{"id":90,"date":"2021-06-08T10:32:59","date_gmt":"2021-06-08T10:32:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/athenswonder.com\/?p=90"},"modified":"2021-06-08T10:44:00","modified_gmt":"2021-06-08T10:44:00","slug":"how-to-write-a-novel-best-books-for-novel-writing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/athenswonder.com\/?p=90","title":{"rendered":"How to Write a Novel, Best Books for Novel Writing"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\u2013<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"fg2\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I have focused mainly on Fantasy Genre and USA Market, so there is more information on Fantasy Genre and USA Market.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Book List is after the Writing Advice. After that Publishers, Editors and Agents List is given.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Preparing Manuscript is given in Writing Advice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How to Write a Novel \u2013<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The best method in my opinion is given by Stephen King  (from his Wikipedia page).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Writing Advice<\/strong> \u2013<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stephen King<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

King\u2019s formula for learning to write well is: \u201cRead and write four to six hours a day. If you cannot find the time for that, you can\u2019t expect to become a good writer.\u201d He sets out each day with a quota of 2000 words and will not stop writing until it is met. He also has a simple definition for talent in writing: \u201cIf you wrote something for which someone sent you a check, if you cashed the check and it didn\u2019t bounce, and if you then paid the light bill with the money, I consider you talented.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Valuable Advice by some other very famous writers<\/strong> \u2013<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Terry Brooks<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

TORN: Any advice for aspiring writers?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

TB: My standard ten word formula for success as a writer goes like this \u2013 Read, Read, Read; Outline, Outline, Outline; Write, Write, Write; Repeat. I have a writer friend who says that on a scale of one to one hundred, talent ranks about 63. Number one is luck. Number two is perseverance. You have to work hard, be patient, and want it bad enough to keep sticking your head in the ringer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Terry Pratchett<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

So to writers I say, you\u2019re going to have to read a lot \u2014 Lots of continously in fact. So many books that you\u2019re going to overflow. You\u2019ve got to hook into the popular culture of the 20th century. You\u2019ve got to keep your mind open to all sorts of influences. You\u2019ve got to sit down for hours at a time in front of the computer. And you must make grammar, punctuation and spelling a part of your life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2013 How do you write?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHow do I write? God, this is embarrassing. Look, I just do it. It\u2019s pictures in the head and memories and thinking about things and it all comes together. It\u2019s something I do.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201c1) Watch everything, read everything, and especially read outside your subject \u2014 you should be importing, not recycling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2) Use a wordprocessor\u2026 why do I feel this is not unnecessary advice here? It makes everything mutable. It\u2019s better for the ego. And you can play games when all else fails.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3) Write. For more than three years I wrote more than 400 words every day. I mean, every calendar day. If for some reason, in those pre-portable days, I couldn\u2019t get to a keyboard, I wrote hard the previous night and caught up the following day, and if it ever seemed that it was easy to do the average I upped the average. I also did a hell of a lot of editing afterwards but the point was there was something there to edit. I had a more than full-time job as well. I hate to say this, but most of the successful (well, okay\u2026 rich) authors I know seem to put \u2018application\u2019 around the top of the list of How-to-do-its. Tough but true.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cApplication? Well, it means\u2026 application. The single-minded ability to knuckle down and get on with it, as they say in Unseen University library.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some more Advice by me<\/strong> \u2013<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Apply the 80\/20 rule in life. Do the most important 20% things which will mainly change your life for better in your 80% time and rest 20% things in 80% time (so you can fulfill your hobbies, but your main goal will be also completed in time without you being burnt out). Apart from this put sufficient time for Entertainment to recharge your batteries. For Example if you write full time and decided to work 10 hours, put 8 hours for reading and writing (70:30 Reading:Writing in beginning and then change it to 40:60 Reading:Writing), 2 hours for other hobbies like playing chess, solving maths, and rest of all time for Entertainment and Family. A total working time of 6-8 hours is good, healthy and sufficient.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Very valuable books for using your time efficiently and living happily.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eat That Frog \u2013 Brain Tracy<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Your Time Starts Now \u2013 Vijay Aggrawal<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You may read these Self Help and Motivational Books also \u2013<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nSelf Help Books and Motivational Books<\/a>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The six best friends of fiction writer are what, which, how, where, when, why<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Just ask your self this, in order \u2013<\/p>\n\n\n\n

