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How to write your first novel and publish it
Choose a topic that excites you
The most important and necessary literature is the one that tells about our reality, touches on topical problems and is written in a modern language.
In short, what really bothers you is a good topic for your novel. Surely there will be readers and publishers to whom this will respond.
I started developing South Wind when I was doing social journalism. Some stories caused me especially intense pain, which I wanted to get rid of. I began to let her go through a literary text, so the plot is largely built around domestic violence, problems of psychiatry and police injustice. Naturally, these topics turned out to be relevant: I just took them from life.
On the other hand, I don't think it's right to try to fit into the agenda on purpose. Deliberate flirting with sensitive topics is always visible: most often, the author cannot really immerse himself in the problem, thinks in stereotypes and attributes stereotypical behavior to the characters. This is a dangerous and harmful path, google it, for example, what does it mean "Queerbaiting"
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Once you've found a topic, look for texts you've already written about it and read everything you can read. This will help you understand if there is anything you could add. Although it's not scary if there are a lot of books on the chosen topic: you can come up with a unique plot and, for example, place it in an unusual universe. By the way, good fantasy texts are always really about earthly things.
After such a study, you can talk to friends, interview those who live with the problem that worries you, watch tiktoks using the appropriate hashtag. All this can greatly inspire and guide.
Become your own test subject
Writing a novel is a time-consuming and complex process that can take years. But, like any large-scale project, it is divided into quite complete stages. First of all, I would advise you to measure your resources: time, energy, money, etc. Do not think that all this will be found by itself: most working people are already loaded to the limit (ask yourself if you often do nothing).
It took me two years to develop the plot and characters, although with proper planning, all this could be done in a couple of months. When I started writing the text itself, I realized that writing should become a daily practice, otherwise, firstly, I would never finish, and, secondly, I would lose my dynamics, style and generally forget what it was about.
For self-exploration, I started a Google spreadsheet similar to a calendar. In the cells, I indicated the number of scenes that I managed to write during the day, or the things that prevented me from writing — in case I did little or nothing. If you do not yet have any scenes and a developed plan for the book, do the preparatory work and also note what hindered you. My experiment lasted a month, at the end I made the following conclusions (I must say that at that time I worked part-time and could afford not to work at all on some days):
On weekends, you can never write
I decided not to torment myself and rest;
Cooking takes a lot of effort and time (there are no deliveries in my city)
developed a menu of dishes that last a long time, and began to cook twice a week (plus I found a small local company that makes excellent freezes);
Cleaning, reading, and exercising have no effect on productivity
then she rejoiced and left everything as it was;
Meetings with relatives never take an "hour" or two, it's for the whole day
she set aside a whole day to visit her parents and grandmother, began to offer her parents joint leisure time on weekends more often;
I can't write for more than four hours in a row without losing quality
I stop myself at the four o'clock mark (this, by the way, saves me from frustration: I knew for sure that after writing there would still be time for other things);
In the morning I think poorly, and in the evening I have little energy
I stopped believing in the illusion that I would quickly finish all my business, and then I would sit down to have an affair; Things will wait, and I'm sticking to the plan of writing in the afternoon.
Find friends in the literary community
Writing is the loneliest occupation in the world, which also lasts forever. Sometimes I was so deeply immersed in history that when I surfaced into reality, I did not understand whether I was writing about it at all and how interesting it was to other people. Right now, dozens of young authors are writing novels, short stories and other literary texts in parallel with you, who can be just as lonely and anxious. And many of them will be ready to support you, read excerpts, give practical advice and offer to watch their texts. This is a very important exchange.
Like-minded people can be found in literary schools, book clubs, and writers' chats. Often, the community that has developed at the courses is no less valuable than the training itself. For example, I am a member of Olga Breininger's closed community after her course in anthropology, as well as in several chats created during my studies at the School of Literary Practices (SLP). There I also met book bloggers who read a lot and can, for example, tell me which book had a topic that interests me now. I showed the first fragments of the text to the teachers of the School of Liberal Labor, Evgenia Nekrasova and Alesya Atroshchenko, and after their review, I rewrote almost everything.
Communication with other participants in the literary process will also help build social capital: if you are in a party, you will be the first to know about a new publishing program, competition or residency. It may happen that someone who has read fragments of your novel will recommend you to a publisher (my case). So don't hesitate to share the text — you will have to show it later anyway, and the sooner you do it, the less you will rewrite later!
