How to Write a Novel - Step by Step!

So you want to write a novel, eh? Good luck with that! 

I’m kidding, of course (mostly.) Writing a novel can seem very daunting so it's understandable to not know where to even start. Lucky for you, you’re in the right place! Introducing ‘The Alex Method’!

‘The Alex Method’ (creatively named, I know) is designed to make writing a novel feel a lot more manageable – for anyone interested in tackling the mammoth project. It’s guidance every step of the way while still being flexible enough that it doesn’t snuff out any of those creative sparks you might have.

Instead, it ignites them!

Step One: Initial Thoughts Braindump

First, just bullet point any ideas that you have – even if they seem random! This is where it all begins, baby!

Step Two: The Irony Finder

Write a lil’ logline to act as your guiding light on this journey.

Step Three: The Question

Set the theme for your novel by turning it into a question.

Step Four: Genre

Take a look at the Blake Snyder genres and note down the ‘ingredients’ you’re gonna want to add to your novel to make it coherent.

Step Five: POV, Voice, Tone

Define who your POV (point-of-view) character is, what their unique voice sounds like, and what the general tone of your novel is going to be.

Step Six: Character Profiles

Cobble together an overview of each of your main players. (If you sign up to my mailing list, I give you a free resource for ensuring all your characters are unique and distinct from one another – it’s also a lot of fun to use!)

Step Seven: Setting/Lore

Interview yourself to dig a little deeper and flesh out the setting and lore of your novel. This step becomes practically mandatory if you’re writing in the fantasy or sci-fi genre.

Step Eight: General Plot Trajectory

Here’s where I want you to take your overall word count goal and divide it into equal chapters. Now, sketch out the structure/formula you’re going to use to shape your plot. You can use a beloved existing structure (like the Three Act Structure) or create your own formula unique to your novel – which I highly encourage you do!

Step Nine: Scene Ideas Bank

Now, you’ve probably been doing some fantasising about some of the scenes that might happen in your novel – write them all down here! This bank of ideas is going to be super helpful to keep referring back to. (Don’t panic if you still have lots of gaps in your narrative though! We’re going to fix that over the next few steps!)

Step Ten: Cue Cards

Write each of your scene ideas on a little index card (one scene per card.) Now write scenes in between that connect your ideas. The beauty of doing all of this on index cards is that you can move them around – so get funky with it, fren!

Step Eleven: Why Tho?

For each of your scenes, ask as many questions about the scene as you can. Things like “why did this happen?” or “how did this happen?” Think about who, what, when, why, where, and how. Then, answer all of your questions!

Step Twelve: Arcs and Changes

You should already be seeing your plot starting to take shape. Now I want you to reflect on how your character changes across your novel. Who are they at the beginning versus who are they at the end? What emotional journey do they go on? Once you know the answers to these questions, make sure to reflect these arcs in your outline!

Step Thirteen: Scene Purposes

It’s a good idea to keep track of the meta-purposes for each scene. Yes, you should have a reason the scene exists in-universe (the main characters kiss because they are in love, duh) but also a meta-reason. Usually the meta-reason is something like character development, or revealing important information to the reader. If your scene has less than two purposes (an in-universe one and a meta one) consider scrapping it. You don’t got the time for scenes that aren’t pouting in the WORK.

Step Fourteen: Musical Time

This is my favourite part! Attach a song to each of your scenes – a song that evokes in you the feeling you want that scene to evoke in your reader. Is it a sad scene? Give it a sad song. Happy scene? Happy song. Sexy scene? You get the idea. Then, put all of those songs in a playlist (this will become important next time!)