How to Write a Novel 5 Key Steps Every Good Book Needs [Template]

How to Write a Novel 5 Key Steps Every Good Book Needs [Template] How to Write a Novel: 5 Key Steps Every Good Book Needs [Template] If you misunderstand how to write a novel with the proper story structure, your book will never sell.Harsh, but true. And thats why were here to tell you the exact methods that skyrocketed the popularity of books like The Hunger Games and the Divergent series.Here are the steps for how to write a novel:The Setup for writing a novelThe Inciting IncidentThe First Slap of a novelThe Second SlapThe Climax of a novelBut before we dive right into those, we have to understand your unique writing methodin order for you to understandhow to write a novel in a way thats best for you.What is a Novel?A novel is a work of fiction told through narrative prose focusing on characters and a plot with at least some degree of realism.Essentially, a novel is a long story in which a message, theme, and plot are revealed slowly over the course of scenes and chapters that make up a bigger storyline.How Many Words in a Novel?The exact number of words that make up a novel varies greatly depending on the genre and personal taste, however, a book is considered a novel if it has more than 50,000 words.But that doesnt mean your book will be that long. You have to learn how many words are in your novel.Below is a table detailing how many words make up a novel in each respective genre, as some are typically longer than others.Type of WritingWord CountPages in a Typical BookExampleShort story100 - 15,0001 - 24 pages"The Gift of the Magi" by O. HenryNovella30,000 - 60,000100 - 200 pages"A Clockwork Orange" by Anthony BurgessNovel60,000 - 100,000200 - 350 pages"Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone": by JK RowlingEpic Novel120,00 - 220,000+400 - 750+ pages"Game of Thrones" by George R.R. MartinKeep in mind that these are a baseline. You want to make sure your novel is in the ballpark word count for your genre and target audience but just remember that you can easily go over or under depending on how well the story is craftedand if it covers our 5 key milestones it will be craftedwell.How do you plan a novel? Your Novel Structure Breakdown ( Template)Planning a novel involves coming up with your plot, character development, knowing your audience, and outlining your book.Coming up with your plot involves knowing which genre you want to write or even utilizing a list of writing prompts to get your thoughts moving.Character development is one of the most vital parts of your novel. Take the time to know your characters and protagonist well before you start writing in order to better plot your novel to fit how they act.Your audience will dictate the type of content in your plot. You can always plot first and then decide if youll be writing young adult, new adult, adult, or even middle grade. Just make sure you categorize your novel correctly in order to reach the right audience.Once you know the above, youre ready to outline your novel. First, however, you have to figure out if youre a pantser, plotter, or somewhere in between before you can outline your book.If you want to hav e a solid fill-in-the-blank template, we have three story structures for planning your novel.Fill out the form below to gain access! Whats the Difference Between Pantser Versus PlotterA plotter is someone who plans out their novel with an outline before actually writing, whereas a pantser is someone who writes with seemingly no direction they write by the seat of their pants.Are you a plotter or a pantser?Fiction authors tend to fall into one of two buckets when writing their books.PantsersThese are writers who basically only have a few vague elements about the story in mind when they start writing, but nothing else.One of the most famous pantsers is Stephen King. In interviews, Stephen King has said that he often has an idea of the beginning, the premise, and a vague idea how it’s all going to end – and that’s all he needs to start writing his book.PlottersThese are writers who need to know every piece of their story, down to the minute detail, before they will write a single word. They have full, complete outlines that serve as a guide for their writing.They will know who each and every one of their characters are, what their motivations are, the chapters needed for the book, chapter sections, and in some cases, even paragraphs. Probably the most famous plotter out there is James Patterson.Knowing if youre a plotter or pantser will dictate your entire writing process.Clearly, it’s possible to be successful whether you’re a plotter or pantser. But here’s the harsh reality: whereas Stephen King and James Patterson sit on opposite extremes of the ‘Outline Spectrum’, most of us fall somewhere in between.But that still doesn’t answer the question:Are you a pantser or a plotter?My best advice is to be something in between. Someone who looks beyond the â€Å"outline† of a novel, and identifies something much more important in their story†¦the 5 key milestones were about to reveal to you. How to Write a Novel with 5 Key Milestones of Every Successful NovelMost novels and movies have five key points that make up the core of their story its a formula thats been around for longer than books have.This may not even be something authors do intentionally but rather, these are what make a story (even spoken) good and captivating.What’s more, these milestones are something that readers have subconsciously been trained to look for when digesting a piece of fiction. In other words, if you don’t have these five key moments, your reader is likely to turned off of your story because it didn’t meet expectations set by the hundreds (if not thousands) of stories they have already digested before yours.Lets get started.