After the Idea by Jess Lourey (PDF)

After the Idea

by Jess Lourey

(PDF)

"I’ve got a great idea for a novel—it’s a heart-pounding adventure and the main character is young, she’s on a mirror planet where she possesses magical powers, and she’s a hamster."
 

This is a snippet from a conversation I had with a guest at a recent book signing. As our chat continued, it became clear that he was passionate about his hamster adventure and had devoted many brain-hours to fleshing it out. “How far along is it?” I asked.
 

“What?” “Your novel,” I said. “How many pages have you typed?” “Oh, I’m no writer, as much as I’d like to be. I just come up with the ideas. That’s the hard part, right?” While there are a lot of things wrong with this conversation (start with “hamster adventure” and work your way to “That’s the hard part, right?”), the one that stuck with me was this: “I’m no writer.” This fellow was so juiced about his concept that he shared it with perfect strangers, yet he had no idea how to translate it into a novel.

 

I can’t tell you how many people just like him I’ve encountered on book tours and in my classroom. These are people who dream of turning their unique idea into a book but are too intimidated by the process to take that first step. Or, they start writing and soon become overwhelmed and demoralized. I’m here with some good news: Writing a novel is a process you can navigate. I’ve created a writing pyramid that illustrates how to plot your path, guiding you from a crucial one-sentence summary of your book (the base of the pyramid) to progressively higher levels until you’ve created a finished manuscript. I’ve used this approach to develop my critically acclaimed six-novel Murderby-Month mystery series from Midnight Ink, so I know it works. 

 

If you’ve got a great idea and you’re ready to turn that spark into a fullfledged novel, all you have to do is carve out some time and follow these seven straightforward steps.

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