To kick off the month of November–and National Novel Writing Month!–we’re sharing writing tips from some of our favorite writers and novelists. Writing a novel is no easy task, but we hope these words of wisdom give you the inspiration and encouragement you need to get started.
And don’t forget: even the very best writers get stuck sometimes, too. We’re featuring one tip for each day of November, so check back here whenever you need a little boost!
- “First drafts are tough. Just get to the other side of the pool. One time across and then you can stop, take a breath, and think about what you’ve done.” – Susan Scarf Merrell, co-founder and co-director of BookEnds
- “The first draft can be The Worst Book In The World. Nobody ever needs to read it or know it exists but you.” – Neil Gaiman
- “Don’t romanticize your “vocation.” You can either write good sentences or you can’t. There is no “writer’s lifestyle.” All that matters is what you leave on the page.” – Zadie Smith
- In the planning stage of a book, don’t plan the ending. It has to be earned by all that will go before it.” – Rose Tremain
- “You must write as if your reader needed you desperately, because he does.” – Roger Rosenblatt
- “A prologue in a novel is backstory, and you can drop it in anywhere you want.” – Elmore Leonard
- “The first sentence can be written only after the last sentence has been written. FIRST DRAFTS ARE HELL. FINAL DRAFTS, PARADISE.” – Joyce Carol Oates
- “If you wanna write a novel, you have to sit on your ass.” – Michael Chabon
- “You can do anything, break any rule, as long as you believe it’s in the service of the story you have to tell.” – Karen Russell
- “When I get stuck I find that the best strategy is to just work on something else for a while and then come back to it later. There’s always something else you could be writing: a different chapter of the novel you’re working on, notes for a new short story, an essay.” – Emily St. John Mandel
- “When I create another planet, another world, with a society on it, I try to hint at the complexity of the society I’m creating, instead of just referring to an empire or something like that.” – Ursula Le Guin
- “Make a rule: The only way for anyone to ever hear about your stories is to read them.” – Andy Weir
- “I’m not looking for any kind of clear moral, and I never do in my novels. I like to highlight some aspect of being human. I’m not really trying to say, so don’t do this, or do that. I’m saying, this is how it feels to me. Emotions are very important to me in a novel.” – Kazuo Ishiguro
- “There are three points of view from which a writer can be considered: he may be considered as a storyteller, as a teacher, and as an enchanter.” – Vladimir Nabokov
- “I didn’t publish my first book until I was 37, so if anybody out there is reading this and thinking your chance has passed, there’s no expiration date on your talent.” – Leigh Bardugo
- “If writers were too wise, perhaps no books would get written at all. It might be better to ask yourself ‘Why?’ afterward than before….There is no agony like bearing an untold story inside you.” – Zora Neale Hurston
- “Sometimes the first draft is us telling ourselves the story. The second draft is the real first draft.” – Paul Harding
- “Show up, show up, show up, and after a while, the muse shows up, too.” – Isabel Allende
- “If you’re using dialogue, say it aloud as you write it. Only then will it have the sound of speech.” – John Steinbeck
- “Ignore all proffered rules and create your own, suitable for what you want to say.” – Michael Moorcock
- “Every sentence must do one of two things–reveal character or advance the action.” – Kurt Vonnegut
- “I think my favorite compliment that I got from a writer early on was someone saying to me, ‘You leave out all the right things.’” – Amy Hempel
- “Aesthetics and politics are not incompatible with each other.” – Carmen Maria Machado
- “[O]ften […] when a writer doesn’t strike gold, they believe they are a failure, and give up, instead of taking the long, slow road. But the long, slow, uneven road is the more likely way that you will succeed.” – Kameron Hurley
- “The world […] [is] more than the description of buildings and the name you give your seasons. The world is your characters moving through it.” – Tochi Onyebuchi
- “There is no such thing as a reliable narrator.” – Matthew Klam
- “[T]o dream or write about a place effectively, you need to have memories that are distant enough to be transformed by your imagination.” – David Surface
- “Creating art is like jumping off a cliff and building your wings on the way down: if you want to only start when you know exactly how to get everything right, you never actually will.” – Harry Brewis
- “Forget inspiration. Habit is more dependable. Habit will sustain you whether you’re inspired or not. Habit will help you finish and polish your stories. Inspiration won’t. Habit is persistence and practice.” – Octavia Butler
- “The middle of books is HARD, especially for beginning writers. Why? Because the middle of a book gives you the most flexibility in terms of telling your story… the MIDDLE is where your personal style has room to play.” – Jim Butcher
Which tip did you find most helpful? Any other tips you’d add to our list? We’d love to know.
And remember, just because November ends doesn’t mean your writing has to–a good novel takes many (many!) drafts to achieve. When you get yours in tip-top shape, consider submitting it to BookEnds.