My Favorite Tools for Starting a Novel!

I know most of you following me are already writers, but some of you only dabble, and a few of you have only entertained the thought from time-to-time. And while it is a lot of work, dedication, and persistence to write a manuscript, there are things you can do to make it easier.

These are the tools I use to write my novels:

1 – NaNoWriMo

As we head toward November, many writers are getting ready for National Novel Writing Month, otherwise known as ‘NaNoWriMo’, where we pledge to write 50,000 words, or 200 pages, in 30 days. Some people are sticklers, and start with page one of a new manuscript right after the clock strikes midnight after Halloween. Others aim for smaller goals, or finishing partial manuscripts, or work on editing a story they’ve already drafted. Rebels are just as big a part of NaNoWriMo as purists.

While it’s not for everyone, a lot of writers have found the community aspect very supportive. Others have found that it brings out their competitive streak. Still others have found that the speed gets them to turn off their internal editor long enough to actually finish what they’ve started.

For me? I find that I’m competitive with my past self, and my local NaNoWriMo community is super supportive and welcoming. I’ve “won” 9 times, and drafted the majority of my five and a half manuscripts during NaNoWriMo, although I’ve spent more than one NaNoWriMo re-writing my last manuscript.

2 – Outlining: Snowflake, Trello, Beat Sheets, and more!

While some people write entirely as the mood takes them, a lot of writers want at least a direction. ALL of these can be as high level, or as detailed as you want.

Snowflake Method

Start with a 1 sentence pitch of your story. Then expand it to describe the setting and main character. Then describe the main character’s backstory, and build out from there.

Post-its/Trello/Kanban Boards

This is where you have a single sentence for each needed scene or character arc, and you put them up on the wall (or the virtual board) in columns, building your scenes, acts, and story. You can move them around, add things, remove things, until you’re happy with the whole setup. Yet again, you can be as high level or as detailed as you want.

Trello and other Kanban boards are tools from the project management world, but many writers have found them useful, and they can be used just like post-its, only in the virtual world.

Beat Sheets

Taken from script writers, and used for novelists who follow the 3 (or 4) act structure, these guides help you sort out the pacing for your story. From where the inciting incident should be, to the ‘all hope is lost’ moment, these help keep the tension up, so readers will find your story fulfilling.

While Save the Cat is probably the most popular, Jami Gold has a collection I like to peruse. This is how I create my high level outlines to ignore.

There are a bunch of other tools, from Scrivner to Storyboard. Do you have any favorites I missed?

3 – Music

Whether you find music in-and-of-itself inspirational, you like to feel like you’re writing a movie with a soundtrack blasting, or music gives you a vibe to translate into your story, there are all sorts of ways you can use music to help your writing.

Some people have carefully crafted playlists for each character or scene, I simply take a seed song/artist and let Pandora or Spotify or YouTube roll with it.

4 – Mood Boards

Whether you’re an artist, drawing your own characters and worlds, or just browsing the internet, (or, if you don’t mind the moral implications, playing with the AI creation tools), a moodboard can be helpful. Recently, I’ve been playing with Hero Forge‘s DND model designer, but I’ve also google image searched, and played with ThisPersonDoesNotExist.

NOTE: Do not just go to social media and browse locked bios until you find a person who looks right. There’s a difference between a person who puts their face as their brand out there – like actors, models, and influencers, and someone trying to make sure their grandma is following the right person.

I typically find pictures for my main and secondary characters, the types of clothing they wear, and the setting — then I pin them on Pinterest. Some people create a single collage, others save them to a folder to browse. Whatever works for you.

I also like to create a faux-book cover for my NaNoWriMo project. I pop into Canva, a free graphic design tool, and use one of their Book Cover Templates, then play around until I’m happy.

5 – Lists

Names

If you’re anything like me, names can take you hours or months to get right. One of the things I like to do is to create a list of at least 25 names that fit my setting before I start drafting: especially for the secondary and background characters.

You can make them up, steal them from TV credits, look through baby name books, or hit sites like Behind the Name or Fantasy Name Generator. Some people take real names and change a letter or two.

One thing to remember is that readers often confuse characters whose names start with the same letter, end with the same sounds, or are all the same lengths. Vary those factors whenever possible!

