How to Write a Novel: Advice and Tips from a Full-Time Novelist

by Simon Haynes

You want to write your first novel, but you don't know how to begin?You've started several novels, but you never finish them?You've written a novel or two, but you want to increase your output?If you answered YES to any of the above, this book might just be what you're looking for!I'm Simon Haynes, and I've been writing and publishing novels and short fiction for almost twenty years. This guide contains everything I've learned about writing a novel, both as an indie and as a traditionally-published author.Maybe you want to write a novel which has been on your mind for years. You don't care how long it takes, you just want to see it through to the end. Or maybe you see yourself as a career novelist - there's a real challenge - and you want to write books quickly and efficiently.I've done both, and I cover both approaches in How to Write a Novel."Finally, a How-to-Write book that gives you practical advice"

Genres: Nonfiction, Writing, Audiobook, How To

71 pages, Kindle Edition

Published June 21, 2018

About the author

Simon Haynes is the author of the Hal Spacejock, Harriet Walsh and Hal Junior (MG) series. He divides his time between writing fiction and computer software, with the occasional bike ride thrown in for a laugh.

Simon lives in Perth, Western Australia.

Reviews

[Jery Schober · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice, humorous advice without depth. Suitable for beginners looking for a starting point. Not much info on the craft itself, but a nice read.

[Darlene · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was quite informative and not only ways to help write a novel more efficiently, but also great hints on how to use yWriter better.

It is fun to hear Simon Hayes's voice. After reading a lot of his Hal Spacejock stories and enjoying them to the max, it is fun to hear the rhythm of how he speaks matches the cadence of his fiction.

I have written quite a few novels myself, mostly for NaNoWriMo (17?) so I highly recommend Simon's methods to write. I am learning some things from this book, that I wish I could have had in my writing wheelhouse all along. It is a very helpful book.

I plan to buy the Kindle and perhaps paper version too so I can refer back to the books often. I highly recommend this book!

[Steve Alink · Rating 5 out of 5]

A short book on ... well the title says it all. I really like the way Simon went over the subject. True some elements might have been given more depth, but on the other hand there are enough crisp clear tips and tricks for everyone to write a novel. Wether seasoned or not, there is something for you as well.

[Marc Hirsch · Rating 5 out of 5]

Inspiring

I’ve written 3 novels in a series of detective fiction and I’ve been struggling with the 4th. I love writing, but my seat of the pants style has made it exhausting. Simon has offered great methods and attitudes for doing some outlining to move me along with a degree of confidence I have not had.

[Eric Beaty · Rating 5 out of 5]

Finally, a How to Write book that gives you practical advice

At the encouragement of his many devoted fans (including myself), Simon Haynes, creator of the Hal Spacejock series, has finally written a book encouraging those of us who have also been bitten by the writing bug.

Since I first met him during the popular NaNoWriMo competition in 2009 on their forums, Simon has gone on to be an extremely prolific force in the writing world. Year after year, book after book, I found myself wondering what Simon’s “secret sauce “ was.

In this book, Simon finally reveals his strategies to producing a novel on a regular basis. I particularly enjoyed his insights on writing series books, especially since it seems much more practical than the advice from today’s leading Indie authors.

I also loved the way Simon breaks down word counts into manageable, bite-sized chunks, making it much easier to get a bird’s-eye perspective on your novel so as not to feel overwhelmed.

Lastly, Simon’s tips at the end of his book address many of the fears and concerns writers have in their everyday struggle to write—and keep writing.

If you need a book with easy to follow instructions, from a professional, prolific writer of over 20 years experience, Simon Haynes’s book on How to Write a Novel is the book you should start with.

[Docmartn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Listened to the book online (1hr 37min). I thought the author did an excellent job of describing so many of the things beginning writers need to know or understand when wanting to write a novel... or any type of book for that matter. For the size of this book it's packed with a lot of information from a writer's mindset to exercises on how to better manage your projects.

When it comes to tackling tasks I'm a big quant. guy, meaning I believe that "if you can't measure it, you can't manage it." Haynes discusses (what I'm guessing a lot of budding writers rarely think about) metrics... and how to break your book into various steps and sub-steps. If nothing else, the process he describes almost gives you no excuse for knocking out a couple hundred words a day.

As for some of the comments about this book not going deep enough, I have to ask if you actually read the title and/or looked at the length/size of this book?

For people like me who have never written a book this How-To is as great as any place to start. Haynes offers up tons of additional resources on where/how to get more in-depth information.

