How to Write a Novel

The novel form is a large, unwieldy, towering project, and if you find yourself wondering how to write a novel, you might already be daunted by the project’s size and complexity. Good. How you’re feeling is how every great novelist has ever felt before approaching the blank page; you have already put yourself in the same annals as James Joyce, Sylvia Plath, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and Toni Morrison. 

Writing a novel is like building a house: no matter how much planning and work you put into it, there is always more work you can do. No novel is perfect, and the effort required to build believable worlds, complex characters, and an entertaining plot that explores nuanced themes is certainly overwhelming. If you’re here, you’re probably wondering how you can fit all of these requirements into 300-odd pages. The novel writing tips in this article have you covered. 

Whether you find yourself nervous to start writing a novel for the first time, or whether you’re intrigued by the novel form but don’t know where to begin, this article will help ground you in how to write a novel. In truth, there’s no single, one-size-fits-all novel writing roadmap, but use these ideas as a diving board, and you will soon be swimming through the writing process.

This article answers the most important questions in writing a novel, including:

• What is a novel?
• How many words are in a novel?
• What are the elements of novel writing?
• What fiction techniques can I use in my novel?
• What are some books on how to write a novel?

So, are you ready to learn how to write a novel? Let’s dive into the novel form, the elements that make a novel come to life, and some other novel writing tips to support you on this long and wondrous journey.

What is a Novel?

Before diving into how to write a novel, let’s first demystify the novel itself. A novel is a book-length work of fiction that tells a complete story (or, as is usually the case, multiple stories). By immersing the reader in a world with complex characters, settings, plot points, and themes, novels emulate real life and inevitably impart wisdom about the human experience.

What is a novel? A novel is book-length work of fiction. By immersing the reader in a world with complex characters, settings, plot points, and themes, novels emulate real life and impart wisdom about the human experience.

Some people might balk at the idea that a novel always emulates real life. After all, there are many genres of fiction that ignore what everyday life looks like. How could a novel set on Mars, or a novel about secret agents, or a novel from the point-of-view of cats, reflect the human experience?

No novel can capture the totality of life, although it might try to. Novels like War & Peace by Leo Tolstoy, The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky, and Les Misérable by Victor Hugo each total over 1,000 pages, and each novel examines the complexities and philosophies of simply being human, but none of them can convey the entirety of what it means to be alive.

Rather, novels capture a slice of the human experience. So, even a novel about cats will have its characters make tough decisions, like the ones that human beings make. Even a novel set in a galaxy far, far away might address philosophies of life, love, and conflict.

In fact, these elements—character, setting, plot, etc.—often act as metaphors for human experiences, representing our shared struggles in fictional realms. Such is the magic, the mystery, and the goal of novel writing.

How Many Words Are in a Novel?

Works of fiction can be categorized into different lengths, such as flash fiction, the vignette, the novella, and the novel. Although these categories are arbitrary, it is important to understand how the length of a work of fiction affects the story itself. It is also worth thinking about length, because length impacts the story’s publication opportunities—both literary journals and publishing houses pay a great deal of attention to word count.

How many words are in a novel? Fictional works of this length, as well as others, are summarized in the chart below:

Type of Fiction	Word Count	Example
Microfiction	Generally <300 words	Ernest Hemingway’s six word story “for sale: baby shoes, never worn.”
Flash fiction	Generally <1,500 words	“With a Bang” by Barbara Henning
Short story	1,500-7,500 words	“A Clean, Well-Lighted Place” by Ernest Hemingway
Novelette	7,500-20,000 words	“The Spectacle” by Edgar Allan Poe
Novella	20,000-50,000 words	Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
Novel	50,000+ words	One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez
Epic	110,000+ words	Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy

Some publishers and literary journals may have different definitions for each category of fiction, but these lengths are common definitions. Most publishers claim a novel is 50,000+ words, although you will find some theorists argue that the minimum length is 40,000.

How many words in a novel: 50,000+, though definitions vary.

For a longer breakdown of fiction forms by approximate word count, see our interview with Writers.com instructor Jack Smith.

Although the minimum length of a novel is 50,000 words, novels of this length are rarely published by conventional publishing houses. Why? The primary reason is that book buyers are less likely to purchase short novels. A 50,000 word novel will rarely satisfy the reader’s desire for a well-developed story, with complex characters and themes. Short novels—as well as novellas—simply don’t appeal to the modern reader.

So, what is the ideal length for a novel? If you are writing a novel, and you haven’t previously published any novels, then a good goal to reach for is 70,000-90,000 words. Novels of this length are long enough to satisfy the reader’s desires without being too drawn out that the story becomes boring. 

