Five Tips for Writing Your First Novel—Brandon Sanderson

Worst kind of editor is that internal editor

I started and ended my first books first chapter with a monologue of one of the protagonist because it was the only way I could get the Chapter to work, but did not need to do so for its sequel.

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1. Borrow Structure:

Adapt what you like in stories you like and adopt the frame-work to your story. Be adaptive rather than a slave to that structure.

2. Begin with a monologue:

If this character explained themselves to you in five pages what would they say?

3. Ask yourself, What Does My Character Want or Need? What Keeps Them From Getting Those Things?:

Avoid having a character be just an observer.

4. Chose Your Type of Progress:

Always moving in a direction usually forward, sometimes backward. Sign post progress. What type of progress do you want the reader to experience and show that.

5. Prime Your Mind:

Have an empty space where you can think about your writing - driving, dishes, physical work that doesn't require deep thought. Maybe listen to music that shares the mood your trying to describe.

My issue is whatever story I think of has probably/likely already been told and is likely written a lot better

What is he doing with his thumbs

Listening again after 3 years, everything is still relevant. Thanks Brandon.

As to priming your mind, not sure where you're living if you're mowing your lawn in November! But anyway, my favorite way to prime my mind is to look at artwork. Paintings, drawings, photos, even short videos. Sometimes a scene or setting will just spring out and you'll know that's what you needed for your next chapter.

Thank you for this! I'm going to try out this challenge, and perfect timing, because the first of November is in just a few days

I didn't know about National Writing Month what a coincidence it's in November. Let's see if I can write my story in a month.

But like.. Can there be a bad idea vs good idea for you? Like an that you struggle to continue with and turn into a novel and maybe other ideas that come more fluidly are more right for you??? Is that a thing?

Oh my god! What an idea. This was the break through I needed. New novel coming soon.

With all the distractions of todays technology, sometimes it´s difficult to focus on the screen while avoiding movies, series, videos, cellphone, social media, etc.

I´ve been asked from a publisher to send them a twenty pages intro of what I´m doing and I simply can´t. I usually work chapter by chapter, but lately I can´t do it.

Anyways.. thanks for the tips!

I've had a novel idea for a while and everytime i try to write it I freeze and everything falls out of my brain and I get blocked and upset. Idk the more this happens the more writing a big novel scares me

The words "write a book in a month" make George RR Martin break into a cold sweat

I watched a series few weeks and l was really inspired by it is it okay to write a novel based on this series ( l am just taking like power points or like l am taking notes from thus series)

Holy shit

Im going to try, but im gonna make a Novel that brings my inner Dreams, a Glorious story & most of all, a tale like no other.

I wrote mine in 2 months and a half or so... arround 53 thousand words

Bro said slightly longer as if Way of Kings is not 1,200 pages 💀

I, m an otr driver as well, and I am about to revise my book THE FIRST HORSE PEOPLE the complete history of my ancient tribe the Sarmatian knights and the Amazon women and the Slavs. I found quite a bit of ancient history to add. Our history goes back to where we first domesticated horses 5000 years ago and all the episodes of history during the 5000 years. Each episode I will turn into a complete epic scene. What's easy about writing the history is all about freedom for the tribe, as the Chinese Greek Persian and Roman empires are expanding. The Sarmatians and horse people of the Steppes actually outnumber all 4 empires at the beginning of their expansion, and the reason their are so many Slavs in Eastern Europe. Also What's easy is telling the history is taking place in each episode. Also What's great about this history, where as in the English history is all about constant warfare with all these invading tribes showing up. For the Slavs and Sarmatians, the Sarmatians never came to conguer, they would just follow their herds on migration passing the Slavic settled farmers, but the Sarmatians knights and Amazon women were the warrior heros who always came riding in with their herds to defend all Slavic lands. This is how we became allies and eventually merged into one tribe.

Listened to parts of "Way of Kings" before- really cool!
Working on one- using the "journal mode" and (basically) transposing the genre (in my case, "what if 'Mystwick School of Musicraft' (Jessica Khoury) were real?"- as if IRL, based on that and Brian & Leeann Adams' show "Ruby and the Well", besides real life)

Im 15 and an underwriter but I just have this story that I want to so badly turn into a book. Although I'm definitely not getting it done anytime soon with my first ever board exams approaching but I'm not letting this go, I know for sure.

Who are you?

Damn... Armageddon is a heist movie...😂

So helpful, many thanks.

I have very little trouble writing future scenes. Project yourself into the next scene then invent a believable means to have arrived at it. If you are on floating islands create teleportals or a rope system. The younger adventurers might be afraid of heights while a winged creature can fly not breaking a sweat.

Let’s go, Brandon!!!

There are so many videos on tips to help with writing. I don't need help with writing. I've written 5 books, including two that are over 800 pages long. What I need help with is promoting and selling my books. I sold about 5,000 copies right out of the gate and then sales totally died off. I've heard that book publishers don't really do much as far as promoting. It seems like they just take a cut of your royalties and that's it. Are there any good videos on how to sell these things?

I have never seemed to get further than a novella. Yea sure, you may get an entire novel out in a month, but how much % of thoes 50.000 words is keeping the story afloat, and what would be baking it boring to read, this is one thing to consider whrn editing youre first draft. I had a novella that turned to a novelet during editing.

One time I challenged myself to write 10,000 words in a day just to see if I could do it, just to get the bare bones of the story out.
I did it.
Now I want to speed run NaNoWriMo.

Here's something to avoid: /describes the structure of The Great Gatsby/

This guy is awesome! Such constructive advice, Brandon, thank you!!

Looking at 50,000 words ive been working on for two years like.....ahhh crap im the slow writer. haha

These 5 tips have literally given me more help and information than the last 50 writing videos I have watched by other people. This is going to be a total game-changer. I'm just starting a Star Wars fan-fiction project and intend to ACTUALLY finish it, (I have a looong history of abandoning projects LOL). Thanks soooo much. <3

Writing a novel is not that hard. In facts, it may take a few months to reach the goals that you're planed and have enough time schedule, some said they took years to achieve. However, many writers usually struggle when they need to increase more view and subscribe on social media after finished writing book. If you just write it for fun and not rely on the publisher, that's ok. You're just work harder to create more story based on your desire.

thanks man, good advice

With this advice from my favourite author, Peter Griffin, I think I'm gonna take a leap forward and go ahead with my ideas for a novella.

DON'T.

Thank you. I have learned more about writing in just one of your lectures than I have in all these years of self-taught research! I'm hooked on your lectures!

Well said. Thank you for that. It's amazing.

Did he just forget about the scourge of the shire? Bastard!

Thank you for this video!

Can you get GRRM to do this with The Winds of Winter please? 😅😂

When he said heist novel I instantly thought of mistborn

As a new writer, I had already incorporated all of your tips into my writing without even knowing. It felt like a pretty natural, logical way of starting.

I do in fact step away for awhile and do some 3D modeling of my characters, in my mind I build backstories for them as I'm doing it. Or I do some coding for awhile, still thinking about the story. When I get back to writing, I have so many new ideas, it enhances everything. Act 1 of my novel, first draft, is already at 90k words. And overall it's just 1/5th of the entire novel in scope, and it's probably going to end up about 300k words overall, for the first book.