Oh! And all of this advice applies to places and fantasy/sci-fi/alien objects, too!

The one time I didn’t have a list of names, I was fast drafting 75,000 words in one month. I ended up using place holder names like “Alice”, “Bob”, and “Carol” in my fantasy world. Fighting “Canadia”. I still haven’t edited that rough draft (although, for more reasons than just that).

Adjectives

When creating characters, especially background characters, it can be easy to end up with a character “straight out of central casting”. You can probably picture the stereotypical banker guy, or barista chick. But, the world is full of nuances.

One way to switch it up, I stole from a workshop with Jo Walton. Put together a huge collection of adjectives that could describe different characters… then pick 3 at random and let those adjectives describe a single character. For my gamer friends, you can always just have a chart and roll a die. Here are mine!

In fact, if you’re stuck on a story idea, here’s a series of charts I did to get you started with WHO, WHAT, and WHERE. (Links below)

6 – An Opening Line

I know, I know, for NaNoWriMo especially, you’re supposed to start with a blank sheet of paper. But, until I have an opening line that captures the point-of-view character’s voice and compels the story forward, I don’t feel comfortable writing.

That’s what sets the mood, sets the tone, and shows me I know who the character is.

Now, it doesn’t have to be perfect, it just needs to be a stable enough starting point to launch from. I often edit it later, and sometimes it’s completely dropped. But, you’ve got to start somewhere.

7 – A Ritual

You can be as spiritual or as formulaic about this as you want.

Even if this sounds a little too ‘woo’, if you get into a set of habits, it can trigger your brain into “this is what we do before we write” mode, without you having to force it as hard. Despite the standard connotations, rituals don’t have to be long and complicated.

Rituals:

• use a commute/a walk/a shower to clear your head and contemplate what comes next in the story
• music or playlists
• location – a favored chair, a coffee shop, a room with a door
• a treat — a favored tea or snack/etc
• lighting a candle/incense
• meditation
• closing the door in the bathroom where the family shouldn’t bother you for at least 15 minutes (but you never know)

Whatever ritual works for you.

For me? I like to sit down to write with two cups of water and 3 chocolate truffles. Then, I tell myself I can’t take a break until I’ve drunk both cups of water, but I get a truffle every 500 words.

8 – Writing Sprints!

Some people just sit down and the words flow out. Some people wake up early to write before work, seeing what they can fit into an hour and a half. Others wait until the world is asleep and do their writing then.

No matter when I do my writing, these days, I do it in sprints. I set a timer between 20 and 25 minutes, usually for 23 minutes this year (because it’s 2023 and I’m easily amused), and try to do nothing but write until the timer goes off. In between sprints, I’ll chat with people, check my socials, I might even do some research for my writing.

Sometimes I use an on-screen timer, sometimes I use a Sprinto Bot in a Discord (a chat app) server.

While it can be a competition, I usually only compete with myself. I know I can usually crank out 300-500 words per sprint. Sometimes I crank out 7 words. A few times, I’ve hit 730 words. Then, once my water’s refilled, my brain’s refocused, I dive back in and do another sprint.

For the last 5 NaNoWriMos, probably 90% of my words were written using writing sprints. I’m not sure if it’s just a way to focus my ADHD brain, or knowing I’m gonna get a break makes it easier to push myself, but I’m not going to question it. I’m just going to use sprints for as long as they keep working for me.

Some people do 15 minute sprints, but I find that a little too short, and stops me right when the words really start flowing. Some people do half-hour or longer sprints, but those start to feel more like a marathon, and about the 25 minute mark, checking my notifications starts to be a little too distracting. Or needing a snack. Or a bio break.

But! If you find a pace that works for you? Use it!

Note: When I’m editing, I need longer stretches to really hit my stride.

Fun fact: I run writing sprints year-round on Sundays from 4:30-6:30 ET on YouTube and Twitch, so this might actually be my most consistently done tip.

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Are there any other tools you use to prepare to write? Any tips I missed? Let me know!

Check out my top 4 NaNoWriMo posts for more tips:

• So You’ve Decided to Write A Novel: 7 Tips To Get You Started
• How to WIN NaNoWriMo
• NaNoWriMo: Maintaining Your Writing Momentum
• What Type of Prepper Are You? Getting ready to write