[Hulda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good book, all the good advice condenced into a short book, like a speed course in writing. I really liked that he added a bit of his own into it too and had advice for all types of writer, plotters, pantsers and hybrids a like for to how to get yourself going. I only wish that he'd had some examples to show and had an in depth subchapters within each chapter for those of us who wanted to go a little deeper in there. His approach is more of the like just do it, just write the shitty first draft and finish it so you have something to edit and then get it better, but there isn't much substance apart from that. There's no real advice on the actual writing, like when you are writing this you can get away with that, or when you get stuck in this type of situation, what's a good way to navigate that in his experience. What I mean is, the book can tell you how to get it done (for the generic population, not if you're neurodivergent or suffering from a psychological disorder, however mild it could be), but no technique to make your writing better except rewriting.

[Katie Robinson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book explains a useful and interesting way to plan and manage the process of writing a novel.

The various techniques were well explained and easy to follow, as well as being adjustable to varying sizes of novel.

There were some good tips for overcoming Writer’s Block, fear of failing, building tension, and picking up the story at the start of each day’s writing. Whether you write with or without an outline there is information to suit both methods.

Simon also explains how to take advantage of his free yWriter software as more than just a word processor. I have been using yWriter for over four years, but this book has shown me how much more useful it can be.

I would recommend this book to anyone who has a story to tell and wants to have it written down, for whatever reason. Even if it’s never going to be read by anyone other than yourself, this book will make it easier to accomplish.

[Shannon · Rating 5 out of 5]

I like this book. It gives useful tips, but it doesn't force you to stick to an overly structured detailed outline. He also doesn't try to upsell you his books. He talks purely on his writing experience without saying when I wrote **insert book title *** or when I did **Insert book title**. He just talks about his experiences writing that book.

It's true I haven't read his other works yet, but I do use his software yWriter. It's free an very easy to understand. He does explain it a little at the end of the book, just to give an idea of how to get started with it, but there's a lot more tools in it that he lists. (and did I mention it was free?) I like that you can easily export chapters/parts to an RTF word document, or even a web-page, or text document. Anyway this isn't about yWriter software. Sorry. This is just a quick helpful guide for someone whose not looking for an in-depth detailed plot structuring book.

[T.A. · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you are a plotter then I suspect you will get much more out of this book than I did. It has some good tips and some good advice on the fears most of us experience.

Unfortunately for me, the majority of the book are focused on outlining, even if only a few lines, and as I quite found out this doesn’t work for me. That doesn’t take away from his advice and if you are a plotter then this book will be very useful.

[Robert · Rating 4 out of 5]

Inspiring

I found this book to be helpful.and inspiring. The simple way he lays out his process makes so much sense. He also gives great advice on multiple ways to handle your own process. Whether you are a panther or a planner this book has great ideas to simplify and control the way you write.

[Gribblet · Rating 5 out of 5]

I got this because I've been using Haynes' YWriter novel software and I'm stuck. It's a no-frills explanation of his writing habits and why he had them and it and helped me get unstuck a bit. Next novel I'm going to try it his way from the get-go. And see what happens. First I have to finish this albatross.

[Anne Harrison · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the best book on writing I've ever read! I Excellent.

I chose this book because when I started to read the synopsis. I with in short read it I knew this book was for me. I Simple, but I logical explanations all the way through. I have will keep this book in my collection,
Thank you fora riveting book.

[Paul Fleming · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thanks - really useful read

Very nice to read the advice given here. Well written and easy to take in.

Some very good points and tips provided which I'll look to follow as I sit myself down and continue my own adventures :)

[Lhay · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short, simple and easy to understand.
It could have been longer because I liked the straight to the point style.

Bonus points for the fact that the audiobook was narrated author himself. I enjoyed the aussie accent.

[Alexander Valdem · Rating 4 out of 5]

Liked it. Good examples and a nice rhythm to the tips and tricks. The book was written like a monologue, and it felt like I was sitting opposite of the author at the kitchen table, dri king coffee and learning.

[Martha · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. Another nice, "there's no one-size-fits-all but let me give you some tips to get you started" book.

[Mike · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quite a useful basic book on outlining, and its advantages. There's some other material, but outlining is definitely the focus.

[Barry Childs · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank You

I am working my way through my first novel and this book offered a refreshing perspective and renewed sense of hope.

[Stan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A practical and straight forward approach to writing.

[Badger · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great for writers who are just starting out add another star to this review.
As a more experienced writer I found it to be refreshing and great to read.

[Letti Ramos · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good read

[Kimberly Thomas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great for anyone who desires to write a book. Gives easy to understand steps in the whole process, while keeping it simple and amusing. Highly recommend!

[Marion Tucker · Rating 5 out of 5]

A helpful guide on novel writing. Great book.

[William · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very good, very basic. Long time fan of yWriter so I knew Simon knows what he's doing.