Preparing to write my first novel

How I have been getting ready to write

I am always busy doing something, and I am forever exploring new challenges to get my teeth into. On top of the day job of being a scientist, I also paint and write illustrated children’s books. But, why stop there? So, I decided I would try to write a full-length novel. Well, why not?

There is a slight problem though. I don’t really read novels! You may wonder why that’s a problem, after all, I’m intending to write one rather than read one. However, as I have discovered, one has to read a lot of novels before embarking on the journey to create one. I do read, of course, it’s just that I prefer to read textbooks and articles and learn about the world around me rather than some made-up fiction. All that said, I remain undeterred and figured I could apply some science to the challenge.

In these newsletters, I thought I would share my thinking and process with you and highlight how I approach the problem. And it really is a problem. My aim is to write around 90,000 words, which is not that easy. Well, it’s not easy if I want to write something worthy of being read by other people.

Read lots of novels

The first thing I needed to do was understand what a novel is. Seriously! I decided that it wasn’t going to be very efficient or particularly useful to just sit down and read book after book. Instead, and to my wife’s horror, I sat down with the first book (Wilbur Smith’s Seventh Scroll) and analysed how the book was structured. I literally created a spreadsheet and tracked what information was imparted and when. I counted chapters; I looked at the overall structure; I looked at how dialogue was managed; and I looked at how scenes were described.

I continued to read more books, some from very good authors and some from not-so-good authors. I found there are two distinct types of author: one who can write brilliantly but is not necessarily a ‘big name’ and another who writes ‘hard-to-put-down’ gripping stories that may not be well-written but are captivating nonetheless. For fear of offending anyone, I won’t say which authors I would put in either category!

How are novels structured?

I quickly learned that the most popular structure for novels is the so-called ‘three-act structure’. Put simply, Act I is the setup that establishes the main characters and their goals. Act II raises the stakes leading to a confrontation between the hero and the villain. Act III resolves the story. The hero returns to their original state, changed in some way, and the final chapter can serve as a setup for a potential sequel

.

I also discovered that the three acts can be divided into individual blocks. There are typically three blocks in each act, and usually 3 sections in each block. This means that, on average, a full-length novel may contain 27 sections over 9 blocks. This may sound a bit strange but bear with me here. If I was to sit down and try to write a story of 90,000 words in one go I would probably fail very quickly. This task just seems too large. There are writers out there who can apparently do this - I am not one of them. I like structure and I like to break down big tasks into more manageable chunks.

Broadly speaking, I learned that the first and third acts account for about 25% each of the total word count. This leaves the remaining 50% for act two - the meat of the story. Knowing this, allows me to estimate how many words I need in any particular block or section. I can also see clearly what I want to include in each section by outlining the story. I am not constrained to just 27 chapters, but it is at least a template to begin from. I also know that I can write about 1500 words in an hour and this allows me to estimate how long it will take me to finish any particular section. Breaking the problem down into bite-size pieces now makes the task seem a little more achievable.

Inspiration for the novel

My first novel is going to be based, loosely, on a true story. This makes things a little easier because the world in which the story takes place is known and real and will make the research a little easier. I will get into the story itself in the next newsletter but for now, I will say that it is based on a young girl who has aspirations to be successful in showjumping but will be beset by major obstacles along the way, some that are potentially life-changing and others devastating.

Research is essential

Over the last few months, I have been busy researching a number of different things. From reading above, you’ll already know that I have been researching how to actually write and structure a novel. But, I have also been hard at work researching the characters, the scenes, the locations, and also how to develop my characters.

The book will be based on the UK showjumping world. This means I need to understand that world - what terms are used, how people behave and speak, what the venues look and feel like, and what a competition feel like. This research has meant that I have had to go to shows and events to experience it for myself.

All good novels appear to have stories that are carried along by the personal development of the main characters. The plot itself doesn’t seem to be the thing that drives the story forward, it is the actions and behaviors of the characters themselves that propel the story forward. This has meant that I have had to put a lot of thought into creating, developing, and understanding my characters. They may be based on real events but I wasn’t keen on using real people exactly as they are - that would be too personal and this is not a biographical novel. Also, the real people in this story agreed with me to not use their personal story exactly as it happened.

Getting to know my characters

For me, this has been the strangest and most interesting aspect of my research. I decided to follow the advice of some notable and successful authors and create character profile sheets for all of my main characters. These profiles included everything from their physical description to their internal strengths and weaknesses and where they needed to develop. I found this exercise both fascinating and challenging. Literally creating life out of thin air (albeit inspired by real people). By the end of the exercise, I had created a rich collection (I hope) of complicated individuals.

Making a start

Of course, I could keep researching forever and a day but that won’t get the book written. Ultimately, I had to start writing and this I did a few months ago. I am now about 20,000 words into the work. It is by no means perfect and it is not meant to be. My aim is to simply write and get my first draft down as quickly as I can.

To be honest, I have had lots of distractions and normal life has gotten in the way countless times. I have therefore decided that I need to apply some discipline to the problem. In March, I am planning a writing sprint. In essence, writing every day for 30 days for at least 3 hours each day. By my calculations, that should be more than enough time to finish the first draft. I will explain a little more about the 30-day sprint and what I need to do to prepare for it, in a forthcoming newsletter, so stay tuned for more on that.

I hope you find my journey to creating my first novel fascinating. Stay with me and I will share excerpts from the story as I go along. I would welcome your comments and feedback to help me make the story as good as it can be.

As always, please feel free to share, comment and subscribe.