There are, of course, exceptions to this rule, and there are certainly debut novelists who publish shorter and longer books. But, this Goldilocks zone is sure to please many traditional publishers.

How to Write a Novel: Honing the 6 Elements of Fiction

Novel Writing Tips: Find Your Voice as a Novelist

The culmination of all these different skills—the elements of fiction, the tools of successful prose writing, and the honing of your own writing style—is “voice.” 

What is “voice?” It’s a difficult concept to define in creative writing. In short, voice is the nebulous, ineffable quality of a piece of writing that “sounds like” you. You can’t point to one specific thing and call it voice; it is the gestalt of everything happening in the text. Not just your style and word choice, but also your characters, your themes, your perspective as a novelist. 

Our instructor Donna Levin puts it another way: voice is “you, artistically projected.”

Voice: you, artistically projected.

No guide on how to write a novel is complete without mentioning voice. Why? Because your voice is what your readers will fall in love with.

Yes, they will love your characters and plots, the ways your novel immerses them in worlds both strange and familiar. But the thing that sells these elements is your voice as a novelist. 

Think of a novel you love. You don’t just love the story and its characters, you love the way the story is told. That’s voice. It’s a selling point for readers and, if you want to publish your novel traditionally, it’s a huge selling point for literary agents.

So, how do you find your voice as a novelist? That’s the hard part: there’s no easy way to teach it. After all, voice comes from within you. The only advice we can offer is the work you can do to find your voice and coax it onto the page.

So, here’s some advice on that—how to hone your voice as you write a novel:

• Write often and regularly. The more you write, the better you get at writing, and the more you find your own style and approach to the page.
• Write like yourself. Do not try to write like anyone else, and do not try to be a capital-W “Writer.” 
• That said, experiment on the page. Try different styles and techniques. See what works for you, what feels good, and what doesn’t sit right in your ear. You will find what it means to “write like yourself” this way. 
• Spend ample time in revision. You won’t hone your voice just in the first draft; it will emerge as you write, revise, and revise again. 
• Write with confidence. This is easier said than done, of course. But the more you believe in yourself and your work, the easier it is to let your natural voice shine through on the page. 
• Don’t just write a novel. Experiment with short stories, microfiction, essays, poetry, and other forms of writing. Every word you write is an exploration into your voice as an author. 

How to Write a Novel in 6 Phases

So far, we’ve answered what is a novel? We’ve explored the six elements of fiction, the techniques that novelists use, and the importance of style in writing a novel. Now, how do you actually get started?

One way to think about writing a novel is through a 6 phase approach. The following phases aren’t the only way to write a novel, but many novelists include these 6 things in their process:

• Generating an Idea
• Research
• Writing a Novel Outline
• Establishing a Writing Schedule
• The First Draft
• Edit, Rinse, Repeat

Now that you have the basics of the novel writing craft under your belt, let’s dive into the process of how to write a novel. 

Phase 1: Generating an Idea

The first step to writing a novel is having an idea. Novel ideas can come out of anywhere: you might decide to expand upon a short story you had previously written, or you might decide to build an entirely new fictional world and use the novel to explore it. Your novel idea might try to dissect the psyche of an individual character, or it can try to comment on society as a whole. The novel is infinite, and so are the ideas that jumpstart one.

Generating an idea for your novel is much the same as generating a story idea. A story idea generally answers the following three questions:

• Who is your main character?
• What does your main character want?
• What prevents the main character from getting what they want?

Novel Writing Tips: From Idea to Novel

Novel-length projects are complex. To push your writing past 50,000 words, your novel will likely confront complicated situations and ideas. Let’s compare two stories written by Agatha Christie, both of which share the same premise but are written at vastly different lengths.

“The Plymouth Express” (short story): A young naval officer discovers the body of the Honourable – and nearly-divorced – Mrs. Rupert Carrington.

The Mystery of the Blue Train (novel): Detective Hercule Poirot investigates the case of a woman murdered in her train compartment, whose death may have been motivated by death, jealousy, greed, or revenge.

The first premise works perfectly for a short story. We are given the basic event of the story, the central character in question, and enough detail to make the story vaguely interesting.

The second idea, by contrast, shifts the focus of the story onto the motive of the murderer. This allows the story to develop into a novel, as it can muse on the concepts of love and greed, while also giving a narrative framework from the lens of the detective.

So, to write a great novel, start with an idea that offers the basic components of a story, but also offers room to explore the world and its characters. In much the same way as Agatha Christie writes the dark side of the human psyche, your novel can write about people, history, or the world at large.

