• By Carolyn Anderson
• Published 03/17/2011
• Fiction

You may think that some people are just born to be great writers, but even great writers find it challenging to write novels. In fact, they may have faced several failures before they became bestselling writers and authors. Of course, the thing is, you have to start writing a novel to become a novelist and not let negative thoughts overpower your passion. Of course, if you don’t start to write, you can never become a writer, thus if you want to become one, start writing a novel today. Here are some of the first few steps that may help you start right. 1. Find a place that is free from distraction. Writing needs focus and concentration and you can do that by finding a good place where you can organize your thoughts and start writing. Writing is like meditating where you are putting yourself in a different fictional world where you make up the story, you make the events and you make things happen. 2. Start writing.

You don’t have to master the thesaurus or learn half of the words in the dictionary to be able to start writing. You just need your pen or paper or get into your computer and write away. You can even write on your phone while waiting for your doctor, or while waiting for somebody in the coffee shop – wherever you are, if some brilliant idea hits you, you can put them down into writing and it can be a start of a story. Keep in mind that writing can just flow naturally once you have started to keep distraction

s away and just start writing down ideas flowing on your mind. 3. Set a schedule to write and make it something regular. One of the hindrances of writing is that, sometimes you just feel like writing and in some other times, you are just too lazy to do it. However, you don’t have to wait for that adrenaline to kick in. You can actually make it a habit by making it a regular thing. Write a few minutes or an hour each day at a time with lesser distractions and you will find it a great habit to continue writing your novel the same time each day until you finish it. 4. Learn ideas from great writers and learn techniques as well. Although this may not be a requirement, it will also help you get motivated especially if you have read a work of a bestselling writer and you want to write as good as him, it can give you an extra push and of course it will give you ideas and techniques on how to develop your character and your plot as well. 5. Reject negative thoughts.

One of the biggest hindrances of many budding writers is negative thinking and thoughts that come to their minds telling them their work is not good enough or it is not appealing or it is a total garbage. Don’t let your mind hinder you. Don’t let it distract you either. Just write and write and you can always revise later. You can ask other people’s opinion when you are revising so you can polish your work as well. Indeed, to help you start writing a novel, start with the right mindset and with positive thoughts as well and you will find it easier to write the next time around.