Melissa Charles author

So, back in this post, I said I’d boiled down my writing process into three points when drafting a new novel: inspiration, outline, and characters.

For me, everything starts with an idea. This can be something from a headline, a day dream, a bit of conversation overheard while waiting in line at the grocery store. Inspiration comes from all over, and in the most unexpected places. I wrote an upper middle grade novel that was inspired by one of the Minions telling another kid that they weren’t welcome to play at our house because the other kid was probably possessed.

Yes, that actually happened. Both my kid saying it and me writing a whole novel from that inspiration.

Another novel came from a nightmare I’d had. (Fun fact: I always know when I have taken too long a break from writing because I start having incredibly vivid nightmares. Writing is self defence.)

How do you know if the idea is good for a novel? Personally, I start writing it. It either happens or it doesn’t. If the story dies, I save it and move on. I never delete old work. Yep, even big edits go under another file name, just in case I end up needing a scene from a previous version.

Which means I should probably invest in several external hard drives, because sooner or later I’m going to run out of room.

“What about genre?” I hear some of you cry.

I usually have a vague idea as to what genre the novel is in. That being said, I’m notoriously bad about genre blending. The novel I originally planned to be a straight up YA horror ended up being a speculative fiction with romantic and horror elements.

I originally planned for my current WIP (Work In Progress) to be a cosy mystery with paranormal and romantic elements. It’s morphed into a paranormal mystery, with a whiff of romance.

Be flexible with your ideas, is my best advice. Sometimes things change while writing, or with feedback and editing. Figuring out what to change and what to keep is definitely part of the learning process on becoming an author.

Up next: Outline