Whether you are a plotter or a pantster, it's important to start with at least a little research before diving into the writing advises author and writing teacher Valerie Willis. The amount and type of research required will vary depending on your novel's genre. For sci-fi or fantasy writers, Willis suggests keeping a world building bible where you can track everything you are brainstorming and creating. For other genres, Willis suggests creating vision boards to work through character and scene development. These visual tools will serve as inspiration and motivation throughout the entire process, she says. Additional tips Willis offers for first time novelists include writing your story out of order if needed, avoiding any editing until your first draft is complete, and staying organized to maintain consistency in your story.
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Yes! My first book wasn't chronological at all. I think I literally wrote the opening, then the climax and had thirteen or more files of scenes I wasn't sure what order they went in. During the Revisions process, you can organize these, add and delete, and so forth. Even on my 8th book I found I needed to reverse the order of 6 chapters to make the content hit harder with the readers. You can't see or fix problems unless you have all the parts in front of you. Think of it as a puzzle. You can't finish it without all the pieces, you have an idea what the finished piece should look like, and sometimes, it's nice to pick out all the edge pieces and work your way in ^_~. Happy writing!
Hello Willis, I like your suggestion to not edit the first draft and let the ideas flow as they comes. Then reorganize the ideas to follow a story line. I was getting ideas for different chapters randomly and was feeling frustrated at what I thought was dispersal when another idea came in. But I can see how it is better to catch the idea and write it down then organize it later. Thank you!
Hello Willis,