How to get your novel started - Part 1

You have to make a commitment to put time and effort into creating a written work. But that doesn’t mean you have to be a slave to your keyboard. The best writers are the ones who also have experienced life and you can’t do that behind a computer. At the very least, you’ll have the satisfaction of knowing you completed a novel, and at best, your life may be changed forever.
Please don’t let the prospect of writing a work of novel-length fiction scare you. If you dwell on it, you can talk yourself right out of your dream. I will guide you step by step through the process of forming your ideas. I’ll share some of my own tips and techniques which anyone can learn and apply.

So, who am I to tell you all this? My name is Tracey H. Kitts. I have been writing stories pretty much since I could write. My first novel was published in August, 2007 with New Concepts Publishing. Since then I have had 15 full-length novels, 3 novellas, and 1 short story published. My books were released first as ebooks. The majority of my stories have also been released in print form as well.

Now 2007 may sound very recent to you for me to be teaching a writing class. The truth is I’m not new to writing; it's something I've always done for my own entertainment. However when I decided to write my first novel I completed books one and two in my werewolf hunter series in 3 months. That includes the time it took me to self-edit the work. What’s more, it only took me five months to find a publisher. I may not be a household name yet, but I’m doing what I love.

The purpose of these posts (or class if you want to call it that) is to help you achieve similar or maybe even greater results. However, you can’t get there until you learn to organize your ideas. That’s what I’ll help you do. For a complete bio on me and information about my books, you can check me out at http://www.traceyhkitts.com/.

You can find my books through my website, http://www.ellorascave.com/, http://www.newconceptspublishing,com/, Amazon, or many other ebook retailers.

I’ll start by giving you a brief overview of what you can expect from this class.

 I’ll share with you some of the direct and indirect benefits of writing a book.

 I’ll debunk some common myths about writing and show you how you can write a book.

 You’ll learn how to create an outline for your ideas.

 You’ll learn how to brainstorm effectively to generate new ideas.

 By the end of this course, you should have all you need to start writing your novel!

Also, don't worry about the fact that I write romance. This course is for everybody. It's not about how to write romance; it's about how to get your novel started, no matter what your book is about.

We'll discuss genre later on and why a clear determination of genre is so important. You may think that a sci-fi, paranormal, comedy, romance is the greatest thing since sliced bread. But trust me, your editor will not.

This post is to give you all a general overview of what will be covered. Naturally, I'm bound to add more as we go:) It's what I do. Ha. Ha. Ha.

If you have questions, please feel free to leave them in the comments.

In the next installment we'll discuss (among other things) why so many people think they can't write a novel. I'll also give you your first writing exercise. Doesn't that sound exciting?