who \u2013 did what \u2013 why he did \u2013 what happened \u2013 did what (why) \u2013 what happened \u2013 and so on and you will get scenes and backstory rolling vanquishing your block.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Just keep asking yourself questions until satisfaction or end of chain. Though a chain really never ends like why was my hero playing and not meditating, in a society of ascetics, that itself will demand a lot more of thought.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And please also note to take care of other events that follow your current action. That chain also is infinite. After thinking a lot just think at which point you should start the story(where the hero is thrown in and things change) and where to end(the conflict resolved. Be it a character(Star Wars 4 5 6), event(Lord of Rings), setting(Guliver travels) or idea centric(Sherlock holmes) story.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Use Wikipedia Efficiently<\/strong> \u2013<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Use Wikipedia to got list of writers in your required Genre,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then Go to Those authors respective pages one by one,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And for each author read their pages and<\/p>\n\n\n\n

visit links of their written Novels etc.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Each page of Novel has very good plot outline summary and info on that novel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Use this shortcut method to know others work first in your genre,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

then other genre\u2019s you like,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And then left out Genre\u2019s too for extensive knowledge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even save the pages in your hard disk for your own use as home library and reference in one folder in seperate folders by topic, nut do not go on naming every folder, just name the groups and then use automatic renaming of windows. As you can search your local hardrive anytime for important files without needing to be connected to the internet all the time, saving internet charges.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Also This is great for getting lots of ideas and very good for total beginner too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Use Scrivener<\/strong> \u2013<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Use Scrivener for writing novels. It is the best book writing software with all features. Its features and ease of use are best. It is really very useful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 http:\/\/www.literatureandlatte.com\/scrivener.php<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is not expensive (40USD). But if you want free software yWriter is the best (very primitive compared to Scrivener). Search  \u201cyWriter spacejock\u201d in Google.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Preparing Manuscript<\/strong> \u2013<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sample Manuscript \u2013 Robert J. Sawyer \u2013 http:\/\/www.sfwriter.com\/mschklst.htm<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Final manuscript is generally required in MS Word or RTF format. (MS Word and Libre Office both can save in doc, docx, rtf)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Free Open Source Libre office (Available on Windows, Linux and MacOSX. Coming soon on Android (mobiles)) can also save in MS Word doc and docx format or rtf format, so you can use it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You just need a computer (A computer is a must desktop or laptop (preferrable). For laptop use external keyboard and mouse plugged to it for prolonged use at home for health reasons, prefer LED monitor). You can as easily install Linux Mint (free) and use Libre Office (free, installs with Linux Mint) and start writing. Linux Mint can play Videos, Songs and do most of things Windows can and is as easy to use while being completely free.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Also you will need a Internet 3G or Broadband Connection (saves time) for information, which is a must.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Scrivener is available for Windows and MacOSX. Scrivener for Linux is also coming soon (public beta is available).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you use MS Word or Libre Office you will need to manage your project yourself by Different word files.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Scrivener it is very easy. After you have finished your project, you can compile it directly (save finally and completely) to any popular format including RTF and MS Word format.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Writing Advice on Internet \u2013<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Search in Google with following Keywords for writing advice<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Advice on Novel Writing \u2013 Crawford Killian<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Brent Weeks Writing Advice<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fantasy World Maps<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Holly Lisle<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Horror Writers Association<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mystery Novels \u2013 Ron Lovell<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Orson Scott Card Writing Class<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Randy Ingermanson Advanced Fiction Writing Blog<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Robert J Sawyer Blog<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association (SFWA)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Writing SF (On the writing of speculative ficiton \u2013 Robert A. Heinlein, Dialog \u2013 Isaac Asimov)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Best Books on Writing Novels \u2013<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

