Crashing and Burning: What I wish I knew before I wrote my first novel

Writing is difficult. Writing a novel is infinitely more so. But no one tells you that. In fact, many people say it’s easy. Establishing a plot, writing interesting characters and finding the right words doesn’t sound too difficult. In theory. Then you begin and come to the startling realisation that you have absolutely no idea what you’re doing.

After reading through the initial draft of my first novel, I contemplated burning it; if writing required talent then I clearly had none and should probably choose a different career path. Luckily, writing is less a talent you’re born with and more of a skill you develop over time. The more you do it, the better you get.

In this article I aim to show readers and other writers that mistakes are normal, even beneficial. The problems I faced enabled me to improve and I hope that by sharing some of my most spectacular blunders, others can learn from them too.

             The Illusion of Inspiration

Blank Page Syndrome is something many writers in their careers face. Sitting down at the computer and having no idea where to start is not at all unusual.

When I first started writing, I was under the impression that to write, you needed inspiration. So I waited and eventually had an idea. Only when the first page was finished, I realised I had no clue what came next and would be tempted to abandon the whole project. Inspiration is not a reliable method of writing, I learned.

In reality, consistency is what transforms the novel from a single page to an entire book. Writing even a little bit everyday will amount to a completed work, whether that be a hundred words a day or a thousand, it adds up quicker than you’d think. Pushing ahead through the writers block is the only way forward.

            Computers Are My Enemy

Consistency, I realise, is easier said than done. Life gets in the way of writing frequently and sometimes even cleaning the skirting boards sounds more exiting than wondering what to write next. Which is why it’s so important to find out what writing practices work best for you.

Personally, I write best with a notebook. When using a computer, it is only too easy for me to scroll back and read what I’ve written so far. I would get distracted fixing the horrors of my first draft and no progress would be made. By focusing on line-by-line revision before altering plot and character details, I wasted too much time perfecting what would be deleted anyway. At least on paper, there is no room to edit and I am forced to keep writing.

            Learn How To Write First

So far, I’ve been discussing practices to make writing more consistent. My last piece of advice is slightly different and comes from the steepest learning curve I experienced as an aspiring author.

When I finished my first draft and read through it, I realised I didn’t know how to write. Not properly, anyway. My main concern was that it wouldn’t be original enough if I used the typical story arc. So, my younger and more foolish self decided not to use a story arc at all. This was, of course, a terrible idea. Please bare in mind I was fifteen at the time and didn’t know any better.

What I was left with was a messy story and haphazard characters that was impossible to edit. My first draft needed to be completely re-written. Though I don’t know many people who have made this particular oversight, rewrites are not rare. The first draft exists to tell yourself the story, the second is to rescue it from being awful. After my first novel, I made sure to research how to best construct a story. By my second attempt, I wrote something that could pass as a novel on the first attempt.

The main take-away from this article is to not give up. It sounds corny but so much of writing is persisting, even if you’ve made mistakes, you must keep writing. What you learn from those mistakes only allows you to become a better writer. And please note, these tips are what works for me. You don’t have to follow it, the advice is just a suggestion.