Top Ten Tips for Writing a Novel

Came across these tips at: www.be-a-better-writer.com/tips-for-writing-a-novel.html and thought I would share them as they got me thinking......

1. Read a lot-both novels and nonfiction. The novels will inspire you. They will create a need to write, and they will teach you about craft.
2. Know your premise. Every good novel is "about" something.
3. Stay focused on your premise.
4. Focus on the action the character must take to remedy the situation he or she has been thrown into. First and foremost, your characters must take action as they attempt to satisfy their most urgent needs.
5. Your character's actions must force them into problematic situations.
6. Develop your plot through cause and effect. Every action the character takes will have some effect.
7. Be clear about your characters' values, as it is their values that cause them to act as they do. Give characters opposing values so that nothing comes too easily for anyone.
8. Write every day, or five days a week, even if it is only for thirty minutes a day. Writing requires discipline, and having the discipline to write regularly keeps the story percolating in your mind.
9. Write original scenes. Surprise readers and make your story unpredictable, while still believable.
10. Focus on one scene at a time, one page at a time. Before you begin writing, know what the character's goal is for that scene, and know how he or she will achieve the goal or be prevented from achieving it.