How to start writing fiction: habits, short stories and finishing a first draft

TUREFF• •0

Many people want to write a novel and never finish a page. The obstacle is rarely a lack of ideas. It is usually the lack of a routine, a project small enough to complete, and permission to write badly at first. Here is a practical way to begin.

Build a small daily habit

Consistency beats bursts of inspiration. Pick a time and a modest target you can hit even on a bad day, such as twenty minutes or a few hundred words. Writing most days keeps the story alive in your head, so you spend less time remembering where you were.

Protect the time: same slot, phone in another room.
Track your sessions on a calendar; a visible streak is motivating.
If you are stuck, write anyway. Describe the room your character is in, or write the scene you are avoiding badly, on purpose.

Read like a writer

Read widely in the genre you want to write, and also outside it. When a passage works, stop and ask why. How did the author reveal a character, build tension or move through time? Copying out a paragraph you admire, purely as an exercise, is an old way of feeling how good prose is put together.

Start with short stories

A novel can take years, and you learn most from finishing. Short stories let you complete a full arc, beginning, middle and end, many times over and try different voices and genres. Flash fiction, stories of around a thousand words or fewer, is even quicker practice. A simple short story often needs only:

A character who wants something.
Something in the way.
A change by the end, in the situation or in the character.

Choose a point of view deliberately

Point of view decides whose eyes the reader looks through, and it shapes everything.

First person ("I opened the door") feels intimate, but the reader only knows what the narrator knows.
Third person limited ("She opened the door") stays close to one character at a time while giving you a little more distance. It is common in contemporary fiction.
Third person omniscient can move between minds and comment on events, but it is harder to control.
Second person ("You open the door") is rare and striking; it suits some short pieces.

Whichever you choose, be consistent within a scene. Slipping into another character's thoughts mid-scene, often called head-hopping, confuses readers.

Showing and telling: use both

"Show, don't tell" is common advice, and it has a point. "He was nervous" tells; "He checked his phone for the third time in a minute" shows, and lets the reader draw the conclusion. Showing makes key moments vivid. But telling is not a mistake. Summary moves the story through time ("Three weeks passed"), covers routine events quickly and keeps the pace up. A story that shows everything becomes slow and bloated. A useful rule of thumb: show the moments that matter emotionally, and tell the connecting tissue.

Write dialogue that does work

Good dialogue reveals character and moves the plot. Real conversation is full of "um" and small talk; fictional dialogue keeps the flavour and drops the padding. "Said" is usually the best dialogue tag because readers barely notice it. Reading your dialogue aloud quickly shows whether it sounds like people.

Finish the draft

The single most useful thing a new writer can do is finish. First drafts are supposed to be rough.

Do not polish chapter one endlessly. Keep moving forward and make notes for changes later.
If you get a better idea halfway through, write a note and carry on as if you had already made the change.
Leave gaps. Writing "[fight scene here]" is fine in a first draft.

When it is done, put it away for a while before revising. You will see its problems far more clearly with fresh eyes.

Getting feedback

Writing groups, online communities and trusted readers can tell you where they were confused or bored. Listen to the reactions more than the proposed fixes; readers are good at spotting problems and less reliable at solving them. Be generous with others' work too, as critiquing teaches you a great deal. What are you working on, and what keeps you from finishing? Share your progress or questions in the comments below.