A whole novel? Seriously?!
How on earth do you find time to write your novel, amongst all the other things going on in your life? A whole novel seems overwhelming. You might be confused about how to structure it or how to start. If you’ve ever wanted to write a novel – or you started one and lost your novel writing mojo – read on.
Separate challenges
I don’t know if you noticed, but there are several things happening at once in that introductory paragraph (and you could probably add more to the list):
- lots of things in your life,
- managing your time,
- overwhelm, confusion and loss of mojo,
- needing to know about structure,
- needing to know how to start
It helps to treat each of these as separate challenges. Here’s a top tip for each one. If you would like a tip for a specific challenge you’re facing, drop it in the comments below and I’ll reply with some thoughts.
Five tips for finding time to write your novel
- You do have enough time. Try the kettle test if you don’t believe me.
- Want more on time management for writers? You’ve come to the right place. Check out this blog post.
- Overwhelmed by the thought of writing a whole book? Know why you want to write a novel – it will keep you motivated. Jot down some ideas in a notebook over coffee. And break the whole task down into smaller chunks. You’re not writing 80,000 words, you’re writing 1,000 words 80 times.
- You don’t need to know how to structure a novel before you start writing, but when you get to that stage, try this.
- You don’t need an idea before you start writing. Here’s why. You can get started by using writing prompts or coming up with your own writing games. Take a look at my post called What’s in a writing prompt? for more.
More soon. Until then, happy writing,
Louise