How to Write a Novel

Twenty years ago, I was acing my way through a college short story-writing class, pleased as punch that I had learned to handle what had seemed like a very difficult genre. As one of my slightly older classmates wrestled with the "literary-versus-commercial" question and the nuts and bolts of writing novels, I swore I would never, ever write something so long and complicated. What I thought I was going to do with a stack of short stories, I have no idea, but I was 18 - just a year and a half older than Harry Potter is in his current book - at the time and it all made perfect sense.

Well, curiosity won out and I sat down to write a vampire novel. After a year and a half of trying very hard to get through the story, I put it aside, swearing I'd never make such an attempt again. Then I sat down and wrote my first novel, by hand. It was a daunting process, as I'd never really done it before. I fought with the storyline. I played with symbols. At the end of a couple of years, I had a pile of pages I called "When April Comes." It isn't, actually, a bad story. But I found it very difficult to create.

Later, I took another couple of years and wrote what I consider my first good novel, another vampire story called The Maestro's Butterfly, which is currently with agent Lori Perkins in New York City. Again, there was an incredible amount of struggle. Backtracking. Revisiting plot points. I wrote in a zig-zag fashion, completing several chapters then going back through them, changing things, completing a few more and going back through those, then going back through the very beginning again. It's a wonder I ever finished, but I did, and it's actually a good, solid story.

By the time I got around to writing the prequel, The Maestro's Maker, also with Ms. Perkins, I was completely unimpressed with the supposed romance of writing and simply wanted to get the project done. I bulled through the manuscript and got the thing finished, hating it every step of the way. It turned out to be another good, solid story. Compelling and dangerous, something I would buy myself, and I am a picky, picky reader.

I realized I was on to something here. I also realized I could streamline my technique. I knew what went into writing a novel now, and it is simply to push through. Make yourself get through a chapter. Simply put the words on paper. Don't worry if they're good. Make yourself get through it. The secret to novel writing is to let the first draft be the first draft. Just get the story on paper. You can always change it later. Give yourself a schedule, and move to the next chapter at the appointed time, no matter what shape the previous chapter is in. Take Nike's advise and, "Just Do It." Let yourself write badly if you must, but get it written.

Then fix it.

Each successive draft should have you adding more words to each chapter or polishing the ones you have. Leave off whatever you're having trouble with. Not in the mood to describe setting? Then leave it and simply jot down the dialogue. You will probably find the setting and narrative flowing out of you when you sit down to this particular scene again. Just let it happen naturally. But the most important thing is, don't judge the words you write at this time.

I know what I'm talking about. I was a journalist for 11 years. I made a living out of sitting in the editorial hot seat, and having people judge my work. They weren't always terribly tactful, either. But it honed my abilities. You can learn the same things. Just use a process, and you can accomplish anything. Even the completion of a novel.