YOUR FIRST NOVEL:

key points to remember

PART I: WRITING YOUR NOVEL

BY L AU R A W H I TCO M B

CH A P T E R 1: PR E PA R AT IONS

• Give your idea a temporary name.

• Write down your ideas, no matter how small. Don’t judge. Write
everything down and save the notes.
• Read great writing every day.
• Remember that all writers need to practice before they succeed.
• Try the warm-up exercises. Use them before you start your daily
writing only if they help.
• Before you start writing your novel, do research in order to know
your characters and setting, but don’t get lost in it.
• Take a little time to inspire yourself.
• Set up a healthy working environment.

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key points to remember
 • Set apart writing time each day.
• Before your novel is finished, talk about it only sparingly. Be dis-
criminating about who you let read it.
• Love your story, but stay open-minded.
• Always write your best.
• Don’t take things the wrong way.
• Don’t judge harshly.
• If you find you’re procrastinating because your idea isn’t a story
yet, give it time. But if you’re procrastinating because you’ve got
page-fright, just take the leap!

CH A P T E R 2 : BEGI N N I NG TO W R I T E

• Take your idea notes and write each on a 3 × 5 card.

• Lay out the cards in order.
• Fill in the gaps in your story with scenes that create intimacy
and tension.
• Make sure all your payoffs are set up and all your setups have
payoffs.
• Remember that your story does not have to be told
chronologically.
• Decide where to put chapter breaks.
• Figure out what kind of book you are writing.
• Copy your outline cards on paper.
• Decide on a point-of-view character.
• Decide what tense to use.
• Try some exercises to discover your voice.
• When you feel overwhelmed, remember what you love best about
your story.

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your first novel
 CH A P T E R 3 : T H E BON E S OF YOU R STORY

• Review your outline for structural soundness—does it give the

readers what they are looking for?
• Is there tension? Do you have enough conflict and suspense to keep
the pages turning?
• Weave theme carefully into your story.
• Make sure all subplots are essential.
• Find natural ways of handling exposition and backstory.

CH A P T E R 4 : F L E SH I NG OU T YOU R STORY

• Choose your protagonist, antagonist, and some secondary

characters.
• Make sure your characters come with built-in conflict.
• Try the exercises provided to get to know your characters so you
can use them to convey exposition and backstory.
• Have the characters show, rather than tell, us about themselves.

CH A P T E R 5 : M A K I NG T H E STORY V I V I D

• Write dialogue that sounds natural but is a distilled version of what

the characters are trying to say to each other.
• Alternate between scenes with dialogue and narration without
dialogue.
• Don’t overuse “said.”
• Choose vocabulary carefully to portray accents and dialects.
• Choose unusual settings and describe them in interesting ways.

CH A P T E R 6 : BE I NG U N FORGET TA BL E

• Use carefully chosen detail in your writing.

• Find (and exploit) what is original about your plot, hero, and villain
using three exercises.

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key points to remember
 • Discover and enhance the moments they’ll remember.
• Think about the “crosshairs” of your story.
• Slow down and write the end of your novel deliberately—your last
page flavors all the rest.

CH A P T E R 7: T H E N U TS A N D BOLTS

• Proofread your manuscript for grammatical and spelling errors.

• Scan your manuscript for paragraph breaks.
• Find and delete any extraneous uses of so, very, and suddenly.
• Scan your manuscript for inconsistencies in tense or POV.
• Avoid overly creative presentation ideas.
• Review the length of your novel compared to others in its genre
(chapter eight addresses adding and cutting).

CH A P T E R 8 : R E PA I R S

• Mark the places in your manuscript that need to be fixed and rewrite
them.
• Cut all nonessential material.
• Add material only to enhance clarity, beauty, or meaning.

CH A P T E R 9 : M A K I NG I T SH I N E

• Rewrite your opening to reflect your closing. Rewrite your closing

to reflect your opening.
• Make sure your settings are not monotonous.
• Look at each character’s emotional arc and adjust if needed.
• Find your favorite “glowing points” and write up to that level of
quality.
• Scan for places you might make an artistic change that would refine
your novel.
• Replace clichés and overused phrases.

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your first novel
 • Look at things through fresh eyes—your character’s eyes.
• Listen to the rhythm of your scenes.
• Use adjectives and adverbs sparingly.
• Brainstorm and choose a title that fits your story.
• Do not get too attached to your beloved title—it might change.

CH A P T E R 10 : PR E PA R I NG TO BE R E A D

• Prepare your manuscript carefully before giving it to anyone.

• Choose your first reader thoughtfully.
• Listen to suggestions and thank your reader.
• Stay positive. Believe in yourself. Hope is powerful.

PART II: PUBLISHING YOUR NOVEL

BY A N N R I T T EN B ERG

CH A P T E R 11: W H AT A L I T E R A RY AGE N T DOE S — A N D W H Y

• An agent has good contacts and always seeks to enlarge his knowl-
edge of the people in the business.
• An agent sees opportunities for promoting your work everywhere
he goes.
• An agent is your biggest fan, your biggest champion, your most
devoted reader.
• An agent offers advice but doesn’t make your decisions for you.
• An agent helps you ask the right questions at the right time.
• An agent is your business partner.

CH A PTER 12 : BEFOR E YOU SUBMIT YOUR NOV EL

• Most published first novels are not the first novels the authors
wrote.
• Put your novel away for periods of time before revising.

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key points to remember
 • Share your work with other aspiring writers.
• Don’t try to rush your work into print—this isn’t a race.

CH A P T E R 13 : F I R ST ST E PS ON T H E PAT H TO PU BL IC AT ION

• Get to know other writers.

• Try to publish short pieces in journals, newspapers, or magazines.
• Attend a writers conference.
• Read good books and discuss them with other writers.

CH A P T E R 14 : QU E RY L ET T E R BA BY LON

• Keep your query letter to one page.

• Work on a one-line hook to describe your novel’s distinguishing
feature.
• Write your letter in a natural tone of voice.
• Don’t forget: It’s about the book.

CH A P T E R 15 : T H E V I E W F ROM T H E OT H E R SI DE OF T H E DE SK

• Develop a short list of potential agents.

• Research each agent on your list.
• Follow submission guidelines to the letter.

CH A P T E R 16 : BECOM I NG A N AGE N T E D AU T HOR

• Make a new submission list after you submit your first round of
query letters.
• Do something while you’re waiting to hear back.
• Keep believing in your work.
• When you’ve done the research, you can trust your instincts about
whether an agent will be the right one for you or not.

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your first novel
 CH A P T E R 17: WOR K I NG W I T H A N AGE N T T H ROUGH
T H ICK A N D T H I N

• Don’t sit back and wait for your agent to call.

• Write a great bio note or have a friend interview you to uncover
interesting things about you that you might overlook.
• Rewrite for your agent as if he were your publisher.
• Be a squeaky wheel—but respond well to oiling.

CH A P T E R 18 : GET T I NG TO Y E S

• Don’t get discouraged.

• Keep busy while you’re waiting.
• Prepare to make a quick decision.
• Be realistic about the financial side of publishing.

CH A P T E R 19 : BECOM I NG A PU BL ISH E D AU T HOR

• Write your own press release if the publisher doesn’t

produce one.
• Try to meet as many people involved in your book as possible.
• Think of creative ways to thank everyone involved in getting
your book out into the world.

CH A P T E R 20 : PU BL IC AT ION DAY— A N D BE YON D

• Get involved in promoting your book locally and online.

• Remember that publication, the culmination of a lifelong dream,
is reward in itself.
• Start your second novel before the first one comes out.

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key points to remember