Writing a novel is never easy. This is especially true of writing a first book. For some, the easiest way to begin to write a novel is using the blueprint approach. During this approach, most writers will create a novel outline. Think of an outline as a road map to writing your novel. It will tell you where to start, keep you from getting lost, and eventually guide you to your destination. But just as there is a method to using a road map, so there is a method to using a novel outline.
Starting Your Story
If you’re sitting there staring at your novel outline and just can’t seem to get started, you probably have one of two problems. Either the novel outline doesn’t make sense, or you haven’t yet mastered the art of utilizing your outline. Remember that your outline is a guide. It’s not written in stone.
Your outline might indicate that your story starts in some dark alley, but that might not work in the long run. First of all, dark alleys are incredibly overdone, especially for the opening scene in the book. Okay, so your opening scene probably isn’t in a dark alley. But it still doesn’t work and you can’t figure out why. Study the outline to figure out what’s wrong and how to fix it.
Often you’re simply starting in the wrong place. There’s an old rule that states your novel should start with some point of conflict. This is a great rule, if it works for your particular story. For novels that are plot-driven, starting with a great piece of your plot is perfect.
However, if your novel is character-driven, that just might not work for you. You might need to start your story with some character development. Look closely at your outline and see if perhaps you can reorder the first few chapters or even add a chapter you hadn’t considered before. This might help you get started.
Don’t Throw Out Your Outline
It can be tempting to throw away that outline if you’ve found yourself altering it in the very first chapters. Don’t. Anytime I’ve thrown out even the most basic outline, I’ve come to regret it later. So, don’t throw it away unless it’s so far beyond redemption that nothing can be done. This is unlikely, considering you’ve only just started.
Instead, work with your outline. You must have thought that you had the makings of a good story when you wrote down the outline. It is most likely that you have all the basics. But, as with most writers, you might find that they’re in the wrong order. This is a good thing. It means you’ve got the story, but the pieces are out of order.
It usually helps to see your plot. So, if you’ve written that outline on a piece of paper, pull out your scissors. Cut out your basic plot points and treat the resulting pieces like a puzzle. Study them and rearrange until you come up with what works. Play “what-if” for a little while and add new pieces to your puzzle. You might even find that a dearly-loved piece of plot just won’t fit. If this happens, just keep that little jewel for your next book.
Using a Novel Outline to Navigate Your Plot
Now that you’ve got your outline in order, follow it through your novel. Let your novel flow and take shape, paying attention to the details you’ve laid out. If you’ve spent time developing and honing your outline, the process of connecting your basic plot points becomes easier. Still, the middle of a novel can be the most difficult to construct. But if you use your outline as a road map, you might find navigating through your plot becomes just a little easier.
Keep your newly-revised outline in front of you as you write. It will help you get from plot point to plot point without getting distracted. As you write, glance at your outline and find your place in the story. If you find that you’re drifting from your story for no particular reason, bring yourself back to your plot, using your outline to help you get back on track.
The first and most important purpose of your novel outline is to help keep you from straying from the core of your plot, and to get you back on track when you do. If you can use your novel outline effectively, you will find that any frustration you might have encountered is alleviated and writing your book becomes an relaxing and exciting exercise.
If, when writing a novel, your biggest problem is finding the time to writing the thing, then you’re probably best served by using the bits and pieces approach. However, if you’re like so many people, the problem isn’t that you don’t have time. It’s that you never quite seem to finish anything. You lose interest and move on to another story. There will always be another story.
However, part of writing that first novel is being able to finish it. This is difficult for many, but it is a necessity if you want to call yourself a novelist. If you find yourself flitting from project to project without really accomplishing anything, you might want to consider the blueprint approach to writing a novel.
Clarifying Your Idea
An architect doesn’t just scratch out a blueprint. He has to think and plan. The blueprint method of writing a novel is similar. You need a firm idea before you begin. If you want to write a novel, you probably already have a basic idea. Perhaps you’ve even started writing the thing and just can’t seem to finish it. If so, revisit the project by clarifying the general arc of the story in a single thought. A sentence or two if you can manage it will help.
You might be asking why you would want to boil down the plot of an entire novel to a single sentence. The answer is simple: it helps to make the idea behind your story clear in your own mind. If you don’t know where your story’s going, you can’t get there. Well, you can, but the route is infinitely complex. Without a firm goal, it’s easy to ramble and eventually abandon the project.
If you really can’t clarify your ideas, then you might have to tweak the idea a little, or tackle a different project altogether.
Expand on Your Idea
Now that you have your basic idea, it’s time to expand it into something larger. Not a novel just yet, but a decent blueprint which will enable you to create a novel. Take your single thought or sentence and elaborate a little, adding the conflict that will form the basis of the novel itself. Make sure you include all the major stuff, including hurdles along the way and how the entire thing eventually resolves itself.
