Anybody Can Write a Novel

Constructive Reading

Nobody will ever be born with the innate ability to write a novel. This may seem like a silly statement on its face, but there is a misconception on how writing skill is developed that stems from what a novel is. It is a story, yes, but so is a movie, or a comic, or even a poem. Even in the implausible case where one was born with the innate ability to weave a story together like nobody ever could, that would still not mean that they could write a novel until they learned how. In the same way that someone can be born with natural athleticism, they still would have to take time to learn how to maneuver a bicycle. A novel is a specific kind of story—a literary machination with form that comes from an old and yet ever-evolving tradition. It is not a free-form expression of literary prowess where you can just vomit seeds of creativity on the page, for it to grow like roses into a garden of ideas.

Thus, learning to write for yourself necessarily means learning to write from others, so that you can learn the tradition and style of the form. You may argue that you have your own style of novel writing, which we all certainly do have. Yet, even within a style completely your own, you still must fall into some kind of convention for it to be a novel—even if that is simply begining, middle, and end.

This is perhaps most easily explained through something I have learned at an amateur level, martial arts. Within the many styles of martial arts, there are powerful moves unique to each—whether it be footwork, punching, blocking, kicking, or the countless weapon styles among them. None is objectively perfect, nor does any reach the maximum of human potential. This is because every person is different, physically as much as mentally. A style optimized for one body type may end up relatively ineffective to someone of another body type. Yet even if you are the only one who practices your style, it still falls within the overarching categorization of a martial art so long as it accomplishes the same goals in a similar way. So long that it consists of strikes or grapples or dodges, or some way to maximize your efforts at defending or attacking in combat.

Should you choose to divert from this basic structure and all the tradition of martial arts that came before, well then you are doing something entirely different—whether that be a dance, gun training, or something else adjacent to the skill you wished to recreate. However, should a martial artist wish to create their own style for ultimate personal power or self-expression, the simple truth is that they will do a better and more efficient job by not reinventing the wheel. More than that, the most power will likely be gained by drawing from an intimate knowledge of other styles within the same art.

Like in a martial art, writing a novel means accomplishing a set of specific goals within a specific methodology—while also developing a style that maximizes your strengths and interests while minimizing your weaknesses and disinterests. Unfortunately, there is no magical secret to finding your own writing voice and then translating it to the page; there is no ultimate and universal writing style, and no ultimate guide. In my experience, you achieve mastery by learning from others and then practicing for yourself. You read the works of successful authors, the works of crappy authors, and the works of most of us in the middle. You pick out what you like from those and pinpoint what you dislike. You let others critique your work, and you write on your own in order to figure out what works and doesn't work for you. From that, you eventually develop an ultimate writing style of your own.

So ultimately, the development of a personal style comes from two things—writing and reading. Here, we will talk about a method for doing the latter in the most effective way.

Begin by reading a story that you love and allow yourself to be immersed in the story.

The first time you read a book, you should focus on it as a whole—not a summation of parts. Just read for pleasure and enjoy the power of the story. While you are reading, you can note which passages, actions, and characters have the greatest impact on you. Make little notes or highlight sections that significantly shape your ideas about the story. If you hit a part that heavily triggers your emotion, mark it for later. If you find a part where you find yourself bored, tricked, or irritated, mark that down too.