How I Write A Novel (and Stay Organized in the Process)

For some novelists, the act of writing is a mystic, free-flowing, almost out-of-body experience. Then there are people like me who approach it with a collection of notes, databases, and timelines—a process almost as pedantic as end-of-year bookkeeping. But in my defense, I must point out that I create complex crime stories that come together without any gaping holes. So if you lean toward anal and would like to know how I do this, here’s my process:

1. Create an outline. Once I have a basic story idea (comprised of an exciting incident, major plot developments, and overview ending), I start filling in the details. I structure my outline by days (Tuesday, Wed., etc.), then outline the basic events/scenes that happen on each day, noting which POVⁱ the section will be told from. For police procedurals (and most mysteries), in which everything happens in a very short period of time, this seems essential. Some people (like Stephen King) will tell you not to outline, that it ruins creativity. I respectfully disagree. So I fill in as much detail as I can at this point, especially for the first ten chapters and/or plot developments. For the record, I don’t have the entire story mapped at this point. And I used Word or Excel for all my files.

2. Create a list of POV characters. I also generate a brief personality sketch and physical description for them. Some of my main characters are recurring, so the information already exists, but there’s an opportunity here to make changes if you want your characters to age, lose weight, or color their hair. My rule is never more than five or six POV characters telling the story, and some characters (bad guys and victims) have only small POV roles. Eventually, I’ll add these characters and their information to my major database of characters. (See # 8 )

3. Begin writing. I don’t worry about crafting perfect opening lines at this point. I simply start writing a scene, but that’s the only way I know to get a story moving. I’ve been fortunate in coming up with opening lines that work well and need little revising.

4. Beef up the outline. As I write the first 50 pages or so, new ideas come to me and I fill in the rest of outline as I go along. I continue adding to the outline, and by about the middle of the story, I have it completed.

5. Create a timeline. A lot happens in my stories, which usually take place in about six to ten days. I keep the timeline filled in as I write the story. This way I can always look at my timeline and know exactly when an important event took place (Monday, 8 a.m.: Jackson interrogates Gorman in the jail). It’s much faster to check the timeline than scroll through a 350-page Word document. The timeline keeps also me from writing an impossible number of events into a realistic day.

6. Keep an idea/problem journal. I constantly get ideas for other parts of the story or realize things I need to change, so I enter these notes into a Word file as I think of them. (Ryan needs to see Lexa earlier in the story, where?). I keep this file open as I write. Some of these ideas never get used, but some prove to be crucial. Eventually, all the problems get resolved as well. I now use the Notebook Layout feature in Word for this, so I can keep the outline, timeline, notes, problems, and evidence all in the same file, using different tabs. I love this feature.

7. Keep an evidence file. This idea won’t apply to romance novels, but for crime stories, it’s useful. I make note of every piece of evidence that I introduce and every idea I get for evidence that I want to introduce. I refer to this file regularly as I write, so that I’m sure to process and/or explain all the evidence before the story ends. In my first novel (The Sex Club), a pair of orange panties didn’t make it into the file or the wrap up, and sure enough, a book club discussion leader asked me who they belonged to.

8. Update my character database. It took me a few stories to finally put all my character information into one database, but it was a worthwhile effort. Now, as I write, I enter each character name (even throwaway people who never come up again) into the database, including their function, any physical description, or any other information such as phone number, address, type of car, or favorite music. Now, when I need to know what I named someone earlier in the story or in a previous novel, it’s right there in my Excel database (Zeke Palmers; morgue assistant; short, with gray ponytail). On my blog I’ve posted information about how to set up a file like this, see How to Create a Character Database.

9. Stop after 50 pages. As a general rule, I like to get the whole story down on the page before I do much rewriting, but I’ve learned to stop at this point for two reasons. One, I like to go back and polish the first chunk of the story in case an agent or editor asks to see it. Two, I usually give this first chunk to a few beta readers to see if I’m on the right track.

10. Use the highlight feature. If I’m on a roll with a particular scene but don’t know a street name or the exact spelling of something, I’ll tag it with yellow highlight and keep going. Of course I come back to everything eventually, but why let these details interfere with the flow of writing?

11. Rewrite. In the second draft, I constantly refer to my evidence file and my idea/problem file to ensure that every issue is dealt with. I delete the items as I process them in the story. My first draft is usually lean, with mostly dialog and action, so in the second draft, I fill details for scenery and characterization, add some scenes, and slow the story down in places. I never add too much description, of course. I’m a big fan of Elmore Leonard, who says he leaves out all the stuff that people don’t read anyway. ;)

Post a comment and you're entered
to win a free copy of The Sex Club.

The Sex Club: a dead girl, a ticking bomb, a
Bible study that's not what it appears to be,
and a detective who won't give up.

Sorry, but we've been bombarded by spam, so not only must you create a login to post, but you must use the Contact form to request a login. We apologise for its necessity, but spammers must be circumvented :)