I have been thinking about this a lot lately. Reading books like “Literarisches Schreiben. Grundlagen und Möglichkeiten” (Literary writing. Basics and Methods) from the literature professor Sandro Zanetti from Zurich who looks at creative writing from scientific perspective and “Schreiben als Selbsthilfe” (Writing as self-help) from the social researcher Dr. Birgit Schreiber, make me think of writing a novel in a new way. Not just in terms of plot - character - setting, but as a way to get in touch with oneself, to be more aware of life, to reach one’s own subconsciousness.
That’s why I want to introduce the Daily Novel Writing series. Posts with prompts, advice and guides that help you write your novel.
This novel writing guide is for you if you:
struggle to finish a book
struggle to start your first draft in the first place
want to try discovery writing
want to use novel writing as an instrument of self-knowledge and self-help
want to write as a coping mechanism
want to add a poetical, creative layer to your life
want to try a unique writing process that focuses on having an enjoyable personal journey instead of a finished product to sell
want to figure out what matters to you through your writing
The theory behind this is that I will give you prompts and assignments that will allow you to develop your story through everyday experiences. You will write a scene a week (you can write more if the story flows of course), but we will work with the smallest unit of a story.
Bring a new idea or idea that has been brewing for a while. Don’t think about story structure, plot, schemas, beats or anything of the sort. Don’t try to define the ending or the middle of the story.
All you need are seeds of 1-2 characters, idea for a setting of the story, or even better, its vibes and atmosphere, and a starting scene. Bring the will to experiment and just dive in.
How this works: You will take a set of interesting characters and a setting & genre that you would kinda want to orient yourself on (is it fantasy? contemporary setting? or are you in the mood for a dystopia? vague vibes are enough). The rest will develop itself from the daily happenings in your life, from little dramas, details and observations. Your real life experiences will directly inform your novel - but you will be transforming them. You won’t take them over directly. This is not an autobiography or a memoir. No, none of that. You will take inspiration from your real life and give little shards of conflicts as situations to put your characters in. From that you will let your story flow.
The idea is that you won’t fill genre schemas, conventions or any kind of story structures (save the cat, hero’s journey, seven/four/three act structure etc). You will just take your daily life’s journey to inform your story. This way you will have ideas every week for scenes to add. You will collect those. You will get into the habit of writing, regularly, without pressure, while letting your mind and heart speak. What kind of situations were noteworthy this week? What kind of experiences did you have? What kind of feelings dominated your days, what kind of colour was your tuesday?
This will be the content of your novel. You will write about what matters to you. You won’t analyse why they matter, or what kind of themes you are aiming for. That’s a different level, different phase of writing, not one for the discovery of the first draft. It’s fun, and I will show you how to do it. Later. But first, you will generate content for a story. A story that will translate your real life into an imagined storyline, to different people, places, journeys.
You don’t decide the end. You don’t know what the journey will bring.
The key is not to be afraid to experiment. Just be willing to try new things out. To let yourself be guided by unusual techniques. Don’t write a novel for a novel’s sake, but for the process. For the joy of writing. For experiencing your life on a deeper level. For letting your subconsciousness speak.
You will generate content from your daily life and transform it into a story in a different genre and setting. It will be a metaphorical journey reflecting your life, your emotions. It will be personal, but in a kind of distant way that you won’t understand at once. Not at first. You will write your way to the answer. At the end you will go through the fruits of your journey and gather them, shape them and polish them into a coherent story.
First assignment
First step is to choose your characters. This person doesn’t have to be your main character, it just needs to be a person that carries inside something interesting for you. A conflict. A contradictory set of traits. Some kind of burning internal problem that doesn’t have a quick external solution. Some kind of discontent. Something is missing in their life. This missing piece will be the centre of their character arc, their development, their journey.
Don’t think about character arcs or the future yet. Just find your character. Or two characters. A good set of characters that contrast each other. Who will your first character interact with? What kind of scene would be interesting? What could they talk about?
For next week, prepare at least two characters with inner discontent with something fascinating about them that could become a story. Next week we will talk about choosing the right setting or vibe for your story and then we will start with the first scenes.
This sounds fun, I’m willing to try it! 😄