Writing a fictional story is a perfect combination of imagination and creativity. It is a task made more enjoyable by countless possibilities and inspiration present in abundance all around us. There are several genres that can be taken up for one’s story and all these possibilities can both inspire and confuse new writers. While there is no fixed process to writing a great fictional story. There are however a few tips that could make the entire process of writing a story more organized and efficient. So, let’s read ahead to find out how to start writing a fiction book.
06 Tips for Writing a Fiction Story for Beginners
1. Selecting your Story, Plot, and characters
While there could be hundreds of ideas going through your mind, you must find one that speaks to you the loudest, the one you feel passionately about and could write enthusiastically on it.
Once deciding on a definite idea, you must come up with a solid and interesting plot for your story and in the case of a fictional world, must decide on some set of rules to follow. This will ensure consistency in your account and possibly less plot fewer.
To further define your story’s outline, you will have to decide the characters that are going to be a key part of it. These characters must be strong in their traits and easy to relate to. This would mean characters with faults and virtues and humanely flare awed in their actions. Readers love to find characters that make the same mistakes that normal people do because that will make the story much more enjoyable for them.
2. Deciding on How Much to Reveal at a Time
This is a very fine and delicate task and even the most experienced writers might find it challenging. Therefore, deciding on a timeline and events that will unfold beforehand will make the task easier. To make sure that the readers aren’t overwhelmed with information or get bored halfway through, you must select only the most immediate information to be revealed. Take every event of your story as a separate entity and only reveal what the reader needs to know in that moment and nothing more. Like an iceberg, you must reveal the tip of the iceberg for the initial events and let the backstory of the characters unfold later with proper context and in the right setting. This will guarantee a build-up in build-up curiosity and keep them hooked till the end.
For a mind-blowing climax, you must also keep any links between seemingly unrelated characters a secret and use that at the end of the ultimate jaw-dropping story.
3. Write all, write simple, write different
Modern fiction structure and reader inclination encourage a simpler writing style. Instead of a dense and difficult text, you must opt out for a more easygoing vocabulary. Switch between longer and shorter sentences to make the reading process feel less monotone. Not only does it make it less tiring for the reader, but it may also increase the overall number of readers who might find your book good for leisure time pass and do not require a language degree to understand the story.
To bring a range of experience to your writing style and increase your versatility. You should also indulge yourself in different types of writing styles like short stories, nonfiction, blogs, etc. Each form of writing requires a different set of skills and has distinct requirements which will add to your adaptability and range of writing. Finding the perfect balance in your writing style requires practice and exposure to several writing mediums. Every writer must discover their own writing style by honing their skills regularly with a different challenges.
4. Write Daily and Set Milestones
A book usually contains 75000 words on average and while it can seem like an intimidating number, setting up a writing schedule will help you break this task into smaller milestones. Many famous writers dedicate themselves to writing a fixed number of words each day to stay in the flow of writing. You might not feel motivated to write every day and sometimes what comes out of your pen may feel not good at all but that’s all right. Some days will be harder than others but make sure that you write a predetermined number of words each day will ensure that you don’t procrastinate or get lazy. You can always change it later if you don’t satisfy with what you have written.
Some people find joining a writing group or online writing challenge to be helpful for motivation. In that case, you will be accountable to other people and will, therefore, feel more determined to meet your writing milestone each day. Always remember that just like everything else, writing becomes easier with practice.
5. Put Editing for tomorrow
This is another golden rule of writing consistently; don’t edit until you’ve written it all. This will help you keep your focus, and you can avoid any interruptions in the flow of your writing. This will also make sure that you don’t use editing as an excuse to procrastinate.
You can, once more, set milestones in this rule. For example, you can give yourself the goal to finish writing an entire chapter before you edit it. This way, you will get a break from writing as well as avoid having to edit in bulk at the end. But setting a milestone will help you fulfil your daily quota of words and editing after every chapter will make sure that you don’t proceed until you’re fully satisfied with the story development so far.
6. Read Others Before You Begin
This is probably the most important rule of all. Before you set out to write a story of your own, you must gain extensive reading experience. Try reading several different genres and works of many distinguished writers to gain a firm understanding of story structure and character development. Like all creative skills, writing gets better with exposure to all the different kinds of writing and authors, and you learn to appreciate the effort that goes into creating a fiction story.
With time, practice, and proper exposure, you will acquire maturity in your writing. Learn to avoid common plot mistakes for your story. A story with plot holes only frustrates the reader and makes them lose interest in your story.
These are some of the tips on how to start writing a fiction book. We hope that you will find these tips useful and inspiring for your writing process.
However, if you feel like you are not yet ready to write an entire book by yourself. But want to see your idea come to life. You can always hire a Fiction book writing company. To help you out with the plot, characters, and development of the story. They have experienced and trained writers that are equipped with skills to turn your idea into reality. And deliver your story as per your needs. Moreover, they will make sure that your story is fully proofread and edited to your liking. Which will make it much easier for you to enjoy your idea in the story form.