From here, you can, if you wish, draw yourself a novel outline. Personally, I find novel outlines incredibly annoying. I find myself fiddling with the outline instead of actually writing my story. But, for many people, a basic outline does have its advantages. It can help you stay on track and prevent you from rambling, which is the entire point of the blueprint approach. So, if you think you’ll benefit from an outline, now is the time to create one.
Add Some Characters
Now that you know what happens, you need to know who’s involved. As you’ve thought about your novel, you’ve probably already developed your basic characters to some extent. If this is the case, you might only have to fill in the gaps. Outline the details of each main character. Only the main characters. Developing individual stories for a hundred characters is stressful and unnecessary. Stick to just the basics, your antagonist, protagonist, and anyone who plays a significant role in your novel.
Take the time to determination the motivations for each of your characters. For example, in the novel I’ve recently completed, I have several characters, each of them with their own goals and motivations. The protagonist wants only to discover who he is outside of his father’s shadow. There’s also a girl who wants to free her people and a boy who wants to keep his closest friend safe. Then there’s the antagonist. All he wants out of life is to kill all three of them and not lose his slaves. Obviously his goals clash with the goals of everyone else. This is where the fun is, at least from the perspective of a writer.
Finishing the Novel
At this point, you should have a good grasp of your plot and your major characters. Now you have to decide if you should add more details to your outline or start writing. Either way, you’ll have a blueprint that you can follow through to completion. Write your first draft, but don’t be afraid to change something if it just doesn’t work.
Keep your eyes on your major plot points. Figure out how to get your characters to these points, deal with them, and move past them. Let these scenes come together to form a cohesive whole. If you have to rearrange them, do so. You probably will find that in order to get your novel to flow smoothly and logically, you have to do some tweaking. This is okay. It means you’re getting somewhere.
If you’ve already established plot and characters, your first draft should come together with very few problems. I won’t say no problems. There are always little problems that crop up, even when you’re prepared. But, if you’ve planned everything out, at least to a minimal degree, you should be able to fire off a first draft.
At this point, you’re almost done. However, you still need to edit and possibly revise your manuscript. This isn’t as hard as it sounds, and if you planned your novel down to the smallest detail, you might find that you almost don’t have to revise it at all.
There’s much more to writing a novel, of course. But each writer will experience unique problems. In my case, my biggest problem tends to be characters who just won’t do as they’re told. They insist on running off and creating their own little side-plots. I know this sounds a little silly (I’m the writer, after all), but it happens with a regularity that dismays me.
Using the blueprint approach can help you to map out your story, in turn encouraging you to complete the novel. However, you still have to sit down and write the thing. Carve out blocks of time, get your story straight, and soon you’ll be well on your way to writing your first book. Of course, you could always take my best friend’s advice: “Why don’t you just hire a ghostwriter to complete it for you?”
It might sound odd to talk about hiring a ghostwriter and being a professional writer in the same sentence. Yet, many professional writers do indeed hire other writers to complete some of their work. It might be that you, as a writer, don’t have time to complete all the projects on your plate. Maybe you want to tackle a project that you don’t feel entirely comfortable with and would rather outsource the work. For whatever reason, many professional writers do consider hiring a ghostwriter at some point in their career.
Selecting a Ghostwriter
If you have too many ideas to write yourself (or if you’ve come across so many projects that pay that you just don’t have the time), you might consider hiring someone to help with the work. Someone like a ghostwriter. If you do decide to hire someone, be picky. Find someone you can work with and who can produce the final product that you desire. If you and your ghostwriter are a distinct personality clash, the match probably isn’t a good one and you should look elsewhere for the help.
Your criteria will vary depending upon what exactly the product is. You may find that the right person to write the information on your own website is not the right person to ghostwrite a novel. The types of services ghostwriters offer varies from advertising copy to articles and even to non-fiction books and novels. Not all ghostwriters are capable of writing all these things. Make sure you fully understand the talents and skills of potential ghostwriters before committing to a contract.
Finding a ghostwriter isn’t as hard as you might think. A quick Internet search will turn up many people and even companies offering ghostwriting services. Finding a good ghostwriter, however, might take some searching. Ask for a full body of work relating to the field your book or article falls into. You probably don’t want to hire someone who specializes in sword and sorcery fantasy to write your contemporary women’s fiction novel. Take your time and you’ll surely find someone you can work with.
Ghostwriting Contracts and Their Details
Most ghostwriting contracts are for an upfront free. The ghostwriter gets paid to create the work and you take the credit and get to keep all proceeds that they work may generate. Because you are investing money and time, don’t take anything for granted. Before hiring a potential ghostwriter, check out their body of work and get references if possible. Because many ghostwriting contracts demand confidentiality, references may be a problem, but ask anyway. At the very least, make sure you see a body of work that relates to final product you desire. I know I’ve already mentioned this, but it bears repeating.