Choose tools for nerds
When I was writing the novel, every day I felt sorry for all the authors, starting with Homer, who did not have the Internet. To write a reliable text, you will need to conduct research — but now you don't have to sit in the library for months. On the Internet, you can dig up any archives and find the right experts who are ready to give you advice.
From the less obvious - tools for planning and accounting for what has been done. Above I wrote about Google Sheets, but this is not the only thing I used. In 2018, when I came up with the main character of South Wind, I had a notebook in which I drew flowcharts describing the characters' personalities, their value conflicts, connections, clashes, etc. I tried different programs, but I didn't find anything suitable for this task. Recently, I started developing a second novel and discovered Miro, an endless (I want to write in caps) board where you can make the cutest and very functional flowcharts, tables, and, if necessary, draw the genealogies of the characters. Awesome tool!
I also actively used Trello, a task tracker in the form of a board and stickers on it. By the way, the Trello board can be shared with like-minded people. In my field, I wrote down tasks and marked their urgency with different colors (the notation system was developed by one of my colleagues), there I also kept checklists and attached links useful for research. I'm sure there are many other tools out there, but these three were enough for me (plus notes on my phone).
Engage Mindfulness (Don't Be Scared!)
It's normal to feel frustrated while working on a book. You can't predict the fate of your first novel, but you spend colossal resources on it, which may not pay off. Frustration can be so overwhelming that some days it will seem as if you have no strength to write. And nothing will work. And, probably, it is better to delete everything to hell.
For me, the salvation turned out to be a skill that I learned at mindfulness training (this is an evidence-based mindfulness practice developed by psychologists and psychiatrists), namely the Action Before Motivation rule (can be translated as "action before motivation" or "first do, then think"). When you can't write, you need to do the following:
- sit down at the computer.
- turn off the Internet on all devices.
- set a timer for 15 minutes.
- Write everything that comes to mind (although it is still better to be on topic).
It works flawlessly: the brain quickly tunes in to the task, and even if you delete what you wrote in the first 15 minutes, all subsequent text will be normal. I know many writers, screenwriters and journalists who use this method.
Once again: don't be shy!
Tell everyone about your romance. Discuss it with your friends, boyfriend, wife, show fragments to other writers, ask bloggers what they think about the plot you have come up with. This will not only save you from loneliness, but also, perhaps, help your romance come into being.
There is no shame in writing fiction, there are millions of books - bad, good and just very different.
The sacralization of creativity, in my opinion, greatly harms literature itself.
There are no muses, they were invented by writers who wanted to give importance to their work (and they are all already dead). Writing is a regular job, just a little more exciting than office work. If in doubt, remember that the novel "War and Peace" was something like the series "Game of Thrones" for its contemporaries.
Prepare for Express Pitching
It is quite possible that one day one of your friends in literature will mention you to the publisher (publishing houses are always looking for new bright texts, this is a fact!). And then you will need to urgently present your novel to an interested, but very expert and, probably, critical person. I would advise not to wait until the novel is finished, and already in the middle of the work to prepare for such a turn. When I had my first conversation with Yulia Petropavlovskaya, the head of the publishing program "There is Sense", I had written about a third of the text, but I also had everything I needed for pitching, namely:
High-concept
description of the plot, conflict, place and main idea in three sentences;
Synopsis
a more detailed description of the novel, but not a retelling, which reflects the main ideas, twists, conflict, denouement, universe, as well as references and possible target audience (it is desirable to keep within one and a half to two pages);
Stage Drawing
listing all the events from beginning to end (this is probably not necessary, but I had it);
Text fragment
you can send everything you have;
A short story about myself
where you were published, who you worked for, what expertise you have (by the time of pitching, I had several published stories in collections, anthologies and literary magazines).
Since I was prepared, I pitched my novel in fifteen minutes literally from the beach. Remember that communication with the publisher is a business conversation. Lengthy reflections on the writer's share are better left for conversations with friends. Be polite, consistent, clearly stipulate time, limits and obligations. In response, do not accept vague wording and unsubstantiated promises. We had an instant mutual understanding and love with the publishing house "Est Smysl", but not everyone is so lucky: if something alarms you, do not be afraid to refuse, there will always be a demand for a good text.
