So You Want To Write A Novel

Many people may feel the inspiration to write a book. They may even have an idea for the plot already. But most people don’t end up actually writing it. It is common to push off writing to wait for the right time to start writing. The best advice is: stop waiting and start writing.

Daryl Harrison

There will never be a perfect time to start that book you have wanted to write for years. As the saying goes, “a journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step.” This too is how you have to start to write.

You may have to push yourself to write. It takes lots of mental and ​emotional energy, especially if you put a lot of feeling behind your work. Just get behind the keyboard and start typing. It doesn’t have to be cohesive or even make much sense, just get the writing juices flowing and it will get easier.

Try making a commitment to writing two hours a week. If you start by dedicating a small amount of time to your passion, instead of mindlessly scrolling through social media sites, you will be closer than ever to accomplishing your dream of finally telling your story.

​Daryl Harrison is the author of The Waiting Game, a popular crime thriller. Daryl was a school teacher when he wrote his book and spent a week straight writing to complete his first draft. He was living in his home town of Omaha, Nebraska but recently moved to New York to further advance his writing career.

Tips For Writing Engaging Fiction Stories

For many people craving a creative outlet, fiction writing can be a great place to start. It allows the author to be completely free and tell any story he or she might choose, without having to stick to facts or even physics. But flexing the right half of the brain and getting the creative juices flowing can be difficult for some.

Daryl Harrison

Following these few simple tips can help spice up anyone’s writing.

1. Start with tension, not action. Many authors will start their work with action, trying to draw the reader in. For a twist, begin with tension to make the reader relate faster to the main character.

2. Understand your audience. Knowing what type of person (gender, age, race, and so on) is your target audience will help you to connect better with the readers. Use syntax and diction to make your writing seem natural and comfortable to them, thus making it easier to read.

3. End each chapter on a cliff. There is a reason your favorite TV shows end each season with a huge cliffhanger. It makes the audience want more. They think about what is going to happen to their favorite character all summer long. Try this in your next book to leave your readers begging for the next chapter.

Daryl Harrison is the author of the popular indie mystery crime thriller The Waiting Game. Daryl wrote 90% of his first draft in one night, finishing it within the week. He was inspired to write while teaching grade school in his hometown of Omaha, Nebraska. Daryl Harrison now lives in New York where he is continuing to pursue his writing career.

You’ve Got Style!

Writing good fiction depends on the writer’s ability to craft a story that readers want to invest their time and energy reading. One of the aspects of a novel that help draws reader in are the characters. Books are filled with many different types of individuals and they all play an important role.

Daryl Harrison

First off, it’s important to understand what a character is. A character is a participant in the story, usually a person, but can be any identity, entity or persona. There are several different types.

First, and maybe the most commonly known, is the protagonist. This person is the main character of the story. You should try to make your readers identify with this person and care about what happens to them. The protagonist is often referred to as the “good guy,” however there can also be an antihero as the main character.

You can’t have a protagonist without an antagonist. This is the character who opposes the main character. Although typically thought of as the “bad guy” there can be elements of good in an antagonist too. In many stories the protagonist and antagonist have to face off in some type of fight or battle, with the protagonist typically winning.

There is also the point-of-view character. This is the person through whom the story is viewed. Although they are often the main character, they do not have to be.

Daryl Harrison is a fiction writer who lives in New York with his wife, Abby Raines. Daryl is a successful self-published author.

Fiction Writing Tips - It’s All About The Characters 

One of the things that draws readers into a book and elicits the emotion writers crave is a strong cast of characters. Developing memorable, well-rounded characters will help readers love your novel. But where do you start?

First, come up with a name and description. You want it to fit the person. Make the reader believe the name was made for this character and help them picture the person in their minds. Give good details about what the character looks like including their hair, skin, voice, identifying markings, style and personality. This will help the reader see your characters as real, and connect with them.

Daryl Harrison

Next think about the character’s storyline. What will happen to them, especially in the end of the book? It is important to have an idea so you can keep the plot on track.

What is the person’s motivation and drive? Think about their internal and external wants and needs.
Next you need to narrow down any conflict the character will be involved with. Is it internal, external or both? Physical, mental or emotional?

And lastly, what does the character learn at the end of the book, if they make it that far? Do they accomplish their goal? Find love? Get revenge? Knowing their fate will help you craft the story around the main person.
Make sure to do this for all the major players in your novel so you know who they are, what they look like, what they want, and where they are going.