The ghostwriter you choose should offer portions of the work for you to read through as they are completed. This is a necessity when committing to a contract. Otherwise you might end up with a product that isn’t at all what you wanted or expected. Negotiate with your ghostwriter, making it clear that you want to see some portion of the work as soon as possible so you can be sure it sounds the way you want it to.
You will, of course, have to pay for ghostwriting services. Make sure the contract you and your ghostwriter sign specifies the payment plan. In general, a portion of the total cost, often ¼, will be paid immediately. Until the first quarter of the work is completed to your satisfaction, there is no further payment. The final payment is not made until the completed article or book is delivered to you.
A good ghostwriter will be able to make the book or article sound like you wrote it. He or she will be able to assume your voice. So read over the first portion of the work to make sure it sounds like you. The contract you sign should give you the option to cancel with notice without penalty, provided you do it in writing. If some of the work has been completed, the ghostwriter probably can and should keep that portion of the money. However, make sure you never offer the full fee up front and examine the contract carefully before signing.
Whether you are interested in being a ghostwriter or hiring one, most of the same rules still apply. Know what you’re getting into, read a contract before you sign it, and above all, make sure that the final product is well written and comprehensive.
Ghostwriting is probably best described as someone being hired to produce books, articles, or other written work under the name of another. This is quite common in many circles, especially among professionals. Regardless of its popularity, ghostwriting is something you might find yourself considering as your career as a professional writer flourishes.
How Much Money Can a Ghostwriter Make?
If you’re an exceptional writer and want to make decent money, you might want to try your hand at ghostwriting. Money is often a key factor in the decision to become a ghostwriter, but the specific amount you might make will vary depending on your skill, your clients, and the types of projects you take on. As a ghostwriter myself, I can tell you that the pay is immediate and usually quite good. I’ve charged anywhere from $2000 for smaller academic projects to $50,000 for larger projects that might take months to complete. Ghostwriting, if you do it right, can easily be one of your projects that pay.
A Ghostwriter’s Voice
The money might be a good reason for you to try ghostwriting, but it’s not a reason for anyone to hire you. In order to market yourself as a ghostwriter, you’ll have to master the art of sounding like someone else when you’re writing. Each person has a unique voice, and you’ve likely developed your own. But typically, when someone hires a ghostwriter, they want their own voice to come through, not yours. Adapting the tone of another isn’t the easiest thing to do. You might want to practice “sounding” like other writers before you put yourself out there as a ghostwriter. As a ghostwriter, your job is to adopt the voice of your clients.
It’s usually easier to mimic another person’s voice if you already have a passion for what you write. When making the decision to offer ghostwriting services, it is important to consider the topics and mediums you are willing to take on as a ghostwriter. Deciding what to write as a ghostwriter should be based upon your own interests and goals as well as the needs of your clients.
Where Can a Ghostwriter Find Clients?
One of the most common questions I get regarding ghostwriting is where to find clients. The easy answer is simple “everywhere.” There are many people who want to write but lack either the talent or the time to do so. Many professionals want to write papers, books, manuals, or even articles but would rather pay someone to do it for them. Some people have marvelous stories that make excellent novels running through their heads but simply can’t get them out on paper (or on the computer screen). Potential clients are everywhere. All you have to do is find them.
One of the few ways to do this is to market yourself. You can’t exactly wander around asking people if they need a ghostwriter. Well, you can, but expect more than a few funny looks for the effort. Instead, create an online presence for yourself. Start a website that showcases you as a ghostwriter, and a writer in general. Create sample works that are specific to your target clients. If you hope to ghostwrite academic works, make sure you have adequate high quality samples to show potential clients that meet their needs. The same rule goes for writing fiction. This body of work acts as part of a résumé.
Signing a Contract
When you decide to become a ghostwriter, you’ll have to eventually think about contracts. To protect both you and your clients, you’ll want to sign contracts for each project you undertake. These contracts should be fair to both you and your clients.
Ghostwriting contracts should specifically state when your work is due and how much money you’ll be paid at each stage. Generally, the work and money will be divided into quarters. You are paid ¼ of the total amount due and produce ¼ of the work for review by your client. If your contract ensures that you get paid in stages for completing a set amount of work, your client will get what they pay for and you’ll get paid.
Remember that finding clients takes time, marketing, and hard work. You won’t become a high priced ghostwriter overnight, but with a little patience, attention to detail, and a good contract, you could easily find yourself making money by letting someone else take the credit. This is a viable way to get started as a professional writer.
