I have a work friend who was given a creative writing course for Christmas and she’s so happy to get back into writing, and to finally try to write a novel. She used to love writing at school, but then got out of the habit. So sometimes she asks me how I did it. And apart from how crazy it seems to me that anyone would ask my advice on anything, I thought that I’d try and share what (very little) I’ve learned with anyone who also wants to write.

So how did I write a novel?

And there’s no easy way to answer that except to say, I just tried and eventually it worked. Fear held me back for a long time. Fear that what I was writing wasn’t good enough to submit professionally, and that getting something published would be too hard. Guess what? I’m an idiot. I could have been publishing books for way longer than four years if I’d only worked up the courage to submit one to a publisher earlier. Because what exactly do you have to lose by trying? Nothing at all.

My work friend asked me do I think it matters if you start writing and don’t know what’s going on in your own story?

Hell, no. Some people are plotters, and some are pantsers. I fall very firmly into the pantser camp.
For years and years I wanted to write a novel. I bought all the How To books. I did all the graphs and worksheets. I tried to actually plot.

Because nobody told me it was okay to pants the hell out of that thing. That it doesn’t matter what method you use to get to the end, as long as you get there. If you plot tightly, you will have a better first draft than a pantser, probably, and will need to do less heavy lifting when it comes to editing. But that doesn’t mean there is any right and wrong way to write a story. Whatever way works for you is the right way.

Is your first draft shit? Too many plot holes? Doesn’t matter. That’s what second drafts are for, and third drafts, and beta readers, and editing.

A few years ago, because I couldn’t plan, I didn’t write.
And now… Now I write.

I don’t plan much. Or at least, I don’t plan on paper because that doesn’t work for me. And maybe it doesn’t work for you either, or maybe you have index cards and timelines and spreadsheets. If you do, I will always be in awe of you because that is truly incredible to me. But if you don’t, it’s not a deal breaker. Welcome to the crazy life of a pantser!

My friend also asked me if sometimes I ever think my stories suck.

Absolutely! All the time! Ask any writer. Most of us are our own worst critics. Which is healthy, because thinking you can always do better makes you strive to improve. The trick is not to let that fear cripple you. You need to let people read your draft. You need to listen to their feedback. It makes you aware of some of the errors you might be making. It also makes you realise that your writing is not you. Criticism of your story is not criticism of you as a person. And the sooner you realise that, the sooner you’ll be free to go and make all the mistakes you can make on the road to learning to write. What you write first won’t be perfect. Nothing is perfect. But it will be better than you think, I promise.

There is no course you can take or book you can read that will tell you how to become a writer. What happens is that you’re a reader first. So read a lot. Read as many books by as many authors in as many genres as you can. And then write your own.

It really is that simple. And maybe the first book you write won’t be great, but guess what? The cool thing about writing is that it only makes you want to write more.

And the more you do it, the better you get.

And the more you do it, the quicker you’ll find the way that works for you.

There’s no proper way to write a novel. However you get there is the right way.