Copyright: Joanna Penn (2016)

7 Steps To Write Your Novel with Joanna Penn

J.F.Penn - NY Times & USA Today Bestselling Author

The Creative Penn Ltd

Over 500,000 copies soldin 74 countries & 5

languages. Ebook, print & audio format.

* International professional speaker* Non-fiction books, courses, audio

programs* Award-winning entrepreneur

Left day-job as IT consultant in Sept 2011.

2011 - started in NaNoWriMo 2009

2016 - 12 novels under J.F.Penn

2008

It is possible! And it doesn’t have to take you as long as me :)

• 7 steps to write your novel

• A plan for writing a novel

in a year

• Need more help? An introduction to my course

and community

• Q&A time! Please vote questions up

• Slide download link

The writing craft is like an iceberg

You can write a novel with this much

knowledge

But there is always more to learn. This is the journey of a

lifetime!

(1) Understand what you’re

writing and why

Why are you writing? What’s your definition of success? Be honest.

Desire to tell a story Reaching readers (how is that

defined?) Winning an award / critical

acclaim Making money

Getting into physical bookstores

Having agent/publisher validation

This will impact what you write, how you publish and how you market & how happy you are later :)

“Terrible writing but I can’t put it down.” 100 million copies sold.

Consider your potential readers

Where are they in the book eco-system? What are their

expectations of the genre? (e.g. HEA? thrills? escape?)

What are the 5-10 (bestselling or award-winning) books that

are similar to the story you want to write?

You can write what you love, but you can also write something that

will find an audience.

(2) Fill your creative well

Follow your curiosityYou can’t create from an empty mind. Fill it up :)

Don’t write what you know. Write what you’re

interested in.

Start tuning into what catches your eye, what you notice, what fascinates you

… other people like this stuff too!

Start noticing your own interest. https://uk.pinterest.com/jfpenn/deviance/

Write down the sparks that appearQuotes, notes, thoughts, things, people, descriptions, sensations

… write it all down.

Notebooks / journals Google Docs / Word

Evernote / Things / other note-taking apps

Scrivener - keep an ideas project

You can re-read later, or you can just wait for it to come out in the

writing :)

Trust emergence

“the broken pieces taken by the early church …When Christ was resurrected,

the slab he laid on was broken into pieces and shards of rock … searched

for by many and held now by the legacy of those who persecuted.”

Initial ideas for Stone of Fire found in a journal from 2004. I

didn’t start writing that until 2009. Had forgotten I’d had the

idea before.

http://jfpenn.com/journal-pentecost/

(3) Write a story, not just a pile of

words

A professional editor recently told me about the biggest

problem he finds with manuscripts from first-time

authors:

“They give me a load of typing, instead of a story.”

“Most people know what a story is until they sit down to write

one.” Prize-winning literary writer

Flannery O’Connor

Consider what you love about your favorite books as a reader.

How do the books begin and end?

What is it about the character? or plot? or

setting? Why do you want to turn the

pages? Is the book a series?

Why do you crave these types of books?

Get to grips with story structure

Structure and boundaries help you to be more creative

(4) Write a character that people want to spend time with

Write a character that people want to spend time with

Go easy on yourself. Use one protagonist :) Think Hunger

Games, not GOT

What does your character want and why?

What/who stops them? How do they overcome the obstacles along the way?

How are they changed as a result of the journey?

Go back to the books you love the most and you are likely to find that these are the core aspects of those stories.

(5) What happens, why and where?

What does your character want and why?

Who is stopping them? (antagonist)

What is stopping them? (plot issues)

How do they overcome the obstacles along the way?

How are they changed as a

result of the journey?

Plot. Things happen … for a reason, and your character is changed

Use setting to bring conflict to your plot.You can’t just have characters

talking to each other in an empty white room.

There needs to be action that takes place somewhere

specific.

The setting is critical: Character decisions / plot

events / conflict / symbolism / genre expectations

May even inspire your whole story.

(6) Get words on the page for your first draft

“The first draft of anything is shit.”

Ernest Hemingway

So relax :) Get black on white. Especially with the

first novel.

Specific ways to get that first draft done

Schedule your writing time, as you would any other

appointment

Used timed writing periods. Do not use that time for anything

else.

Sit with any feelings of discomfort. No one said this was

easy! Just start writing whatever, not perfect sentences.

Don’t start with chapter 1.

(7) “Writing is rewriting.”

Michael Crichton

Editing is an investment in becoming a better writer

Self-edit - I print and scribble by hand.

Structural/story edit - report on what to improve

(rewrites)

Line edit / copy-edit - classic red pen line-by-line

(rewrites)

Proofread - final typos/grammar

http://www.thecreativepenn.com/editors/

How to write a novel in a year

IDEAS

FIRST DRAFT

SELF-EDITING

Ideas/Plan - Get your thoughts on paper. Organise them. Pay attention to story structure.

First draft - Get black on white. No excuses. Finish the draft.

Self-editing - Read what you have and self-edit based on story structure. Then look at hiring a pro editor.

7-9 months

2 months

3 months

Get that first draft writtenNovel length: 50,000 (romance) to 130,000 (epic fantasy)

Aim for 70,000. (Or do a novella - 25-40k)

7 months at 3 sessions per week for writing = 84 writing

sessions

You need to do 833 words per session to complete the

first draft.

Around an hour (if you stop second guessing yourself)

Can you commit 3 hours a week for actual writing?

If not, why not? What’s stopping you?

Be honest.

How much do you want this?

What are you willing to give up? How much are you willing to learn in order to master the

craft?

Are you ready??

Join me on my multimedia course:

How to Write a Novel: From Idea to Finished Manuscript

Do you want to (finally) write your

novel in 2017?

Q&A is coming up very soon …

1. First Principles: What are you writing, story structure and the author mindset

2. Ideas and Research: Gathering ideas & researching your book

3. Aspects of a Novel: Character, plot, setting, dialogue, other aspects.

4. Writing and Editing: Writing the first draft, editing process & productivity tips

5. Next Steps: Your publishing options and writing plan

Overview of the course

Plus extra downloads:

• Course Workbook - containing all the questions/ exercises from the

course.

• Write a Novel Checklist - tick off as you complete each task

towards your goal

• Word Count Tracker • Reverse Outline Template

• eBook for The Successful Author Mindset

• Recommended Book List

Access to the Member’s Only Facebook Group where you can ask questions, share resources and lessons learned, ‘network’ with other authors … and know that

you’re not alone!

Take it further: Bonus interviews with industry experts

KM Weiland on banishing writer’s block

CJ Lyons on writing emotion James Scott Bell on dialogue

Jen Blood on writing memorable characters and editing Q&A Roz Morris on author voiceLibbie Hawker on outlining

Monica Leonelle on dictating your book

Nancy Hendrickson on visual research

From the podcast, used with permission. Include video, audio & PDF transcript

How does the course work practically?• Step-by-step guide to

planning, writing and editing a novel

• Video lessons, audio downloads, slides in PDF

and extra materials

• Watch online or a mobile device or tablet or download

• Self-paced so you can go through it quickly or take it

slow. Course lifetime access.

Everything that I have learned about how to write a

novel, all wrapped up in a step by step guide that will

help you shortcut the journey, save time and

heartache and avoid the mistakes I have made along

the way.

There is zero risk and a 30 day money back guarantee.

If it's not the right fit, just email me and I'll give you a full refund. No questions asked.

If you want to join the How to Write a Novel course …

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$50 off full price using discount code DEC16

(valid until Mon 19 Dec) - so just $247

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