Grow your novel organically

There’s a lovely description of the development of a novel on the Literature and Latte Blog, in the post A brief history of Scrivener: Part 2 -

When you begin the work on a book – mentally, before anything goes down on paper – you have a lot of ideas, I find, that you know are something to do with the book, which don’t seem to relate to each other. You may find a location that seems of interest – or a name may pop into your head – or a phrase. It is important to capture these insights. I carry small notebooks, which I can easily tear pages from; or I carry 3 x 5 inch index cards. I try to put down every insight, every glimpse of what this book will be, even if it’s only a word.

Try this organic way of growing your novel. Because you’re harvesting your subconscious mind, you’ll find that your novel has power and resonance: you’re writing from yourself. This is a pain-free way of developing a novel. Although all the snippets may make no sense to your conscious mind, you’ll find that eventually you’ve developed a cast of characters, an intriguing situation, and a plot. The novel will almost write itself.

Re Scrivener, if you read my writing blog, you’ll know that I’m enraptured with Scrivener, a new (to me) writing tool. If you’re a Mac user and you write, you’ll love Scrivener. I can’t recommend it highly enough.

Disclosure: I have no connection with Scrivener or its developer, it’s just a tool I use, and find wonderful for writing.

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