Novel Writing

Novel writing should involve you in writing down all sorts of things as a reference for later on when you need them in your writing. That’s why all writers should carry a notebook around with them. But what sorts of things should you be writing down in it?

1. Record your senses. One of the things that will be much harder when you sit down to write later on, will be what things smell, taste, feel, sound and look like when they are no longer there. By writing down that the smell of the horse’s stable is like stewed tea; that the rat family squeak and bowl into each other when frightened; that the cheese you left unwrapped in the fridge now tastes of a hint of that garlic sausage on the shelf above it; etc. etc., you will be able to recall exactly what you were thinking and feeling at the time, whenever you sit down to write.
2. Snippets of dialogue. Often you will be out and about and overhear enticing snippets of dialogue as people pass by and move on. Not only should you write down what they say, but make notes on how they say it too: their dialect, their mannerisms, their rhythm and cadence. You can also do this while watching films and television, and listening to the radio. When you come to writing dialogue for the characters in your novel, you can refer to your notes describing just how that Minnesotan uttered the word ‘weird’ (’like somebody poked them in the ribs mid-word’ as it says in my own notebook) as well as the kinds of phrases people actually use while speaking.
3. Plot Ideas. Yep, those plot bunnies just will not leave you alone, no matter where you are. The only way to make them leave you alone is to write them down. If you don’t write them down in your notebook, they’ll play around in your head all the while you are trying to do something else, and then when you sit down to write about them later on, poof! like Keyser Soze, they’re gone. So tame those plot bunnies by writing them in your notebook, and then you can pull them out of the hat when you need them in future.

Remember, this is a notebook for all of your writing, not just for one novel. So you should feel free to write down anything you can think of in it, anything that might be useful to you later on. Your aim should be to fill it up and get another one.

Don’t feel limited to just what I have listed here either. You go ahead and write notes on whatever takes your fancy. It’s your novel, your notebook.

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