Comments on: How to Write a Novel (Part 1)

By: peggy

peggy — Fri, 30 May 2008 00:56:16 +0000

i have started writing a novel. although i dearly love it,i didn’t have any idea what i was doing when i first began, nor did i realize the endless hours of study and revising the material ,that it takes to really write a story. i want to thankyou for this site and the time you have put into it. as a writer ,i know that time is a precious thing. i wish there were more hours in a day sometimes because i could really use it!!! i have used your advice on the web site when writing.it has really helped me from step to step!i’m getting there !i have finished my ever revised 6th page !i thought i would never get this far !! thankyou again,peggy

By: Nicole

Nicole — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 15:04:28 +0000

I, admittedly, have always toyed with the idea of writing a novel. I’m not extremely talented, nor am I particularily imaginative, but I do get those moments where an idea pops into my head and I start writing it word for word, sentence by sentence. I’m sure this isn’t the ideal method of doing it, but, you’ve pointed out a few things in your post that I’ve taken a liking to– and a few things I’m already familiar with. That’s a good thing, I think.

Thanks for this.

By: How I will Write a Novel in 2008 at George Donnelly

How I will Write a Novel in 2008 at George Donnelly — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 10:14:50 +0000

[...] How to Write a Novel (Part 1) (DeepGenre) [...]

By: How to write a novel « Orbis Writing

How to write a novel « Orbis Writing — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 12:15:37 +0000

[...] http://www.deepgenre.com/wordpress/admin/craft/how-to-write-a-novel-part-1 [...]

By: How to Write a Novel « Web Writer

How to Write a Novel « Web Writer — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 07:12:49 +0000

[...] January 24, 2008 at 7:12 am · Filed under writing How to Write a Novel (Part 1) (DeepGenre) [...]

By: S C I F I R A M A » How to write a novel [part1]

S C I F I R A M A » How to write a novel [part1] — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 20:04:04 +0000

[...] genre - David L. Edelman is describing the process of writing a novel. You can read the article on DeepGenre. Part two can be found here. One of the Ten Commandments of Author Blogging is “thou must write a [...]

By: Murdering your darlings is only the start,… « mindful meanderings

Murdering your darlings is only the start,… « mindful meanderings — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 18:06:16 +0000

[...] Infoquake, a two-part step-by-step guide on the [not-so] gentle art of crafting and honing a novel. Part One is here, and Part Two is here. Mr.Edelman’s tone is humourous and light-hearted, so we’re [...]

By: S C I F I R A M A » How to write a novel [part2]

S C I F I R A M A » How to write a novel [part2] — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 14:13:13 +0000

[...] yourself to the task, and you agonized your way through your first draft — as described in How to Write a Novel (Part 1). Now one of two things will [...]

By: Carol Berg

Carol Berg — Sun, 20 Jan 2008 00:01:06 +0000

Great post, David - and timely. See my new post…

Don’t Panic.

Carol

By: Jim Murdoch

Jim Murdoch — Sat, 19 Jan 2008 16:48:14 +0000

I’ve written four novels and I’m slugging it out with a fifth at the moment. No one can write a definitive set of instructions for how to write a novel any more than anyone can define a poem these days. That said, this was as decent a stab at is as I’ve seen.

I’d like to add a couple of words on commitment:

This is a hard one. It’s easier once you’ve got a couple of books under your belt to know what you’re committing to. I actually wrote my first two novels over a five year period in conjunction. The first drafts took a matter of weeks, rewrites and editing took far longer than I could have ever imagined. My third took another five years but with a gap in the middle of a couple of years where I wrote a short story collection (didn’t see that coming) The fourth was a relatively easy two years and so far the present one has taken me two years during which time I’ve scrapped the whole thing and began again from scratch (that was a hard decision to make).

You never really don’t know what you’re committing to but you still have to commit.