Daryl Harrison knows a thing or two about how to craft an interesting character. He self-published his critically acclaimed novel The Waiting Game, which features complex characters and a thrilling plot.

Writing Tips - Make it Powerful

When creating a compelling work of fiction, it is best to use copious amounts of emotion, something that should never be in short supply in your stories. Remember to keep the struggle alive, there should never be a point where the characters in your novel are not struggling in one respect or another, as it is at that point that the story is over. One mistake that many rookie writers make is that they become so attached to their own characters that they are afraid to make them go through any real trials or dangers that would hurt them. This kind of attachment becomes dangerous for a work because it prevents you from making an interesting and dynamic story with realistic elements simply because you like a character. The fact of the matter is you have to get over that part of yourself that hesitates to bring harm to your precious work. You have to be willing to look at the story and examine what is most likely to happen in the scenario that you created. For instance, say that you have a character who becomes stranded on a dead space station drifting into space with a limited oxygen supply that is running out. Instead of making some very unlikely tale about another ship passing by at just the right time to save them, just kill the character. It sounds hard, but that is the harsh reality of life, so your story should be no different.

Daryl Harrison

If you don’t want to kill the character that much, make it really hard then. Say they spent months aboard the ship on the brink of starvation and insanity until they got caught in the gravitational pull of a planet. Then say they crash land on the foreign and unknown planet, breaking their legs as they stumble out of the wreckage. These are the real struggles that will fascinate your readers.

Daryl Harrison is a self-published writer who has sold thousands of books.


How to Build Climax in Fiction Writing

We have all been there before, completely engrossed into a story, watching as each character and plotline merge, coming to a head and an inevitable conflict that you have been anticipating for so long. This is called the Climax, and is the most exciting and meaningful part of the story, where everything, all the issues and plot points merge for a final finale that dictates the final victor of an opposing conflict. Though this victory does not have to be absolute, there does have to be some kind of conflict that takes place and a victory, even if it is just a small one. Much like the movie ‘Star Wars,’ a popular Sci-fi that started off as a fiction book written by George Lucas. In the famous climax of the movie, Luke Skywalker blows up the evil empire’s Death Star, a space station capable of destroying an entire planet. Though there is a temporary victory for the rebel forces, the reality is that the empire is vast and powerful, with thousands of planets and governments backing their actions. So in reality, a good climax may be the end of one plot, but only the beginning of another, as the evil empire is certain to seek revenge for Luke blowing up their expensive star station.

Building up to a good climax is about progressing the action, bringing it up one step at a time that keeps the reader on the edge of their seat. The most important aspect of a good climax is assuring that all building pressures that you have been mounting are purged. You don’t want to leave anything unexplained or incomplete. The only exception to that rule is when you want to leave a cliffhanger. Even in this case you want the pressure purged, but perhaps left not fully explained, like an enemy escapes a fight, disappearing into the night.

Daryl Harrison

Creating Direction in Fiction Writing

One of the most exciting things about creating a fiction work is seeing the story unfold to you as the characters and the settings interact in a way that makes a sensible and tangible plot and scenario. Creating a fiction work becomes much more intuitive once you have an in-depth understanding of each player in the story and where they are likely to go. The direction of the plot is what will control the pace of your writing and the interactions of your characters, which is why it is so important to have a good understanding beforehand of where each of your characters were, are, and will be. This will help you to intertwine their stories or even make one event be experienced simultaneously in entirely different ways. This will add a depth and entertainment level to your novel that many writers covet. Creating direction boils down to committing to a path. First you need the compulsion, the instigator that gets all the rest of the parts moving. This plot engine can come in the form of the destruction of a home world for instance, which leads the sole surviving inhabitant seeking revenge in the solar system.

Daryl Harrison

Creating a good direction for each character becomes more interesting when you introduce characters with different motives and alignments. Why would an evil character for instance want to work with a good one? Perhaps they have a common goal with different motivations. This offers depth and makes the world more realistic. It is also a great jumping point for lots of meaningful dialogue between two juxtaposed opinions.

Daryl Harrison is a professional writer who has experienced much success after releasing the book titled, ‘The Waiting Game.’


