How to write a great novel - writing habits of famous authors | Hacker News Reader

How to write a great novel - writing habits of famous authors

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42 pointsjenningsjason16 comments

They write. Skip this article and go write.

I used to buy books on writing, read magazines on writing, listen to interviews of authors talk about their methods.

You're right--they simply sit down and write.

[reposting a relevent comment I wrote here: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=834920]

For those trying to start a writing habit: here are some tips that have helped me over the last month, to the point that it's starting to feel automatic:

1. Set realistic goals. Mine is "500 words per day, no excuses." It takes 1-2 hrs.

2. Start when it's easy. I started my 500 word per day rule over a week-long vacation. This builds the confidence that you can achieve your goal in a reasonable amount of time.

3. Have a routine for getting started. I have a special writing playlist and play the same song every time I start writing. Over time your brain forms associations and will automatically go into the appropriate mode.

4. If you're having trouble getting started, try imagining how good you will feel once you've hit your daily goal. While you're doing that, count from 10 to 1 as if you're about to launch the space shuttle. Then start.

5. Focus on daily progress. Your feedback loop should be "I won at writing 500 words today," not "I'm now 10.5% done instead of 10.3% done."

The writing itself is never going to become truly automatic or habitual. What will become a habit is expecting that you'll make progress every day, and knowing that you're capable of succeeding today.

I agree on the 500 word rule, it's my minimum daily target. However, I should add an addendum: Just because you did 1,000 words yesterday, doesn't mean you get away with doing nothing today.

What strikes me is that they seem to lose much time fighting procrastination.

Count yourself lucky if it strikes you. :)

Try sitting in front of a computer for eight hours a day and telling yourself you're supposed to be writing a story. I've been in a program like that. I'd bet that six and a half of those eight hours were collectively spent on Youtube.

Interestingly, very few of those approaches can be directly mapped to software. Bulletin boards, graph-paper notebooks with revisions written as speech bubbles, "auditioning" characters ... how do you wade through such immense amount of data on a computer?

I only know of one app (for the Mac) called Scrivener that gives the author some freedom to develop a story visually instead of as a wall of text.

It's sad that "how to write a great novel" sounds a lot more appealing than the much more befitting "writing habits of famous authors."

Interesting to note that so many still hand write there drafts on paper. It would be hard as a full time novelist to avoid distraction, I guess for some this is a way of avoiding the distraction of a computer hooked up to the outside world.

For a writer, a computer is nothing but an enhanced typewriter. Limited upside (functionality of scrivener e.g.), huge downside (lots of attention-draining distractions).

I worked as a reviewer and I'm trying to write a novel I would like attributed to my name. When I was a reviewer I worked exclusively on a computer.

However when I began writing novels there was much more inspiration involved. It wasn't an organised stream of consciousness like reviewing often is, and becomes more about inspiration and catching it when it strikes. I frequently have a small 3"x8" notepad stuffed into my pocket, I keep a large A4 notepad by my bed and I try to write anything down when I can, even if it serves no purpose in the end.

On the downsides of a computer, there are downsides of anything. I've mucked out my rabbits litter box as procrastination when the internet has been down. The main upside to not using a computer, is that when you procrastinate it actually saves you time later. The computer is the only machine where you can efficiently procrastinate and produce nothing whatsoever out of it. If you procrastinate by washing the dishes, well suck it self you don't have to do it later! You eventually finish everything you can procrastinate with early, and end up with nothing but writing to do. When you have a computer, you can piss about on facebook and your day amounts to nothing . . . then you have to do the dishes anyway.

I've always admired writing for the same reason I like programming - having such wide limits on what can be created. However, I envy book writers because I feel they are even less constrained.

As a writer I've always admired programmers, and with my brother being a programmer I recognized the same processes going on.

I worked as a reviewer for a couple of years, and I have to tell you that the day job is very constrained, especially when politics get involved in it, which is why I quit and have been focusing on novel writing.

What works well for me is sort of a prototyping. I start with the key notes (basically 1/2 lines of integral plot) for Act 1 (or the 1st 1/4) is the introduction of everything, and usually ends with the revelation of the problem you're exploring. Act 2 (or the middle half) is where the character tries to solve the problem, and in the middle of this section should reach rock bottom, he then has a revelation or some such and then starts building up for the final confrontation. Act 3 (or the 4th 1/4) has the climax and is usually followed by a 'denouement' which is where everything goes back to normal. However, the denouement isn't as integral as the rest, in fact many novels/plays/movies leave this out and it can frequently be a twist in horror movies (for me the only thing that made Quarantine a passable movie is because it had no denouement - everyone died) and tragedies.

The next step is usually turning those acts into chapter summaries; these are 1 liners that explain what the chapter is advancing in the plot (this can literally be as simple as finding a key to a locked door), what I'm currently working on has chapter summaries of single words as it's enough to remind me of the plot). Once you have the goal of every chapter you can begin work.

Honestly as a writer I would say you're completely fucking nuts for even wanting to try. However, I'd recommend anyone give it a go as it's very self-fulfilling. I dumped over 40,000 words onto the sidelines last week when I found myself wandering as it had taken me over 3 months to get that far and I was missing the aim (the story is sound however, so it's not been abandoned), what I replaced it with I'm at 10,000 words, full plot outline and about 5,000 words of notes. However the 40,000 words I dumped had itself supplanted a 30,000 word work that had swallowed a gargantuan 9 months and died because it was written in the complete wrong narrative. The effort to rewrite defeats the purpose, so it's now getting major plot revisions and will be written in 1st not 3rd. Despite all this, you don't feel the stress from dumping months of work essentially into a trash can because you can actually see how your writing changed from start until trash.

I have this feeling that most of what they do don't really matter that much, but is more of a habit that works for them, but not necessarily something that would work for a new writter.

It's their way which they have found suits their individual flow. Just imitating what they do won't get an aspiring writer anywhere. It's nice to know, but ultimately doesn't help you write that novel.

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