writing help: Novel help? - Help.com

Dude i am in exactly your position!! i just started writing it after years of promising myself i would. unfortunately i’ve also been looking for help with regards to publishing, agents etc.. but everything on the web just seems to be sites wanting to take your money. even the forums are all paid for bull that no self respecting penniless wannabe author would sign up for. so if YOU find anything please tell me!!! but i would start writing now cos i’ve been at it for over a weeek now and i haven’t even got 1000 words down. but what i’ve got is dynamite!! keep me posted please.

DON’T give anyone money.
What you do is look for books similiar to what you write, then look up the publishing company and see if they accept unsolicited manuscripts (meaning you don’t have an agent, which can be expensive). Then you send out a ton of copies and count the rejection letters because NO ONE gets published quickly. J. K. Rowling got rejected dozens and dozens of times. More advice to follow! :)

Almost no companies accept unfinished manuscripts, and besides, you may wish to change things, so finish writing first. As for the actual writing, different methods work for different people. Some people like outlining, some people like freewriting. Personally, I hate outlining. Experiment to figure out what your style is.
As for length, you should write until it’s done, but try to push it past a couple hundred pages, because those have a better chance of being published.
A note about agents. With them as well, you need to be finished writing before you send them your manuscript. They can help a lot with the process, but are expensive, like I said, and if you can’t afford it and you’re willing to work a little harder, you can do it yourself.
Don’t self-publish. You have to pay for it yourself, and not only is that expensive, but it may not reach as many readers.
How often should you write? That depends. As often as you want and have time for, as long as it doesn’t interfere with the other parts of your life. No writing when you should be doing homework. :) Honestly, I don’t think it matters. Some people say you should write everyday for a set period of time, but that doesn’t work for me, so I don’t.
By the way, it may be harder to get published if you’re in your teens. But it may not, if the publishing company you’re sending to doesn’t care, if they just care you’re a good writer. Also you may be able to take advantage of certain publishers who publish teen. There’s one in Canada called Kids Can Press, and they may publish teen work too. You may be able to find something like that near you. Eithor way, be sure and tell your parents that you’re trying to get published. I’m not sure about this, but I think because you’re underage you may need their permission to sign a contract. And they may wish to hire a lawyer to make sure you’re getting a fair dear.
When you’re finished, you should get someone else to read it, just to get an unbiased view of it.
One last thing, just to clear it up. You don’t hire an editor. Editors work at the publishing companies. But when you send a manuscript out, you should know who you’re sending it to and be sure to spell their name correctly. Some editors won’t even look at manuscripts where they’re names are mispelled. And since each company is different, you should check out their website to see their guidelines. Some want one chapter, some want three, some want the word count, some don’t do. Doing a little research will be highly beneficial to you.
Hope this helps and good luck! Happy writing.

I self-published back in ‘97. Writing the novel itself took me nine years, so I understand how you guys feel. Mine didn’t sell (the tv upstairs is sitting on boxes of the **** thing), but I have no regrets. Learned a few things. One was to send out bound galleys to reviewers who have influence on what libraries purchase. Two, that the publishing industry is a hard nut to crack. Many publishers won’t look at a work unless you have an agent, and most agents won’t look at a work if you haven’t been published. Three, that if I set my mind to it I could do it, and I did. You can too.

Mine had an ensemble cast, so I had an extensive outline with notes. By the way, when I say I self-published, I mean for a short time I became a publishing company in my spare time. I didn’t shell out an outrageous amount of money to a “vanity publisher”. These days, self-publishing is becoming more common. Even authors who have had publishers in the past are now self-publishing because the typical publishing-industry deal leaves such a small percentage of the profit for the writer. Also, when I did it, the cost per book was very high if you didn’t print thousands. Nowadays digital printing has evolved to the point that it rivals offset printing in quality, and you can print one (1) novel for about the same per book as you can print a thousand.

But here I am being a hypocrite. I stopped writing recently because of people’s opinions. I should take my own advice.. Just write!

i know how you feel. i’m in the same position as you. i really don’t have a clue what to tell you. i haven’t quite figured it out myself. if however you do figure it out. please tell me.

I do have one thing to tell you and that is never belive what you read on the internet about ‘how to write a novel’. every author has a different technique and it is up to you to find out what yours is.
When you write your book i’ll gladly read it. =) good luck. alos try out Webook.com it’s a site where u write and have people comment on it and tell you how to improve your writing.