How to Write a Novel: Idea to Manuscript in Five Simple Steps

If you want to earn money from writing fiction then time really is money because the more you write, the more books you can sell.

I’ve been writing a lot of fiction lately and the biggest projects are the book-length manuscripts.

These can be anything from 20,000 words to 85,000 and more.

And with so much writing to do I find it impossible to start with a blank page.

Years ago I read about Ranger Ingerman’s ‘Snow Flake’ method for writing a novel and it really is an ingenious and easy-to-do idea.

You can read more about it at http://advancedfictionwriting.com/articles/snowflake-method/. 

The snowflake method of writing a novel includes knowing your characters extensively before you begin writing your manuscript and also constructing a complete story outline.

So here I’ve broken it down into a simple, but thorough, five step process that really does help you to go from idea to full manuscript:

1. Write one sentence to describe your story idea. It should be just a few words like a movie description in a TV guide, perhaps something like, “Aliens invade earth.”
2. Expand your idea into a paragraph which must contain a beginning, an end and at least three plot crisis points in between (5 sentences). The story starts with the main characters moving from having a goal to reaching it and at least three things, or people, that try and stop them. The ending must contain some kind of change in the main character/s life/lives - either physical or emotional.
3. Expand each sentence into a paragraph so that you end up with a one-page summary.
4. Expand each paragraph into a one-page description of scenes and things that happen in them. Break each scene into chapters that all have a cliff-hanger ending.
5. Now use this outline to write your novel.

Once you start writing your idea and expanding it into a full outline, it quickly becomes easier to think of new plot ideas and conflicts to add.

It really does help to get your creative writing juices flowing.