Novel Writing Tips: How to Start Writing a Novel

Most novels begin at or near the start of the story’s conflict. The reader must become acquainted with the protagonist(s), their motivations and challenges, and the conflict that fuels the story’s plot. Readers must also learn about what everyday life looks like before the conflict begins, and they must be given ways to relate directly with the protagonist(s).

Most novels begin at or near the start of the story’s conflict.

Some stories, of course, begin in the middle or the end of the conflict. If you decide to do this, you must still tell us how the story began, otherwise the reader will get lost in the weeds of a conflict they don’t understand.

If your novel starts at the beginning of the conflict, keep this advice at heart: do not start your novel on a typical day. Start your novel on the day that something changes. 

You might be wondering how to start writing a novel’s first line. This list of 100 first lines in novels might help you find inspiration.

Novel Writing Tips: Know Your Purpose

Once you have an idea, the novel writing process will feel much less daunting if you can identify three things: the genre for your novel, an audience that might enjoy your novel, and your intent for writing the novel.

Define Your Genre

Knowing the genre of your work will help you structure the story you want to write. You might know your novel will be fantasy, mystery, or literary fiction, but go one step further: is it urban fantasy or magical realism? Is it noir mystery, a medical thriller, or both?

Delving into the genre of your novel requires some time, and it can bring up questions to motivate the plot and details of your fiction. This list of fiction genres is a great place to start unpacking your novel’s genre, though you might end up writing something even more niche.

Genres are just conventions for writing a novel, and while those rules can help guide your work, rules are made to be broken.

Now, “genre” is not a roadmap. Genres are just conventions for writing a novel, and while those rules can help guide your work, rules are made to be broken. Combine genres, avoid genres, or create a new one entirely; either way, know the conventions for your story, and plan accordingly.

Define Your Audience

Knowing your audience will help you plan out your story and develop a writing style for the novel. Of course, write your novel for yourself, not for your audience. But, if you know that a certain readership will gravitate towards your work, there’s no harm in considering what that readership will like.

For example, you might realize that a young adult audience will love your fantasy novel, so you decide to draw inspiration from The Hunger Games or from the Percy Jackson series. Or, you might write a mystery novel that appeals to women readers, so you consider making your main character a female detective. These considerations won’t define your work, but they will certainly guide it.

Define Your Intent

Answer this question: why do you want to write this novel?

Examining your own intent is one of the best tips for writing a novel. Because there is no set procedure on how to write a novel, many of the answers will come from inside yourself. You found yourself attracted to your novel idea for a certain reason, so whether you want to explore the human psyche, examine society, or build a lush and beautiful fantasy world, defining your intent will help you figure out where to start—and where to keep returning.

Phase 2: Research and Planning

All novels require research. Whether you’re writing romance, historical fiction, or autobiographical fiction, you will end up researching relevant details to make your novel more convincing. Having a plan for finding and organizing this research will make writing a novel much easier.

Research can help jumpstart ideas that you will work into your story outline; more on that below. It will also make the act of writing go by much quicker, as your notes and knowledge base will be much easier to reference. Keep your research organized in a word processing software, like Bear, Scrivener, or Microsoft OneNote.

Here are some free resources to help you with your research:

• Boolean search operators (for mastering search engines)
• EBSCO
• The Smithsonian
• Archive today (for accessing paywalled journalism)
• 101 free journals and databases

Most importantly, your local library or university may be able to provide free access to certain research databases. When in doubt, ask a local librarian!

Starting with research will help jumpstart the creative process and make the writing experience much smoother. Your preliminary novel research won’t be comprehensive, and you will likely have to do more research once you start the actual writing process. However, getting it out of the way now will help jumpstart the creative process and make the writing experience much smoother. It will also help you outline your novel, or even spark ideas for what happens in the story. 

Phase 3: Writing A Novel Outline

The story outline scaffolds your novel idea into a working plot. Outlining your novel is a long process, and some writers will take months to outline their ideas before they put the first word down. There are many different ways to write a story outline, but your outline should match your intent for writing the story.

For example, if you want to write a character-focused novel, then writing a novel outline that’s focused on character development might work best. Or, if your novel relies on heavy world-building and setting, then a scene-based outline will do the trick. Let your novel’s purpose guide the outline, then let the outline guide the novel itself.

Let your novel’s purpose guide the outline, then let the outline guide the novel itself.