#1 The Setup when writing a novelThis is where you make your story promise and write an introduction that pulls readers in.Heres a solid resource for how to start a story if you need a few more tips.You tell your reader what kind of story it will be – a comedy, drama, mystery, fantasy, sci:In the Hunger Games, we meet Katniss. From her surroundings, it is obvious that she is poor, and as soon as she steps outside of her wooden shack we see hovering drones.Within the first few pages of this book, we have learned three essential things:This book is a dramaKatniss is our heroine and she has a miserable lifeSURPRISE! There are drones and other technologies that indicate this to be a sci:Katniss volunteers! In the Hunger Games, the inciting incident is irreversible because – quite literally – soldiers grab Katniss, whisk her away from her world, and into the world of the games.There is no escape.And even if she could get away, she would be hunted by the Capital for the rest of her life. With those two simple words, â€Å"I volunteer!† her life has changed forever.Note: There is an exception to this rule when it comes to romances.With romances, the inciting incident is almost always when the two lovebirds meet. (Not always, but for the vast majority of romances, this is the case.) With romances, try to create an inciting incident that si multaneously shows how perfect these two people are for each other while setting up the numerous reasons why they can’t be together.How to Write a Novel Action Step:Answer these questions in full and complete the brainstorming activity. What is your inciting incident? Is it strong enough? Are there ways you could up the stakes or shorten the timeline? How can you make it your inciting incident as impactful and irreversible as possible?Brainstorm several inciting incidents†¦ Don’t settle for one. Take a look at your inciting incidents and ask yourself this: Which one of these is the harshest, deadliest inciting incident of the bunch. Then pick that one.#3 The First SlapNow, we are away to the races for writing a novel!Over the next few chapters, your character should be making a series of gains and losses, where the aggregate result is that their situation is slightly better than what it was at the moment of the inciting incident.The reason why we need this up ward trajectory is because we are setting up the reader for the first slap.The first slap is the moment when everything that our hero has gained is lost in fell swoop. Your hero is brought down to zero. In other words, all gains are lost, and your hero’s situation has never been bleaker.The greater the fall, the more engaged your reader will be.First Slap Example:In the Hunger Games, Katniss’s world is brought down to zero when she actually enters the Games.Between the inciting incident on the first slap, Katniss has made several gains, garnering the attention of the Capital and making some friends along the way. But none of that matters the moment she enters the Games – and what a moment it is.How to Write a Novel Action Step:Brainstorm what your first slap can be. Like with the inciting incident, try to come up with 3:In the Hunger Games, the second slap is when the Game Masters announce that two tributes can survive the Games should they both be from the same district.Katniss goes looking for Peeta, only to find him mortally wounded – he is bleeding to death and won’t survive the next few hours, let alone the rest of the Games. We know enough about Katniss to realize that Peeta dying is the worst thing that could happen to her (besides her own death).But there is hope!An announcement is made that there is something at the cornucopia that the Tributes need, and Katniss just knows that there is medicine there for Peeta.How to Write a Novel Action Step:Brainstorm several seconds slaps and pick the harshest one. Then ask yourself: where is the hope and how will it lead into the climax?#5 The ClimaxThe rollercoaster that you’ve put your reader on is almost over.The reader has gone from an engaging setup where they get to learn about your characters and world to the inciting incident where everything is turned on its head.Then they are subjected to the first and second slaps where you embrace your inner sadomasochist in order to punish your hero and give the readers the thrills they so richly deserve.Now it is time to wrap it all up with the climax.There is only one rule to the climax. A rule that must be adhered to, no matter what genre you are writing in:Make it amazing! The climax should be the moment where your reader puts down the book and goes, â€Å"Holy S*%! That was awesome!†Novel Climax Example:The climax in the Hunger Games is the final confrontation between Katniss and the remaining Tributes, as well as the monsters that the Game Masters send after her. It is wrought with danger and excitement.But what makes the climax truly kickass is the poisonous berries at the end.If you don’t know what I’m talking about, pick up a copy of Hunger Games today and read it! You’ll immediately get why this scene is so amazing.How to Write a Novel Action Step:Brainstorm your kickass climactic scene! Show us how amazing, smart, resourceful, powerful your hero is when overcoming their final obstacles, but remember to make sure its realistic and makes sense for your character.There you have it: how to write a book is made much easier with your 5 key milestones. This method is particularly effective for first-time authors who are still finding their writing feet (or should I say typing fingers) and is an awesome resource that experienced writers can rely on time and again when planning their stories.The 5 Key Milestones combined with a spot-on Premise and A-Story will tell you where your story starts, where it is headed and how it will end.In other words, if you do the novel writing exercises above, you should have everything you need to get your novel to the finish line.