For downloading my files from scribd, login in scribd, upload a file and then you can download the file by clicking on \u201cDownload pdf\u201d. It is free this way, no need for premium membership.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 Book List \u2013<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

38 Most Common Fiction Writing Mistakes \u2013 Jack M Bickham<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A Guide to Writing Novels and Getting Published \u2013 Bob Mayer<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Becoming a Better Writer Course \u2013 Holy Lisle<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Beginnings Middles and Ends \u2013 Nancy Kress<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Characters and Viewpoint Elements of Fiction Writing \u2013 Orson Scott Card<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Copyediting and Proofreading for Dummies<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fantasy \u2013 Holly Lisle<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fantsy \u2013 Inspired Author (A pdf made from some website long time ago. Since I do not remember the website name, here is the pdf I made from web pages.) \u2013https:\/\/www.scribd.com\/embeds\/239461187\/content<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Feudal Dictionary<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How to Write a Damn Good Novel \u2013 James N Frey<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How To Write Science Fiction and Fantasy \u2013 Orson Scott Card<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Literary Terms \u2013 Robert Harris<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On Writing \u2013 Stephen King<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Plot Elements of Fiction Writing \u2013 Ansen Dibell<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Scrivener for Dummies<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Self-Editing for Fiction Writers 2e \u2013 Browne Renni Dave King<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gold \u2013 The Final Science Fiction Collection \u2013 Isaac Asimov<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stein on Writing \u2013 Sol Stein<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Craft of Writing Science Fiction That Sells \u2013 Ben Bova<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Writers Dictionary of Science Fiction, Fantasy, Horror and Mythology \u2013 Jeff Colburn<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Worldbuliding Faq (A pdf made by me from some website I forgot) \u2013https:\/\/www.scribd.com\/embeds\/313225496\/content<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Writing Fiction for Dummies \u2013 Randy Ingermanson<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Writing Fiction for Love and Money Mugging the Muse \u2013 Holly Lisle<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Writing Popular Fiction \u2013 Dean Koontz<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Write Now \u2013 Neil Thompson<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You need to have good vocabulary and knowledge of grammar (developed by extensive reading, listening (speaking is bonus, since you mainly need writing skills) and solving exercises in grammar books)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

English Vocabulary<\/strong> \u2013<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Norman Lewis Word Power made easy<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mini Oxford English Dictionary (The Minimum)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Concise Oxford English Dictionary (The Maximum)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

English Grammar<\/strong> \u2013<\/p>\n\n\n\n

English Grammar in Use<\/p>\n\n\n\n

English Grammar for Dummies 2nd Ed<\/p>\n\n\n\n

English Grammar Workbook for Dummies 2nd Ed<\/p>\n\n\n\n

High School English Grammar and its Key \u2013 Wren and Martin<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Only Grammar Book You\u2019ll Ever Need \u2013 Susan Thurman<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Elements of Style 4th Ed \u2013 Strunk and White<\/p>\n\n\n\n

More Info on Wikipedia<\/strong> \u2013<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Search Wikipedia by appending Wikipedia in front of these keywords while searching in google like :Fantasy Creatures Wikipedia\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fantasy Creatures<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fantasy Places Dictionary<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fantasy World<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fantasy<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fiction<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gods<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Legend Stories<\/p>\n\n\n\n

List of Fictional Swords<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Literature<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Science Fiction Concepts<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Science Fiction Creatures<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Science Fiction Planets<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Science Fiction<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For common tropes and cliches see tvtropes \u2013 http:\/\/tvtropes.org<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Publishers, Editors and Agents List<\/strong> \u2013<\/p>\n\n\n\n

ralan.com (free) \u2013 http:\/\/www.ralan.com\/<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

duotrope.com<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Writers Market<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My Current Book List \u2013<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

