Quote:
Originally Posted by ZodWallop
From time to time, my kid decides she wants to write a book, but goes about it backwards, starting at the table of contents, not understanding the process of actually writing a novel. If she were older and more serious about it, a project like NaNoWriMo could help.
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That's a valid method of outlining. In a sense a list of events. You'd also want a character list, maybe a list of places and a plot outline.
It's quite a valid starting point.
Different people have different approaches to writing and it's more complex and nuanced than plotter vs pantster (planning vs simply starting to write). Apart from the School stories, Enid Blyton didn't plan or plot or think at all. She sat and typed.
A particular person might not always use the same approach.
The NaNoWriMo as it was might have helped many of the people that did it, but many more would find it useless. It was a a sort of social media phenomenon.
It can help to read different books on how to write. Many rubbish opinionated websites now. A lot of so-called writing rules can be taken too literally by beginners and are more guide lines. Some are oddly inviolable, such as the list of rules for detective fiction (but not thrillers), like the miscreant must appear near the start of the story and not in the last pages.
Read lots
Write lots
Write a complete draft before worrying about editing or formatting, no matter if extreme planner or "stream of words" (Pantster/Blyton).
It does help to write a detective novel ending first, then the start, then plot it and then do the bulk. A table of contents (can rename later) first doesn't hurt.
Only get someone else to read after your first edit.
Get a proof reader (and editor if poss). A reader that likes reading might be useless at proofing.
Read mostly outside the genre you are writing in.
You can do a course, or join a local writing group, or do something like NaNoWriMo, but almost all popular writers have done none of these.
Some people don't write a good novel till their 40s or retirement. Few achieve it as teens. You don't need to stick to writing what you know (research is easier now with Internet), but life experience counts for a lot. Writing outside of your own culture is risky.
Paul Limberger (Cordwainer Smith, Instrumentality)
Leslie Charteris (The Saint)
Nevile Shute
John le Carré
Anne McCaffery
Ngaio Marsh
Even Cpt. W.E. Johns (Biggles, Worrals etc), who was never a Captain.
You need to find time and not be exhausted intellectually from the "Day Job".