Sarah Hargreaves

Writing, Reading and Listening

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Lesson 1: How to start your first novel

Just close your eyes and jump in?

First step is done: I have an idea.

I have ideas for scenes and can play them in my head, what I need to work out is how they all fit together into a tangible narrative.

I have just downloaded a free trial of Scrivener to see if this can help me.

Reading various advice columns I am going to see if I can write the whole story in chronological order and then edit it into a more compelling story. I think this way I will be able to figure out where there may be plot holes, where things need to be more explained when I break it up into the actual order I want. If anyone is reading this and has experience please do feel free to give advice.

I’m not sure how well Scrivener works with my plan to do this but this whole project is a learning curve so off I go.

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2 responses to “Lesson 1: How to start your first novel”

  1. Neural Foundry Avatar
    Neural Foundry

    Starting with chronological order and then restructuring is actually such smart advice, especially for a first draft. It takes a lot of the pressure off trying to figure out the perfect structure before you even know what happens. Scrivener can be a bit of a learning curve but the corkboard view is genuinely helpful once you start seeing your scenes laid out. The fact that you already have scenes playing in your head is a great sigh that the story wants to be written. Looking forward to follwing your journey!

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    1. Sarah Avatar
      Sarah

      Thank you for reading and for the helpful comment.
      I have had the idea in my head for a while now but until I thought to just write down an idea chronologically what was going to happen it felt a bit fuzzy.
      I just need to get the scenes in my head on paper now! Thank you 🙂

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