How to Write a Good Fiction Plot

Writing a fiction novel can be one of the more difficult categories in writing, as it requires a much higher level of creativity in order to be done successfully. Obviously, a good fiction book is all about creating a good plot, one that is convincing while still being magnificent. You want your plot to seem likely or at least possible, but still coated with enough glamour and intrigue that it doesn’t become dull or uninteresting. This is the delicate balance that you have to achieve in order to create a good fiction book and plot. The best plots are those that are driven by a mechanism called Ethos. Ethos is an emotional argument, and all the best stories are just layers and layers of intricate emotions as we evaluate together just what it means to be human. The best book has a plot that uses allegory in order to cover all of the different aspects and ranges of emotions that people deal with while interacting with a universe that they do not fully understand.

Daryl Harrison

A good plot is something that has to be practiced. Another aspect of a plot that is necessary is motive. Any time your characters interact with something, ask yourself why they are doing it, what is compelling them forward. The assumption that your characters will move forward is lazy writing and a plot hole, you need to come up with a good motive, a believable one that is powerful enough to make them do it. One important thing to remember is that you don’t have to make all characters go the same direction. If you think it doesn’t fit a certain character to take part in something, than don’t have them do it! This leads to exciting new developments.

Daryl Harrison is a self-published writer who saw much success with his first novel.


How to Write Fiction - The Plot Arc

   In all fiction, with a few notable exceptions, the story is organized into three parts that rise and fall as the action intensifies and the stakes are raised. Each scene in a typical novel has a beginning middle and end, forming a self-contained story that furthers the readers’ understanding of the character and pushes the overarching story along. The beginning of each scene within a story is the setting of the scene. The beginning answers a few basic questions for the reader while raising a few more to keep the reader turning the page to find out what happens next. The questions that the beginning answers are: who is this character? What is he or she trying to do? Why do we care? There are many answers that the beginning of the story can raise, but the most important is what will happen next? If you, as an author can craft a story that challenges the reader to ask what happens next, you have done your job as a writer.

A typical plot arc follows the characters through their own personal journeys in addition to the plot lines occurring throughout the story. At some point, all of separate scenes that have pushed the characters and the plot along come together to a climax, the height of the plot arc, a time in the story in which the character reaches the point of no return, and his or her actions precipitate good or bad outcomes for themselves.

Daryl Harrison is a master of plot points and plot arcs. His debut novel, The Waiting Game, has sold thousands of digital and print copies nationwide.

Daryl Harrison

How to Write Fiction -Which Way Will They Go?

Compelling fiction is all about creating realistic characters who act in believable but unpredictable ways. Creating this balance between being realistic and unpredictable only comes after you have written several drafts and revised extensively. When you’re crafting your characters and your plot, try to hint at two possible ways a plot arc can go—one way or the other. This will cause uncertainty in your reader, and keep them turning the page. Give your characters a chance to save themselves from potential disaster. Foreshadow certain events whenever you can. This is all impossible until you have a working draft you can comb through to pepper in small indications that a character could tip one way or another. For example, will the main character find the truth about his past or not? What will that past entail? Make it seem as though your main character has a choice between finding the truth and failing to get to his or her destination. Creating this ambiguity takes practice and many drafts to master.

Daryl Harrison is a self-published author who created commercial and critical success for himself with his debut novel, The Waiting Game. Harrison wove together a mystery with a foreboding mood of waiting for doom that pervades the novel. Harrison’s character is a detective waiting for a trial for a crime he didn’t commit. He delves into the facts of his case and reveals a startling truth. Harrison lives in New York and hopes to publish his second novel in a more traditional way.

Daryl Harrison

How to Write Fiction - Plot

The best plots in fiction arise from the characters and their choices throughout a short story or novel. In order for your characters to be compelling, they have to feel strongly about achieving something or avoiding disaster in some way. A classic plotline that has been passed down through the generations of writers since Homer is the journey plot. In The Odyssey and The Aeneid, the heroes embark on epic quests to conquer Troy and return home safely. They have clear objectives, and their choices throughout the story affect where the plotline goes. Characters have to have the potential for change throughout the story, and as they change, they affect the other characters and the overall plotline.

Daryl Harrison

Stories generally have a beginning, middle and end. In the beginning, the characters are introduced, and the stakes for their motivations are made clear. In the middle, the characters encounter obstacles, either through the actions and decisions of other characters such as the antagonist or others, and the main character struggles to reach his or her goal. In the end, the reader sees how the character has changed, and the consequences of their actions are fully revealed.

Daryl Harrison is a relatively new author but his debut novel has all the elements of an excellent read: character development, excellent settings, and realistic but unexpected actions taken by his characters that lead to devastating consequences. He published his book, The Waiting Game, independently to high praise and online book sales. He lives in New York.