Brief Summary
Jerry Jenkins shares his proven, step-by-step novel writing process, designed to help both beginners and experienced writers craft compelling stories. He addresses common fears and self-doubts, offering strategies to overcome them. The process includes settling on a winning story idea driven by passion, determining whether you're an outliner or a pantser, creating unforgettable and believable characters, conducting thorough research, choosing the right point of view, starting in medias res, triggering the reader's imagination, escalating the protagonist's troubles, making their predicament appear hopeless, bringing the story to a head with a satisfying resolution, and separating writing from editing. A bonus step includes a free checklist to ensure satisfaction with every word before pitching to agents or publishers.
- Choose a story idea you're passionate about to sustain you through the writing process.
- Decide whether you're an outliner or a pantser, but always follow some form of structure.
- Create believable characters with flaws and motivations.
- Engage the reader's imagination by showing, not telling.
- Separate the writing and editing processes to avoid slowing down.
Introduction: Overcoming Self-Doubt and Writing Your Novel
Jerry Jenkins acknowledges that many aspiring novelists have a story to tell but are often held back by self-doubt and fear. He aims to provide a breakthrough strategy to overcome these obstacles. Jenkins clarifies that he will be discussing fiction novels. He understands the worries about completing a novel or its quality being insufficient. He shares his experience and offers guidance through his blog and Writers Guild, promising to reveal a proven, step-by-step novel writing process suitable for beginners. He admits that even he faces worries about story ideas, procrastination, and competition, but he uses a repeatable plan to succeed. He also mentions a bonus step at the end, including a free checklist for final review.
Step 1: Settling on a Winning Story Idea
The initial step in writing a novel involves choosing a compelling story idea. Given that creatives often have numerous ideas, the key is to prioritise those for which you have the most passion. A winning idea should be substantial enough to sustain a book of 75,000 words or more, maintaining reader engagement throughout. Your passion for the project is crucial for navigating the "marathon of the middle," the central part of the novel between the beginning and end, where the story must remain engaging with drama, tension, and conflict. Trust your instincts during this phase; if something bores you, it will likely bore your reader. Only your passion for the idea will carry you through the writing process.
Step 2: Outliner or Pantser?
The second step involves determining whether you are an outliner or a pantser. Outliners prefer to map out everything in advance, knowing their characters and plot from beginning to end. Pantsers, on the other hand, write by the seat of their pants, discovering the story as they go. Neither approach is inherently better; it's about finding what feels most natural to you. Many writers are hybrids, combining the security of an outline with the freedom to let the story evolve. Regardless of your style, some form of structure is necessary to avoid burning out. Dean Koontz's classic story structure is recommended as a guideline: plunge your character into terrible trouble, progressively make matters worse, create a seemingly hopeless predicament, and complete the hero's character arc so they ultimately win the day.
Step 3: Creating an Unforgettable Character
Creating an unforgettable protagonist is the third step. Your lead character must undergo a character arc, becoming a different, preferably better, person by the end. They should possess potentially heroic qualities that emerge in the climax, along with relatable flaws. The antagonist should be equally compelling, with believable motivations for their actions. Important orbital characters should also be well-developed. To aid in this, consider what each character wants, what prevents them from getting it, and what they will do about it. Believability is key to making characters unforgettable, achieved through authenticity. Give them distinct names, appearances, and voices to avoid reader confusion. The lead character should face both an outward problem and inward turmoil, overcoming inner weaknesses to achieve their outer goal.
Step 4: Conducting Thorough Research
Even though fiction is made up, it must be believable, making thorough research the fourth step. Even fantasies and science fiction books must make sense to maintain the reader's suspension of disbelief. Specific factual details add flavour and authenticity. Getting geographical, cultural, or technological details wrong can cause the reader to lose interest. Resources for research include atlases, world almanacs, encyclopedias, YouTube, interviews, and search engines. However, avoid overloading the story with unnecessary facts; use specifics to add flavour, like seasoning to food. For futuristic books, ensure that made-up technical details are consistent and logical.
