The novel is regarded as the supreme discipline of fiction and is equally welcome to readers and publishers alike. Novels sell better than other literary genres, so that an author with a novel has quite a good chance of publishing his work.
Characteristics
Now, however, first of all the question arises, what is a novel in general, or more precisely, what distinguishes a novel. The novel as a literary genre has been around since the 17th century and the most striking feature of a novel is its scope. From a literary perspective, a novel represents the long form of the narrative.
Applied to the practice for the author, this means that a novel has at least 150 pages, most novels range between 250 and 400 pages, with no upper bounds. The scope is also the reason why novels are so popular, because novels offer long-lasting reading pleasure and allow readers to dive into the real world.
At the same time, novels are not the king’s discipline for nothing. So no reader will want to read a novel that is simply boring and meaningless. This means that the author must write and write the novel as well as any other craft.
Write a guide to the novel
Writing a concrete guide to the novel is divided into three main phases. Although every author works differently and every novel is unique, the basic approach to writing novels is always the same.
The three phases of writing consist of planning, writing and revising the novel:
1.)
The first step of planning begins with an idea that matures on the theme of the novel. A theme for the novel is the basic requirement for all further steps. During the planning phase, the author takes notes, researches, brings content and ideas together, develops characters, creates the biographies of his protagonists and sets the scenes.
The novel does not have to be completely thought out. While some authors only know the beginning of their novel and let the actual story emerge only during the writing process, other authors only know the end of their story or are only clear about the central aspect in their novel.
In the course of planning, it is therefore important to work out the basic framework for the novel, that is, to make a kind of blueprint.
2.)
In the second phase, it continues with the actual writing of the novel. Basically, the novel as the most open literary form is subject to no formal or stylistic requirements. This means that the author does not have to limit himself to narratives, but can also work with letters, diaries or monologues and dialogues.
For the writing of novels ultimately only one rule applies, namely that the novel must be designed. This means that the novel has to tell a story that has a beginning, a middle part and a conclusion, structured and meaningfully structured. Although novels tell of life, but without unimportant little things, but in designed, edited and prepared form.
Which topic the author chooses for his novel is up to him. A novel can be confined to a particular moment, give a brief passage of life, tell a whole life, or span the life of generations.
Likewise, a novel can have different locations and storylines and play in multiple time levels. At this point, it becomes clear why the planning phase is so important, because without an idea and a framework it would hardly be possible to maintain the suspense of many sides and to link the storylines and the individual characters in the novel.
3.)
Finally, the third phase is the revision phase. However, this should not start immediately after the intense phase of writing is over. Instead, the manuscript should rest for some time, so that the author can win the necessary distance.
There are two main tips for revising:
On the one hand, the author should be as critical as possible and on the other hand he should try to read his novel not as an author, but as a reader. From the reader’s point of view, it becomes much clearer at which points the tension drops, which passages hinder the flow of reading or when the characters of the novel behave unbelievably and inappropriately.
As a general rule, all the passages that are superfluous and are more of a hindrance to the act are deleted without substitution. It is also useful to ask other people for their opinion and their constructive criticism. The novel is then ready and ready for submission to the publisher, we nn the author can say with complete conviction that as a reader he would like to read this novel from the first to the last page.