentally turning into their heroes. Your characters should be spelled out in detail and must exist in your mind, like living ones. Then the reader will have a similar feeling that they see them in their mind's eye.
Constantly ask "How to write a novel?" - Read on, and you will be able to write your first narrative.
3. Write down the story. Most of the novels, regardless of genre and style, are based on some kind of conflict, which is exacerbated, reaching the climax and culmination, and then solved, passing into an interchange. This, however, does not mean that all novels should end with a happy ending. Rather, the conflict helps to more fully reveal the character of the characters, motivating their behavior throughout your romance. Ready-made formulas for plotting do not exist. Although there is one unbeatable option, according to the scheme of exposure, string, development, climax, denouement and postposition, prologue and epilogue (optional). You can also start with the main conflict and move in the opposite direction to show why this conflict originated. For example, you can start with the way a girl returns home from her father's funeral, and the reader travels in a peculiar time machine, gradually plunging into events that led to the death of his father. Similarly, the conflict need not be resolved. You can finish the novel with a three-footed phrase, leaving a certain flair of innuendo. This is a very interesting technique. The main thing is that the novel is not primitive and predictable.You can start a story in the present, then move to the future, periodically sending readers back to the past, or start in the past, then move to the future and finish the action in the present. A good such "non-linear" novel is Julio Cortazar's "Hopscotch" (Playing Classics). Reread some of your favorite novels and try to determine what type of story they are. Track how events develop in the novel and notice how much more interesting it is to read novels with a nonlinear storyline. These tips will help you write a novel!
4. You can start from scratch. Although sometimes it is useful to first come up with a story, determine for yourself the characters, heroes and the location of the deployment of the event. However, this is not a necessary preparatory procedure, if you start to get hung up on the preparation, you can get bogged down in details and little things without moving forward. Try to follow your inspiration, which can arise from a conversation, a historical fact, accidentally overheard in the grocery store, or from grandmother's history. This can be quite enough to start writing the novel, using this fact, as the tip of the thread in the tangle, which you will gradually unwind, drawing readers into a whirlpool of events. If you spend too much time on the preparatory stage, trying to think through all the details, then you simply strangle yourself with inspiration, squandering all your potential, before you start writing the novel.