Step 5: Determining Your Point of View
Determining the point of view is the fifth step. This involves deciding whose perspective will tell the story, choosing between first person ("I"), second person ("you"), or third person ("he/she/it"). The cardinal rule is one perspective character per scene, ideally one per chapter or novel. Readers experience everything from this character's perspective, including what they see, hear, touch, smell, taste, and think. While many beginners assume this limits them to first person, most novels are written in third person limited to one perspective character. This character should be the one with the most at stake in each scene. While an omniscient viewpoint was once popular, it is now considered archaic and difficult to sell.
Step 6: Beginning In Medias Res
The sixth step is to begin in medias res, which means "in the midst of things." You must grab the reader from the very first word, avoiding excessive scene setting and description. The goal of every sentence should be to compel the reader to continue. This is achieved by writing a great opener. Four types of opening lines include: surprise (e.g., "It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen" from 1984), dramatic statement (e.g., "They shoot the white girl first" from Paradise), philosophical (e.g., "Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way" from Anna Karenina), and poetic. Regardless of the type of opening, maintain the momentum and avoid slipping into excessive explanation or description.
Step 7: Triggering the Theatre of Your Reader's Mind
The seventh step involves triggering the theatre of your reader's mind. The goal is not to force readers to see things as you do, but to engage their imaginations. Suggest just enough to engage their minds and allow them to deduce what's happening. The key to this is showing rather than telling. Telling simply informs the reader, while showing involves them in the experience by allowing them to deduce information. For example, instead of saying a character is tall, show others looking up to them or having them duck to get through doors. Instead of saying a character is angry, show their face flushing or their voice rising.
Step 8: Ramping Up Your Main Character's Trouble
The eighth step is to ramp up your main character's trouble. After grabbing the reader with a riveting opener and plunging your hero into terrible trouble, ensure that everything they do to resolve the situation only makes things progressively worse. Avoid making things too easy for your hero. Conflict is the engine of fiction. Instead of setting your hero up for success, try pulling everything out from under them. Give them an injury, steal their car, have their wife leave them, or burn down their office. This creates a real story with genuine conflict that keeps the reader engaged.
Step 9: Making Your Hero's Predicament Appear Hopeless
The ninth step is to make your hero's predicament appear hopeless. This is the "bleakest moment," where even you wonder how you're going to write your way out of it. This forces your hero to take action, using every new muscle and skill developed from facing a book full of obstacles. The more hopeless you can render the situation, the more powerful your ending will be. Resist the temptation to give your protagonist a break, invent an escape, or inject a miracle.
Step 10: Bringing It All to a Head
Step ten involves bringing it all to a head with the ultimate resolution. The peak emotional point of your story comes when your hero faces their final test. The stakes must appear insurmountable, and failure irreversible. The conflict building throughout the book crescendos to an ultimate confrontation, and all major setups are paid off. Reward readers for sticking with you and let the fireworks play out in full.
Step 11: Leaving Your Reader Wholly Satisfied
The eleventh step is to leave your reader wholly satisfied with a great ending. Endings should put the reader first, honouring their investment of time and money, and keep the hero on stage until the last word. While the ending won't be as dramatic as the climax, it must be every bit as riveting. It should tie up loose ends and pack an emotional wallop. Don't rush it; take your time and craft a fully satisfying ending that drops the curtain with a resounding thud.
Step 12: Separating Your Writing and Editing (Bonus Step)
The bonus step, step twelve, involves separating your writing and editing. While editing and revising should be part of your daily process, it's crucial to keep these two elements entirely separate. When writing the first draft, take off your perfectionist cap and tell your inner critic to be quiet. Get the story down without worrying about clichés, redundancies, or even logic. Then, let your perfectionism take over and rewrite to your heart's content. Aim to be happy with every word, becoming a ferocious self-editor. A 21-part checklist is available for free download to fine-tune every word during revision.
