This article is the first in a series of 3 that serve to introduce the basics of writing in a comprehensive and logical manner.

If you are here, it's because like one in two French people, write my essay you dream of writing a novel. You want to one day hold in your hands this book which is so dear to your heart and to leaf through its pages. You want to show it to your loved ones and see their reaction when they find your name on the cover.

So you did your research. You've gone through all the sites that talk about writing and maybe even bought a few books on the subject. But you are drowned in the news. Who to believe? How to sort?

At the end of the day, you are no further ahead . You know more than before, but you still feel lost and all advice seems far away when you are alone with your blank page. Maybe you've even tried to get started and your forever unfinished manuscript is lying around in an obscure folder on your computer.

Your problem ? You don't have a method . All you have is a list of independent tips that weren't designed to work together. Worse, sometimes they are even contradictory, hence your feeling of confusion.

To write a novel, you need a method, where each piece of advice works in relation to the others and where no step is overlooked.

The aim of this series of articles is to guide you step by step in writing your first novel so that you can approach this difficult task with confidence and confidence.

A universal method?

You will often hear it, there are as many ways to write as there are writers. But some argue that since there is no one-size-fits-all method for writing a novel, it would be pointless to draw inspiration from the methods of others.

This is totally wrong, all the more so when you are starting out. A novice needs benchmarks and a coherent and complete method, even if it does not suit him 100% , can always serve as a starting point. To say the opposite is a bit like launching a "get by".

Then, it is not because each one writes in his own way that the authors do not come together. There are still some principles that work with the majority of writers , and to deny them because there are exceptions does not make sense.

Others will say that in literature, there is no miracle recipe, and I will agree with them. My goal is not to pretend that by following this method, you will write the next bestseller, but to propose a framework, a set of principles on which to rely to come to the end of his first novel.

Finally, some will hammer home that there are no rules, which is somewhat like "everyone does as they want". It depends. There are no rules for writing a Proust or a Celine, but there are all the same "rules" which make it possible to obtain a pleasant and successful book . Again, exceptions to these rules are not enough to invalidate them. McCarthy writes his dialogues without incises and without hyphens, but I will not recommend that beginners emulate him on the grounds that he is a great author.

What it really takes to get started

To believe what we can find on the internet, we should have drawers overflowing with notes and plans before having the right to write a single line. Some people advise making a detailed plan, sometimes down to the scene, completing character sheets and even location sheets, drawing a time line or creating an overall plan with post-it notes on cork boards. And I'm not talking about maps, built languages, races, cultures, religions, technologies and civilization for fantasy and science fiction writers… All that before I start.

Writing a novel is already a titanic task and you do not realize it until you have really tried the exercise. If we make novices believe that it takes a longer preparation than the novel before attacking chapter one, many will be discouraged.

And it might be a necessary evil, if that was true. But it is not. If a long preparation can help some, it is also totally useless for others , who nevertheless feel obliged to follow the wave because they see everyone doing like that. They force themselves, convinced that this is the only way to go, and go against their instincts.

Worse yet: for some, too much preparation is counterproductive. They end up stepping in, convinced that they must have planned everything down to the smallest detail before writing, premium essay writing service otherwise the whole novel will eventually collapse.

Preparation is a matter of sensitivity. Some need it, others don't, to varying degrees. The main thing is to determine your way of doing things and not the one you are trying to impose.

How much should you prepare for your novel?

I am someone who hates improvising. I don't like the unexpected, because I'm afraid of what can happen. When I started writing, I was on the side of those who want to prepare everything. But I have changed, and I have excellent reasons.

I know what it is. The fear of writing two hundred pages before realizing that the plot does not hold water. The fear of discovering a little too late that the rhythm is poorly controlled or that the characters have no thickness, or that we do not know how to loop.

It is for this reason that we want to prepare a novel: to avoid unpleasant surprises. Having a plan is reassuring . We know that we only have to follow him, more than to “put into a novel” and all will be well. If some points are still uncertain, the plot is at least validated in advance. But is it still true?

Many, and I was one of them too, don't realize that the real reason they keep programming, planning, and structuring is that they are just afraid of when they will have to go .

It's like at the pool. Yes, diving head first is risky, but we all know that anyone who has wet their neck for a quarter of an hour will not enter the water.

My goal is not to convince you to stop everything and take the plunge without thinking. I'm not saying preparation is unnecessary. I say a lot of newbies are so scared that they want to prepare too much which is not the same.

Being too organized

Yes, we can be too prepared. We can do too much. Spend hours on a stage that will ultimately never see the light of day. Spend weeks imagining a universe before realizing that the story should take place elsewhere. Blacken pages of notes on the past of a secondary character who will ultimately not be included in the novel.

As we will see later, we cannot predict everything. There comes a time, after several weeks or months of writing, when you find yourself having to decide between following your plan and letting the story unfold naturally.

Surprise is not necessarily something negative. A character who comes to life and does something unforeseen, a sub-plot that grows, a secondary character that comes to the fore, these are all unforeseen events that should not be bad news . On the contrary, they are part of the fun of writing. They are precisely what differentiates a novel from a user manual.

