There are plenty of tips everywhere, on the internet, in books that try to teach you how to write more, to write better, how to structure a novel, or create a magnificent, tightly woven plot. However, a lot of those tips and pieces of advice might seem similar and interchangeable after reading through them. And the worst part is it might seem to you they are not helping at all, or they are not helping enough. Here’s the problem – no one can teach you how to write a novel better than your own self. This doesn’t mean you are not able to learn from external advice. It just means maybe you need to think a little outside the box and try some of the unorthodox writing tips we’ve gathered below.
1. Discover as you write
A common advice is that before you begin to write a novel, you need to do a lot of research into almost everything. Additionally, you should know every nook and cranny of the universe you’re about to create, and you should be aware of those nooks and crannies as you write. Well, maybe for some writers this is easy – they always know where they are in the universe, in the story, and in the characters and their relationships, behaviors and personalities. But if that manner of writing doesn’t work for you, why not try the opposite? Discover your universe and your characters as you write more and more about them, instead of trying to know everything. You can do this within the limits of a plot, if you’ve created one before writing, or you can create and discover the plot as you write, just like the rest of the elements of your universe.
2. Follow random tangents
Another common instruction is to not allow your characters to control where your story goes. This means you shouldn’t let your characters act in a way that will not help you move the plot forward, or in other words, you should avoid going on tangents that differ from the original path you’ve planned. However, this doesn’t mean you should never follow a tangent. You never know where that tangent might lead your story, and it might turn out better than before.
3. Create unusual writing rituals
Some writers begin to work in the morning, chasing inspiration and that works well for them. But, what if, you are not able to do so? Maybe the time of the day when you work best is in the middle of the night. If that is so, then, the middle of the night is the right time for you to write. Or maybe you’re unable to write without having a cup of coffee or a bottle of water by your side. Or maybe the best way for you to find inspiration is to take a walk, or just listen to music. Find out what makes you be more productive and write better, and which act ensures you enjoy writing as much as possible. And then repeat it as often as you can.
4. Write the middle of your story
When you know the middle of your story, you know what your novel is about. It is during this part of the novel you will begin to discover where the previous action has led, and you will know the right way in which you would need to proceed to create a wonderful ending. Sure, the ending is the part that makes or breaks the novel, but it is the middle, which sets the mood for the ending. As such, you can try to write the middle of your novel, and then go back and create the beginning in such a way that only adds more depth to the middle part. And after you’ve written the ending, you might be shocked to discover your novel is a lot better than if you’ve written everything in order.
5. Add more into a chapter
When you’re editing your own writing, have you considered that your chapters, scenes or even paragraphs miss something? The most common advice is you need to cut away the nonessential parts of your writing. But, what if your problem is that you’re not descriptive enough? Does this mean that what you’ve initially written should simply stay that way? No. You should always feel completely free to add more to your scenes if you consider it is needed. This is where you need to be honest with yourself and know what you need to work on. And if writing more into a scene is something you need to do to ensure your novel reads better than before, then go for it, and add as much as you need. After all, if later on you discover there are some things the scene doesn’t need, you can always hit delete.
Image credit: Pixabay
Georgina Roy wants to live in a world filled with magic. As an art student, she’s moonlighting as a writer and is content to fill notebooks and sketchbooks with magical creatures and amazing new worlds. When she is not at school, or scribbling away in a notebook, you can usually find her curled up, reading a good urban fantasy novel, or writing on her laptop, trying to create her own.