Note: this method is called the “plotter” method, where you map out key details of the story before you start writing it. The opposite method is called the “pantser” method. If you write without outlining, you “write by the seat of your pants.” Both methods have their benefits: while plotting helps you work out the kinks in your story, pantsing allows you to surprise yourself with where the story might take you. If you’re daring enough, you can even do what our instructor Sarah Aronson does: write a “discovery draft,” where she pantses the first draft of the novel, then delete it (yes, delete it entirely), and write a new draft from scratch. 

If you’re uncertain which method to take, try writing some short stories using both plotting and pantsing methods.

For help getting started with this phase of writing your novel, see our practical guide to writing a story outline.

Phase 4: Establishing a Writing Schedule

If you want to be a writer, you must do two things above all others: read a lot and write a lot. There’s no way around these two things that I’m aware of, no shortcut. —Stephen King

Wouldn’t it be great if we could dream up a novel one day, write it the next, and publish it the day after? Writing a novel is a marathon, not a sprint, so if you want to get to the finish line you’ll need patience, diligence, discipline.

Stephen King put it best when he said “If you want to be a writer, you must do two things above all others: read a lot and write a lot. There’s no way around these two things that I’m aware of, no shortcut.”

Of course, King has the resources to devote his entire life to writing, which is why he can churn out a first draft in three months. On the other hand, you might be writing your first novel while also working, caring for family, and living day-to-day life.

So, the next step for your novel is to build a working schedule. You might decide you have room to write 500 words a day, or time to write for 30-60 minutes a day. What matters is consistency: setting and keeping a defined schedule for you to sit down and focus your mind on your novel.

Writing a novel is a marathon, not a sprint.

Give yourself a working timeline with weekly or monthly goals, and try to write every day. A consistent writing practice will carry you to the finish line.

Phase 5: The First Draft

Armed with an outline, a schedule, and a passion for your idea, it’s time to start writing. Your writing doesn’t have to come out quickly, and it doesn’t even need to be good writing. The first draft simply needs to exist: if it’s written, then it’s already successful.

The previous phases are intended to give you the structure to write your novel. When it comes to the writing process itself, everyone’s novel writing experience is different. However, remember to stay diligent, join a writing community, and remember that a first draft is allowed to be bad—that’s why we edit!

Phase 6: Edit, Rinse, Repeat

The editing process is often what takes the longest for a novel. You could write a novel in three months and edit it for three years or longer. Like the writing process, there’s no strict timeline for editing your novel, but don’t expect the editing to be quick and easy.

When you finish your first draft and get to the editing stages, give yourself a small brain break and reward yourself—because woohoo, you wrote it! Then when you get back to the drawing board, examine your writing with a critical eye, figure out what the novel needs, and set up an editing schedule like you set up a writing schedule.

A [story] is never finished, only abandoned. —Paul Valery

Follow this process for as many novel drafts until you’re satisfied—and remember, no novel will ever feel perfect. Paul Valery once said “a poem is never finished, only abandoned.” It’s the same with the novel.

Once you feel like you’ve worked on your novel for long enough, and you don’t know how to improve it further, find beta readers. Beta readers are people who read your novel and give useful feedback on how they experienced it, what’s working and what isn’t, and what you might want to do in your next revision. Typically, beta readers will swap ready novel drafts, so you’ll read theirs while they read yours. Do this with writers you trust and whose opinions you respect, and you’ll have feedback that can take your novel draft to the next level.

What comes after that? When you’ve finished writing a novel, check out our guides on publishing:

• Tips on Self-Publishing
• Self-Publishing on Amazon
• Literary Agents (for traditional publishing)

Books on How to Write a Novel

For more novel writing tips, here’s a list of books on how to write a novel:

• Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott
• On Writing by Stephen King
• The Art of Fiction by John Gardner
• On Becoming a Novelist by John Gardner
• Write and Revise for Publication by Jack Smith
• Zen in the Art of Writing by Ray Bradbury
• Steering the Craft by Ursula K. Le Guin
• Writing Down the Bones by Natalie Goldberg
• Reading Like a Writer by Francine Prose
• Get That Novel Written by Donna Levin
• Steal Like an Artist by Austin Kleon
• Aspects of the Novel by E. M. Forster

Learn How to Write a Novel at Writers.com

Do my characters seem real? Can you picture this setting? What parts of my novel need editing?

Writing a novel is an ongoing process, and the more you work on it, the more questions you’ll ask. Find your answers at Writers.com. With different novel writing courses to choose from, additional novel writing tips at our blog, and a supportive and caring Facebook group, we’re here to get your novel from idea to bestseller.

Jack Smith is the author of 6 novels and 3 books of nonfiction. He’s a regular contributor to The Writer magazine. He teaches novel writing, as well as other fiction writing courses, for Writers.com.