I know these “How To Write” posts are a dime a dozen, but I’ve been asked several times to share how I get myself started when tackling a new project, so here it is is. 

I should point out that this is how I begin a novel. If you ask ten different novelists how they begin work, you’ll get twelve different answers. The point is to learn from others, get as many ideas as you can, then try a bunch of stuff until you figure out what works for you.

One interesting aspect of writing is that most writers focus on the difficult aspect of our work–the writer’s block, the pressure we put on ourselves to be more productive, the self-imposed daily word count, and on, and on…

We can focus on the negative to the point where we forget that writing fiction should be fun. Terry Pratchett said, “Writing is the most fun you can have by yourself.” Writing is imaginative. It’s freeing because anything goes. When I write fiction, I get to experience other lives in other ways. World building, character building, building the storyline from the inside out–these are things that make me glad to be alive. When everything else in the world is getting me down, writing fiction gives me a purpose. It’s the best feeling in the world when the elements of a story finally come together. 

While discussing creativity in Big Magic, Elizabeth Gilbert said, “I am referring to the supernatural, the mystical, the inexplicable, the surreal, the divine, the transcendent, the otherworldly. Because the truth is, I believe that creativity is a force of enchantment–not entirely human in its origins.”

When I’m in writing flow, enchantment is the right word to describe how I feel. It’s as if a magic spell has come over me and I’m not writing at all; instead, I’m the conduit through which the story flows.

Getting to that place of enchantment, though… Well, that’s the hard part, at least for me. I’ve been writing long enough to know that the enchantment will come, but I have to work hard at setting myself up for it. The beginning stages of writing a novel are not easy for me, but I know that if I don’t push through the shitty first draft then the enchantment will never happen. 

This is how I begin writing a novel. There’s too much for me to say on the topic in one go, so today is the part one.

First, I notice what I call the “spark of inspiration,” that nugget of an idea that might, with some twisting and turning, evolve into a full-blown story. For my current work in progress, the spark of inspiration came from reading a few Dark Academia novels, including The Secret History by Donna Tartt and Babel by R.F. Kuang. I loved the dark, and I loved the academia, and I decided that I wanted to do something similar. 

The ability to recognize potential story ideas is a skill most creatives learn at some point. Sometimes we read books that inspire us to do something similar. Sometimes we have random thoughts floating through our minds at any given time of the day. Sometimes we see a story begging to be told. For writers, these ideas are necessary for our sanity since the ideas give us something to write about. When I’m in the earliest stages of storytelling, I play around with these sparks of insight and decide which are passing through, perhaps on their way to someone else, and which have latched onto my heart and plan on sticking around. 

Next, I spend a lot of time, sometimes as much as a few months, kicking ideas around in my head before I decide to commit them to paper. It can take me anywhere from one to two years to bring a story to life. It’s a huge time commitment, so I have to be certain that I’m in love with the idea and that it will sustain me for the long term. 

Then, when I’m creating a new world, with new characters and new settings, as I am now, I spend a lot of time reading in and around what I think my story will be. Part of that time is spent researching–in this case the story takes place in coastal Maine on a fictional college campus, so I’m learning about Maine, creating this fictional college (map included), and I’m researching a favorite author because this author’s work plays a pivotal role in the story. Since I’m a literature geek, researching literature is well and dandy by me.

This is my first crack at a Dark Academia suspense novel. It’s not historical fiction, which is what I usually write, and I’m going for Gothic vibes here. In addition to my research, I’ve been reading as many Dark Academia, mystery, suspense, and Gothic novels as I can get my hands on. I’ve just read Daphne du Maurier’s classic Rebecca for the first time (five stars from me). I reread The Secret History for the second time, as well as Babel and some other Dark Academia favorites. Seeing what other authors have done along the same lines of what I’m trying to create inspires me because I can see how the stories play out on the page.

How-To books can come in handy at this stage, especially when you’re tackling a new genre. I just read How To Write a Mystery from Mystery Writers of America and edited by Lee Child. I found the book so useful that I ended up highlighting about 50% of the book. Some of the chapters didn’t apply to me since I’m not writing mystery for children or teenagers, and I’ve been teaching writers how to create stories and characters for about 20 years. But even as an experienced writer, I still learned a lot. For example, I know that my story is about an amateur sleuth and that it falls more under the genre of suspense than mystery, though the two genres often overlap.

While I’m researching and reading around my topic, I daydream. Daydreaming is necessary for fiction writers—for most artists, really. Or at least that’s what I tell people when I spend hours staring out the window, or at the wall, or at the cats. For me, the daydreaming is as important as the hours I spend actually sitting at my computer writing the book. I need this unstructured time to get a feel for who the characters are, how they respond in various situations, and what it feels like live their lives. Without allowing my imagination room to breathe, there is no land of make-believe, no living, breathing people to inhabit this world I’m creating. 

Next, if I’m still compelled by these characters, I’ll begin brainstorming ideas. I allow my imagination the run of the house during this time. This is where I use a Quick Sketch or a KWL chart. Sometimes I’ll make a bullet-point list. Sometimes I’ll do a mind map of my various ideas, filling up my page or screen with any and all thoughts, no matter how random or silly they seem. I get most of my good ideas from journaling about the topic I want to write about. Sometimes I handwrite my ideas into composition books. Other times, I type my journal in either Notion or Scrivener, depending on where I am in the writing process. When I’m in the very beginning stages, I have a book journal in Notion where I take notes and type out ideas. Once I’m in the drafting stage, I’ll create a page for notes and ideas in my Scrivener file where I’m writing the book.

However I choose to brainstorm, I’ll write what I think I know about the characters, what I think I know about the time, and any story ideas. This is also where I’ll do my preliminary research into the era. This first toe-dipping into the history allows me to picture my characters during this time and often, as I learn more about the people and events of the time, I come up with new ideas. At this point I’ll write an outline. 

These are the very beginning stages of how I tackle a new project. Stay tuned for the next installment of How I Begin a Novel.