What is the minimum level of preparation?

Let's break a myth: there isn't one. Some are able to write a great story from scratch. No plan. No idea of ​​the characters. The place is improvised. Each scene is a spontaneous find. And it works.

Of course, that doesn't mean that's the case for everyone. But these authors are proof that there is no minimum threshold. Your recommended level of preparation is most likely more than you really need.

For me, going blindly is dangerous. But just as important is wasting time in over-planning . I believe that there are three ingredients which allow to limit the risks while allowing an appreciable flexibility. These fundamentals are - ironically - very rarely put forward by the ayatollahs of the blueprint.

Back to basics

• A premise

• Characters

• An end

These are the three basic elements to get started (in my opinion). My intention is not to tell you to limit yourself to these three, nor to pass them off as essential . To me, they just reduce the chances of crashing, that's it.

If you want to plan, you can, but you don't have to. I'm living proof that you can write without planning every scene, and I have an address book full of writers who work the same way. Don't let the fear of failure become an excuse to over-prepare your novel.

What about research?

Some anchor their history in a particular historical period, for example the Middle Ages. Others need to learn about legal procedures, especially those writing detective stories or thrillers. Still others will develop their own imaginary world. All of this requires research. But research is the best excuse to never start. There is always a detail to add, always a new idea to include, an additional verification to perform.

You should limit yourself to the minimum you need to get started, simply because searches don't stop when you drop the first line . They continue throughout the writing process, and that's why you shouldn't get into the idea of ​​starting writing after you've finished your research. They will never be finished.

However, that doesn't mean they have to be sloppy . Especially if you write on sensitive topics, do your job well and master your topic. The flashback would be devastating.

The premise: work on the initial idea

The premise is the main idea of ​​your novel, and the first ingredient in the preparation. This is the story summed up in a few lines, if not one. If you had to quickly tell your novel to a stranger, this is what you would tell them.

The importance of the premise

Why do you absolutely need a good premise?

Quite simply because it is the reason why the reader will like your book or not. It is its essence.

Beginners tend to overlook it, because they believe that another aspect of writing will save them. The premise is a bit mundane, but the characters are fantastic. The premise is not very original, but the complex plot is really gripping. The premise is not engaging, but the suspense is well controlled.

The reader does not care.

Sorry to be so blunt, but it's the truth. If you fail to make you want to read your book with your premise, then you are leaving on very bad bases .

But some bestsellers have rather banal premises, you will answer me. That is true. But is this a good pretext? Nobody knows you, who is going to want to read your book if the summary is not interesting? Who is going to take the risk of reading 300 pages from an unknown author if the premise is not convincing? No one.

A lighthouse to guide you

There will come a time when you will be lost. It happens to all of us. You will lose faith in your story, you will have the impression that it will not interest anyone. You will be so used to its characters, you will know its plot so well, that the novelty effect will have completely disappeared. Your story will no longer enchant you and you will then have the impression that your readers will feel the same way. At that point, believe me, you will be very happy to have a concrete premise to restore your confidence.

If, on the contrary, you have neglected it, then you will see your world crumble around you and all your efforts will seem a little more desperate and unnecessary every day.

Remember a painful reality: you can always correct a bad chapter or rectify a plot, but you don't save a bad premise. Unless you start all over again.

What if I have no idea?

If you can't find inspiration, there are two proven methods.

The first consists of starting from a news item, as many novelists have done before you.

The second is to start from a story that you liked and reduce it to its skeleton, and then take it back to yourself. Think for example of the Lion King, inspired by Shakespeare's Hamlet.

Explore the ideas of others inexpensively

One trick that I discovered a few years ago when I was out of inspiration is to go through the summaries of books, series or movies on Wikipedia. It is a gold mine.

Think about it: while it would take about 50 hours of work to complete just four 600-page books, it will only take you a few minutes to read the summary . At this point, you are only interested in the original idea, you don't have to read the whole novel to know if it inspires you.

Here are some examples of excellent premises to go to consult:

• the Revenant

• No country for old men

• Inception

• Misery

The end

The ending is just how you want your story to end.

Some prefer a happy ending, others a tragic ending. There is no right answer. Be aware, however, that happy endings are more popular, even in dark stories. Tragic endings are generally considered more mature and realistic, but it all depends on the story, of course.

Having the end in mind will help you stay the course. If you've done your job right, it should logically flow from your premise.

It doesn't need to be final. If, along the way, you have a better idea, there's nothing stopping you from changing it. But be careful not to disrupt your whole story. The goal is not to rewrite everything from the start.

The reason you need to have an ending in mind before you start writing is simply that you might get lost along the way if you don't have one. Many authors go into writing with “an idea”, but they don't yet know where it will lead them. While this approach seems more natural, it still tends to produce disjointed and digressing stories that are sorely lacking in structure. Keeping the end in mind will help you avoid these kinds of problems.

Conclusion

We will stop here for today, because that's already a lot of information to swallow. buy assignment online Take the time to reread this article if necessary and only move on when you feel ready. Don't cut corners.

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