Michelle Richmond is the New York Times bestselling author of nine books of fiction including most recently The Wonder Test and the forthcoming espionage novel set in Paris. Her books have been published in 31 languages.
Every novel demands its own structure, its own pace, its own way of looking at the world. Although your first novel will certainly provide lessons you can carry into writing your second, that doesn’t mean the second novel will be any less challenging. Nor will the third, fourth and so on.
I’ve published six novels, with a seventh on the way, and I have three unpublished novels in a drawer. Writing a novel never gets easier. There’s no magic formula. That said, a novel’s foundation is comprised of a few key elements, without which you may have a story, or a diversion, or a collection of scenes—but no novel. Understanding these elements early in the process will help you get to the heart of your story.
If you’re in an MFA program, chances are, you won’t learn these things. You may be taught to prize the sentence over the story. Certainly, that’s how I felt when I first began writing. And while I exercise the same sentence-level care in my novels that I did in my story collections—which were considered “literary” due in part, I think, to their obscurity—I’ve learned to begin a novel with a different set of expectations, a different kind of care.
A novel’s foundation is comprised of a few key elements, without which you may have a story, or a diversion, or a collection of scenes—but no novel.
I should mention that I’ve never written an outline, and I never know where a novel is going before I begin. For me, each book is a process of discovery. And yet, there are a few things I understand about a novel before I get past the first page. So, then, here are ten things to keep in mind as you begin writing your novel.
1. Start with Situation
Why Your Premise Matters More Than an Outline
Outlines are fine unless they derail you. I’ve seen it again and again: writers who end up spinning their wheels for years, even a decade or more, beholden to a failed outline. While an outline may provide direction, it will also limit your novel’s possibilities and may cause you to get hopelessly stuck.
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