Which part of the novel do you start writing first?
do you start with the beginning, ending or the middle? what do famous writers do?
One of the biggest problems a writer has is not knowing where to start when they have an idea for a great novel. They might have the ending or middle but not the beginning.
So they don’t write anything. They wait until the beginning of the novel comes to them. The problem is they might end up waiting a long time. And by the time they come up with an idea they have forgotten their amazing ending.
In this blog, we will be looking at which part of your novel do you start writing first…
WHICH PART OF YOUR NOVEL DO YOU START WRITING FIRST?
Table of Contents
Here’s a secret about writing a novel, you can start anywhere. No one says you have to start at the beginning, page one, paragraph one, word one. If you have an idea for a novel get it down on paper (or laptop) as soon as you can. It doesn’t matter where you are in the book. Just get something down right away. You never want a million-dollar idea to slip away.
Too many new writers have this silly idea you have to start on page one and work your way through the novel page by page until you get to the last word. There are some well-known writers who work this way but for the most part, a lot of writers jump throughout the novel. Spending more time in one area and coming back to underwritten areas later. If you believe you have to start on the first line you’ll be putting unnecessary pressure on yourself when there is another way.
YOU CAN START WITH THE ENDING
Some writers work backward, they come up with the ending first and move towards the beginning. They write their chapters from 30 down to 1. Other writers find this a problem; they prefer to start at the beginning. Either way, what works for you is what you go with. There’s no reason to copy someone if their style doesn’t work for you.
If you do have many ideas for your book and don’t know where to begin you can write them down as point form. This way you don’t forget your ideas while working on one of them. You can later come back to each point and add more details to each one. Turning each point into a well-developed chapter or scene. You can even shuffle them around. Move some points up higher or lower. By having your entire novel written out in point form you can see the entire thing as a whole. Read through each point from start to finish to see how your story flows. Then when you’re ready you can add more detail to each one, turning each point into a full novel by the time you’re done.
START WITH THE DIALOGUE
Some writers hear the dialogue in their head first. But as they try writing the scene they lose the natural flow of dialogue because they stop to write characters’ thoughts, reactions, and background scenes. The best way around this is to write all the dialogue first. Leave out everything else. Come back to it after you’ve finished the dialogue adding all the other details. This way the flow of dialogue is never affected or broken.
Most writers will tell you the funny thing about dialogue is you usually hear it perfect in your head once. but if you wait too long to write it down it never comes back the way it was before. If you try writing it from memory it usually sounds awkward. You fail to remember the little unique details that made the dialogue sound natural.
YOU CAN RECORD THE DIALOGUE FIRST
What some authors will do will record dialogue with a recording device in their hand. Afterward, come back to it later and write down what they’ve recorded. Some even walk around their house acting out a scene, playing out the parts of each of the characters. They really get into it. After they’re done they head over to their computer and press rewind and play. Writing down what they hear. Having the dialogue sounding natural.
Keep in mind hearing the sound of your voice might sound odd at first. But you’ll get used it after a while. Some people don’t like hearing their own voice so they avoid doing this, even though it might help.
DON’T WORRY ABOUT SPELLING
Don’t worry about spelling as you write your first draft. Most writers spell a lot of words wrong in their first draft. The flow of the story moves too quickly in their mind as their writing can’t keep up. If you stop to correct your spelling as you go along you run the risk of losing the flow of the scene. You can always go back and fix the spelling later. If you look at any novel you will not find spelling mistakes. But that doesn’t mean the writers was perfect with spelling on their first draft. It means they went back and checked it later. Making it appear they were perfect the first time.
When trying to come up with ideas staring at a white screen of your laptop will not do you any favours. A lot of writers will sit down to write but not know what to write. So they stare at their laptop for hours. This is not a good idea because staring at a white screen will cause a white screen in your mind. A blank screen will lead to a blank mind. Nothing will come to you. The best ideas come from everywhere except your laptop. You could be going for a walk. Driving a car. Daydreaming. You find the best ideas coming to you when your mind is clear. Not stressing over wanting an idea. Stephen King says his ideas come to him out of nowhere when he’s out and about. When he’s out for a walk. Driving in a car. not sitting at his laptop forcing ideas to appear. His idea of “Misery” came from a dream.
THE SPARK OF WHITE LIGHT
After you have come up with an idea you then create interesting people and have them deal with the idea you came up with. Some writers call their idea “sparks of white light”. If you ask them what they’re working on they’ll say “a new idea”, they may not have an ending or beginning, they don’t know who’s in it, but somehow they know they have an idea. Call it a feeling, or spark but they know they have something. And the whole time they write they keep the feeling of “the spark” in them, letting them know they’re on the right track.
Sometimes the best idea will come to you when you least expect them, if you put pressure on yourself to come up with ideas that’s when your mind goes blank. As a writer, you’d be surprised how many ideas will come to you out of nowhere. Some writers can go weeks without any ideas but suddenly get two or three in one day. The important thing is not to put pressure on yourself to make it happen.
WHAT TIME OF DAY DO YOU WRITE?
All writers have different ways and times when they write. Some start writing in the mornings, others in the afternoon or past midnight. All writers write at different times of the day. Don’t feel as you have to copy someone who’s successful. Some writers like to start writing at 5 am; this may not work for you. That’s fine. Some writers like to write after midnight. If that works for you then that’s your style. The one thing you don’t want to do is believe you have to copy your favorite author’s writing style.
Some writers will not write a word for weeks when they have started a new novel. They’ll spend their time daydreaming about their novel as though they’re watching a movie. Picturing their characters talking to each other and making note of what they’re saying. They’ll also make note of what they see in the background. They’ll replay the conversations over and over until they have he memorized and then they’ll sit down to write. Some writers can spend weeks daydreaming their novel and then sit down to write for only one week. If you ask them how long it took to write they’d say one week. You’d be amazed. But what they didn’t tell you took weeks of daydreaming to come up with the story before writing it down.
YOU CAN CHANGE YOUR STORY HALFWAY THROUGH
Don’t feel you have to keep everything you’ve written. If you come up with new chapters and want to change them you can. Some writers feel they have to keep their first story idea from start to finish. If you find your story going in a new direction as your writing no problem you can always go back and change any part needed to make your new story flow. Nothing says you have to keep writing the novel you started off with. If your idea changes you can change whatever you have written. Nothing has to stay if you don’t want it. Nothing is written in stone.
You’d be amazed how many famous novels started out as one thing only to change halfway through. Sometimes as a writer you will find the story moving in a different way as you move along. This isn’t a bad thing. It means you have come up with a better idea. Now you a look back at what you have written and make the changes. Remember you can start anywhere, it doesn’t always have to be the first line on chapter one.
you might be interested in these blogs…
WHY THE MIDDLE OF YOUR STORY IS THE WEAKEST
THE PROBLEM WITH TWIST ENDINGS IN YOUR NOVEL
WHO’S WRITING STYLE SHOULD YOU COPY?
