a novel

I'm already a writer. My poetry has appeared in newspapers, magazines, and journals. I also published a poetry book. I've written several articles that can be read throughout the net. I'm currently working on a book of poetry inspired by society and culture. Someday I would like to write a book on grieve. You really should begin writing.

Well I would tell but then I would be giving my unpublished ideas away, lol. I would however pick a subject that I knew a lot about or wanted to know a lot about. Writing a novel requires a lot of time and research. It is fun though and is a good way to test your devotion to your craft. For instance the novel I am working on took 3 years of research before I wrote a single line. Ok, not everyone works the way I do but, hey it helps me sleep knowing I know my subject well before I put a pen to paper (or finger to key if you will). Whatever you chose have fun, don't lose any sleep or hair over it!

My current novel came about from a writing prompt at writing group. I can't remember what the prompt was for the idea, but I do remember the prompt that brought me the start of the story. With a writing group, when you are given prompts on a weekly basis and you are in the process of writing a novel, you tend to keep that novel in mind when you are writing with the prompt. This way you can expand your story. I kept a lot of them and then tried to weave them into the story. Some of them I haven't used at all. If you want to explore where your story may go, just start writing about anything. Ideas will come to you. You can write a character description, their likes and dislikes and move from there when you find a conflict that can make a story. Like perhaps the person is strongly against abortion. Think about what kind of a story you can right with that conflict in mind. Good luck!

I've always wanted to try my hand at novel writing, but when I start I almost immediately get stuck. How do authors start a new book? Do they work out a timeline with major events and then just start filling in the pieces? Or do they just start typing without knowing how its going to turn out? I've tried both methods and invariably get stuck after twenty pages or so. If I ever do get over the hurdle, my novel would be either fantasy or science fiction.