2015 Guide to Literary Agents \u2013 Chuck Sambuchino
21 Days to a Novel notes
38 Most Common Fiction Writing Mistakes \u2013 Jack M Bickham
A Guide to Writing Novels and Getting Published \u2013 Bob Mayer
Advice on Novel Writing \u2013 Crawford Killian
Becoming a Better Writer Course \u2013 Holy Lisle
Beginnings Middles and Ends \u2013 Nancy Kress
Characters and Viewpoint Elements of Fiction Writing \u2013 Orson Scott Card
Copyediting and Proofreading for Dummies
Creative Writing Exercises For Dummies \u2013 Maggie Hamand
Creative Writing For Dummies \u2013 Maggie Hamand
Dialogue \u2013 Gloria Kempton
Dialogue for Writers \u2013 Sammie Justesen
Fantasy \u2013 Holly Lisle
Fantsy \u2013 Inspired Author
Feudal Dictionary
First Draft in 30 Days  \u2013 Karen Wiesner
First Draft in 30 Days Worksheets  \u2013 Karen Wiesner
Horror Novels
How to Craft a Great Story \u2013 Chris Sykes
How to Grow a Novel \u2013 Sol Stein
How to Land and Keep a Literary Agent \u2013 Noah Lukeman
How to Tell a Story \u2013 Peter Rubie
How to Write a Damn Good Novel \u2013 James N Frey
How to Write Dazzling Dialogue \u2013 James Scott Bell
How To Write Science Fiction and Fantasy \u2013 Orson Scott Card
Literary Terms
Mystery Novels \u2013 Ron Lovell
No Plot No Problem \u2013 Chris Baty
Notes On Writing Weird Fiction \u2013 H P Lovecraft
On Writing \u2013 Stephen King
On Writing Robert J Sawyer
On Writing Well 30th Ed \u2013 William Zinsser
Orson Scott Card Writing Class
Plot Elements of Fiction Writing \u2013 Ansen Dibell
Randy Ingermanson
Scrivener for Dummies
Self-Editing for Fiction Writers 2e \u2013 Browne Renni Dave King
sfwa
SS Gold \u2013 The Final Science Fiction Collection \u2013 Isaac Asimov
Stein on Writing \u2013 Sol Stein
Story Genius \u2013 Lisa Cron
The Complete Handbook Of Novel Writing \u2013 Editors of Writers Digest
The Craft and Business of Writing \u2013 Writers Digest
The Craft of Writing Science Fiction That Sells \u2013 Ben Bova
The Elements of Style 2011 Ed
The Hidden Tools of Comedy \u2013 Steve Kaplan
The Marshall Plan for Novel Writing \u2013 Evan Marshall
The Snowflake Method \u2013 Randy Ingermanson
The Writer\u2019s Journey \u2013 Christopher Vogler
The Writers Dictionary
Wired for Story \u2013 Lisa Cron
Worldbuliding Faq
Write First \u2013 Jeffery A Carver
Writing Deep Scenes \u2013 Martha Alderson
Writing Fiction for Dummies \u2013 Randy Ingermanson
Writing Fiction for Love and Money Mugging the Muse \u2013 Holly Lisle
Writing Popular Fiction \u2013 Dean Koontz
Writing SF
The Breakout Novelist \u2013 Donald Maass
The Fire in Fiction \u2013 Donald Maass
Writing 21st Century fiction \u2013 Donald Mass
Writing the Breakout Novel \u2013 Donald Mass
Writing the Breakout Novel Workbook \u2013 Donald Maass
Plot and Structure \u2013 James Scott Bell
Write Your Novel From the Middle \u2013 James Scott Bell
Cohesive Story Building \u2013 Karen Wiesner
First Draft in 30 Days \u2013 Karen Wiesner
Beginnings Middles and Ends \u2013 Nancy Kress
Characters Emotion and Viewpoint \u2013 Nancy Kress
Dynamic Characters \u2013 Nancy Kress
Crafting Novels and Short Stories \u2013 Writers Digest
Write Your Novel in 30 Days \u2013 Writers Digest<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u2013 I have focused mainly on Fantasy Genre and USA Market, so there is more information on Fantasy<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/athenswonder.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/athenswonder.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/athenswonder.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/athenswonder.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/athenswonder.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=90"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/athenswonder.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":91,"href":"https:\/\/athenswonder.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90\/revisions\/91"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/athenswonder.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=90"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/athenswonder.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=90"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/athenswonder.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=90"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}