Setting Out on the Journey

How to begin your novel

Working on that story that hasn’t taken root yet? Trying to write it but losing the drive? Struggling to come up with an initial idea at all? I’ve been there – we all have.

Fortunately, there are many ways to come up with a story and build it from the ground up. I may not be the most qualified to give advice, but hopefully my tips can point you in the “write” direction:

Begin Somewhere – Anywhere

Seriously, don’t overthink it. Just go off of anything that strikes your fancy, an idea you had while doing dishes yesterday or a cool concept inspired by your little brother’s favorite superhero movie. It doesn’t matter. Your idea does not have to be anything amazing, because you will build off of that and make it great. The smallest and strangest idea can bloom into a beautiful story.

Firstly, you should pick a genre like Fantasy, Science Fiction, Mystery, etc. You have to know what type of story you like, and what interests you. Many people I ask say they just can’t think of anything to write about, but by and large that’s just rubbish, as long as you have the desire to actually write a story. Some people don’t, and that’s perfectly fine. But I’m assuming you wouldn’t be here if you were one of those. If you’re really stuck for ideas, then, well… here’s what to do:

Brainstorm

Put your genius brain to work for you. This might come as a surprise, but if you take pen and paper and start generating a list of random things – anything – you will actually get your lazy brain to come up with something. It doesn’t have to be on paper – I do this in a development document on my word processor (I personally use Microsoft Word), starting with a caption such as “Possible Character Names” and a list underneath with bullets for each item. So I’ll just start writing down the first name which pops into my head, and the second, and the third, etc. This exercise helps to jog your brain, plus it can help to put more development content into one document for storage.  (Some people use an actual wiki for this… I have never tried to learn any wiki software, so I just use an ordinary document.)  But we’ll talk about development documents in depth in a different post.

You can start brainstorm lists for characters, places… you name it. They can be real names or made up; my personal preference is to make up most of my names for my fantasy novels from scratch, so I often act as my own random name generator and just mix different syllables together to create fantasy names. If this sounds too cheesy then… well, don’t do it.

Start a Development Document

Alright, we’ll talk about it here briefly. Having a document onto which you can throw all of your material for crafting your story is invaluable. (Again, you can make a wiki for this, but I am not well-versed in such things.)  I stole the idea from my sister years ago, and it has helped me immensely both in filling out a fantasy world and in plotting and planning the story. Update this document as often as you can, no matter the amount of time available to you at the moment. Boot up that laptop, reopen your word processor and type some random things onto your document. Get a mobile app for Microsoft Word or Google Docs and fill out your document and jot down any spare ideas while on break at work. This is how you get your ideas onto long-term storage instead of trusting your iffy short-term memory. Just make sure to keep it as organized as possible. Here are some examples of different sections to make within that document:

• Questions (more specifically, questions about your story which need to be addressed)
• Characters
• Places
• Races(speaking of different types of people in a fantasy world, i.e. Elves, Dwarves, etc.)
• Plot Ideas
• General Outline
• Miscellaneous

Seek Advice

Whenever you’re stuck, go to a trusted friend or family member, someone who can give you frank critiques and good advice. And no, good advice does not mean “Oh, I think it’s nice.” That is some of the most unhelpful feedback. If you’re going to have someone read what you write, at least try to eke more out of them then a quick, cliche encouragement. If you are still searching for your starting point and need help with ideas, go to someone helpful and ask them to brainstorm with you. Bouncing ideas off of someone else, especially another writer, is a great way to come up with something. Anyone who writes or reads a lot of books will usually be of great help to you. Joining a writing club or an online equivalent is another very good way to get help from other writers and readers.

Look Online

You can also find all sorts of helpful ideas for your story on the internet. I suppose this goes without saying, so I won’t really go into detail. Simply search for anything interesting that applies to the genre you have in mind. Or you can go to your local library and browse through the different sections for inspiration.

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And there you go, folks. I will probably revisit a lot of these points in later posts down the road, so stay tuned. Also, I would appreciate any comments you have. I am not averse to editing this guide or correcting it, and I will try to respond to any questions you have!