Every story has a beginning, a middle, and an end and there must be some sort of conflict and rising tension. Also, there must be story questions that get answered and new story questions that will be raised. It is easy to get off track when you do this work as a stream of consciousness. The storyline gets muddled. When the writer loses focus and direction, the reader gets confused.

One way to outline a novel is create at least three scenes for each chapter. Once you have done this preliminary work, you can add more scenes if they are needed. The outline becomes the skeleton on which you will flesh out your story. It means you do a lot of the hard thinking that goes into a compelling work of fiction ahead of the actual narrative writing. The outline enables you to keep your story on track. A quick glance at the outline and you can see the types of scenes, where the dramatic action is in the story, how the roller coaster of fiction that you are writing is rising and falling, how and when your protagonist’s character arcs, and when the story climax occurs.  Looking at the outline, you can decide which scenes to plant clues (especially important in writing mysteries), add details of foreshadowing, or decide whether or not you need one or more subplots.

The stream-of-consciousness method of writing is a great way to push through a block, to lift a sagging middle of the book, or to flesh out a character. Most stories are driven by characters. If you don’t know what a character is going to do in a particular situation, try a little gestalt therapy. Ask him about himself  and type in the first thing that pops into your head. Keep asking questions and typing answers until you know everything there is to know about this character. But go beyond the eye color and the reason for the muscular build or lack of it. Make your character talk to you about his inner world–motivation, fears, hopes, dreams, and feelings of abundance and lack. Are his wants and needs in conflict or are they the same? What drives him to do what he does?

If you are new to writing, experiment with both methods of writing and see which works best for you.

Copyright November 10, 2011 by Meera Lester

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k. What does he need. What does he want. Are they the same or Most stories are driven by the characters.

Generating ideas for fictional characters and conflict for a novel can be daunting. As Annie Dillard noted, “On plenty of days the writer can write three or four pages, and on plenty of other days he concludes he must throw them away.” Still, writing fiction opens the tap. Think of your writer’s mind as a garden hose. When you open the spigot, sludge might flow out initially but what follows is clear. The following tips can help you start the flow.

1. Write a character sketch for a character with a secret, a character with a broken heart, or a character with no conscience. Or, choose a character deeply in deb to the mafia or some unsavory individual.

2. Write a  couple of paragraphs about a setting where your story could take place. Perhaps the setting is futuristic, inhospitable, romantic, exotic, or historical. Create ambiance using words. What does your setting look like? What is the temperature? How does it feel, smell, and taste (salty sea spray, for example)? What sounds are heard in your setting? Is it light or dark? What is the source of the light?

3. Write about conflict. Will your story pit man against man, man against the System, man against Nature,, or man against himself?

Often the simple process of sitting down at your computer or notebook and letting your thoughts flow about a character, setting, or conflict can generate an entire concept for a novel or work of short fiction.  Give it a try and see for yourself. And . . .  if you are serious about wanting to crank out your great American novel, participate in Nanowrimo. November is “write a novel in a month” at Nanowrimo. See, http://www.nanowrimo.org/

Fiction, they say, takes as long as it takes. Like many novelists, I write nonfiction to support my fiction habit. The goal I’ve set for myself is to finish my novel by this time next year…and when I say finish, I mean the first and second drafts. As for nonfiction, I’m writing my newest book against an unbelievably tight deadline–start to finish–two and a half months  It’s only 70,000 words and I’m more than half finished as of this post, but by December 15 I will have to turn that book in. I wouldn’t be able to do it if I weren’t highly disciplined. I often work 12 to 15-hours a day because of the incredible amount of research that this book requires. It’s about sacred travel and travel books always require a lot of research. Writing is a wonderful vocation, but the hours can be long and the pay…let’s just say most of us working writers are at the bottom of the food chain. But the truth is, there’s no work I’d rather be doing. I’d be willing to be that other writers feel the same way.

I recently had a discussion with some writer friends about the challenges of lifting your writing out of mediocrity. What, indeed, sets your story apart from the millions of stories that writers all over the world are creating every single day? For starters, my friends suggested that your story and your voice is unique. Others noted that it is the process of rewriting that brings out the elegance and shine of your prose. Our discussion inspired me discover what literary giants of the past had to say on the subject of good writing. I’m also interested in what you think.

The most essential gift for a good writer is an essential, built-in, shock-proof, shit detector. This is the writer’s radar, and all great writers have had it. –Ernest Hemingway

I try to leave out the parts that people skip. –Elmore Leonard

The role of a writer is not to say what we all can say but what we are unable to say. –Anais Nin

I’m not a very good writer, but I’m an excellent rewriter. –James Michener

The difference between the right word and the almost write word is the difference between lightning and the lightning bug.–Mark Twain

You write to communicate to the hearts and minds of others what’s burning inside you. And we edit  let the fire show through the smoke. — Arthur Polotnik

My friends and family can’t understand it. They think that my brain just engages anytime my fingers get near a keyboard since I have written hundreds of articles and over two dozen books for a variety of publishers. But occasionally, I will sit down to write on a topic or work on my novel and nothing happens. The words seem all jammed up inside my head. On such days, writing is hard work. Priming the pump helps.

What do I mean by priming the pump? For me, it means reading a book about my chosen topic, listening to music that relates to my topic, or doing research to get me thinking about the subject. If that doesn’t work, I move my body, literally.

Instead of stressing on not being able to produce words on the page, I get up and do something to shift the energy–wash the dishes, feed the chickens, walk in nature, do yoga, or tend my plants–in short, anything that takes me away from the work and gives my mind time to cogitate on what it is I want to write. It’s allowing the mind time to figure out how to tell the story before you actually sit down to type it.