Writing a Novel That Speaks
Writing a novel is many a persons ambition. Theres something desirable about penning an original, heartfelt story that touches the lives of readers everywhere. Almost everyone has taken up writing at some point, whether it was in school, on blogs or in personal journals. Why is writing such a popular pastime? Maybe its because people like to talk about themselves and let their thoughts be known. In the case of personal journals, maybe people want to preserve their memories, or vent about some hardship that will seem trivial years from now, or leave something behind after theyre passed away. Whatever the motivation, writing remains a widespread method of expressing oneself.
It might be easy to write, but its not so easy to write something that people can identify with. If thats not your goal, then writing a novel should be a piece of cake. But writing a novel that affects its readers and lasts for years to come takes talent, desire, time, and the materials.
Novels are fictional, but the feeling behind writing them isnt. The setting, characters and elements of your novel are the means through which you convey that feeling. You shouldnt write about something you dont particularly care or know about, because itll show in the quality of your writing. On the flip side, you might not want to write something you care too much about, unless you can detach yourself from it enough so that you can look at it objectively. Writing fiction helps detach you somewhat, but your characters should be actors, not thinly-veiled representations of yourself.
The writing style of your novel should be one that youre comfortable with. Dont try to sound like someone else, or it wont ring true. Novel writing is where youre given leeway in terms of style, as opposed to writing like research papers where the format is specific. Everyone has different preferences of style, and you should stick to yours.
Above all, your novel has to tell a story. Unfortunately, many people get caught up in writing the details of what happened and mistakenly think that it constitutes a story, but its not. A story speaks to the reader, and finding that story is arguably the hardest part of writing a novel. It can be intimidating to try thinking of a story that hasnt already been told and that people will care about. Many stories have been told over the course of existence, but none of them has been told your way, and youre the only one who can do that. Being able to do that is what makes writing a novel a success.
