From Plot Bunny to Bestseller: How to Write Your First Novel in Six Easy Steps

By Chelsea Hindle

You’re sitting at your computer, completely stuck. Your mind is empty, your fingers frozen to the keyboard. Most infuriatingly of all, that cursor is blinking on a blank page. You're getting nowhere.

And then, out of nowhere, it hits you. That dreaded creature, the name of which makes every writer cower in fear.

The plot bunny.

And before you know it, you're abandoning your writing to project to chase this bunny.

So begins a vicious cycle that too many writers, young and old alike, fall into. We begin a novel, hit a roadblock, then chase a bunny. Begin a novel, hit a roadblock, chase a bunny. Repeat ad nauseam.

Obviously, this raises a host of questions. How do we keep ourselves from chasing every random plot bunny that catches our attention? How do we keep ourselves on the straight and narrow, ignoring the distraction of shiny new ideas? And, most importantly, how do we actually finish a novel?

Well, never fear, because today we're going to be going through the process with you.  We'll talk about how to take a novel from plot bunny to bestseller in six easy steps. We'll also give you a guide for battling distractions and discouragement. But where do we start? Let's start with the most obvious (and one of the most difficult) steps: choose your idea.

Pick Your Plot Bunny

This is hard. Sometimes it can feel impossible, but unfortunately, it’s completely necessary. If you want to dedicate yourself to a novel, you need to first choose which novel it's going to be.

For some people, there are only two or three story seeds to pick from. In this case, mull over your ideas for a couple of hours, or a few days, and see which one excites you most.

Or you might be in the blessed camp where you don't have to choose at all. Either you've only got one idea, or one of your ideas outshines all the others. Either way, you've got your story seed ready to plant and water and watch grow.

However, for most of us, we have dozens of half-baked ideas, bouncing around our brains like old DVD logos. In these cases, we have to grab our gold panning equipment and begin sieving. We'll have to sieve through a mixture of muddy water, rocks, fool’s gold, and proper gold. We may end up with a few duds to begin with, but sooner or later we'll strike gold.

So, what are the hallmarks of a good idea? In reality, these change from author to author, idea to idea, but here are a few things to ask yourself:

 Obviously, you can answer yes or no to any of these questions and you can choose whichever idea you like. But these are some of the questions that I ask myself when choosing my next project. It's important when choosing a new project to make sure it's one you'll be passionate about, and I try to keep that in mind.

Stew Your Plot Bunny

Once you’ve picked your idea, it’s time to stew it for a bit. Some authors may like to do this step at the same time as the last step, stewing on a few ideas until one clicks. Other authors prefer to choose a skeleton of an idea and expand on it later. Whatever works best for you is the best way to go. Either way, this step involves thinking about your story and what it will entail.

Do you like to plan with your conscious, or your subconscious? Some writers like to sit down with a pen and paper and think out their story. They may spend time naming characters or worldbuilding, writing it all down. Other writers like to do it more naturally. They allow the story to simmer on the back burner of their mind, allowing details to come to them as they will.

Again, nobody can tell you which is the best way. It's up to you to decide! I like to do this step more subconsciously, and while I'm working on another project. I grasp at a few details, a character name here, a plot twist there, the occasional bit of worldbuilding. Sometimes I'll write vague things on sticky notes to prompt my notoriously bad memory.

Okay, you may say, but what sort of things should I be thinking about? Again, it's up to you as the author of this story, but here's a few prompts to get you started:

If Pinterest boards are your thing for brainstorming, start a new board! If you like corkboards and sticky notes, go crazy! There's no right or wrong way to brainstorm, this step is about you discovering the details of your story.

Begin To Flesh Out Your Story

This is when things get really fun! Now you get to sit down and start to put flesh on your bare story bones. Put names to vague characters, work out a few plot points, start on your worldbuilding. Again, this is a step that every author approaches differently. Plotters might spend months, or even years, on this stage, working everything out in detail. Pantsers might spend a few weeks, or a day or two, throwing together a few plot points and then jumping to.

In essence, the idea is to get to know your novel in intimate detail, whatever that looks like to you. Get to know who your characters are, what they want in life, and how they plan to get it. Think about your setting and how that will affect your story. Modern-day New York is completely different to 19th Century Australia. A small village in Wales is completely different to an enormous city like Tokyo.

Think about your theme and what you want to tell your reader. Is it a story about redemption, hope, revenge? How do your character arcs tie into the theme?

Decide what details you want to know before starting. Do you want a handful of character names and a wisp of an idea? Or do you want a 20,000-word plot outline and 100 pages of worldbuilding details? Spend as long as you want on this step, and don’t move on until you feel comfortable and ready to tackle the novel.

You can also spend some time researching the opinions of more experienced writers! See what Brandon Sanderson, V.E. Schwab, Tolkien, and Nadine Brandes say about their process. Test out some of their methods and see if anything clicks with you. But don't take their opinions as Word of God, even successful authors don't know everything. There is no "right way" to write, so don't let anyone tell you there is.

Start Writing!

 Finally, the moment you’ve been waiting for! It’s time to start writing! For some writers, this is a moment of utmost euphoria—the starting lines are your favorite lines! You live off the thrill of getting to know a new cast of characters and diving into a new plot. For other writers, like me, this is a time of utmost stress. Starting new stories is hard, guys.  Fortunately, there are ways to dive into the drafting process without overwhelming yourself. Let's take a look.

Whether you love writing the first words or dread the process, the first step is to pace yourself. Writing a novel isn't the 100m sprint, it's a 42km marathon. If you burn yourself out on the first lap, you're never going to have the motivation to finish your novel. So take things slow. If you'd like, you can set a daily goal, such as 500 words, or 1,000 words. Try to hit your goal every day, but don't overdo it. If your goal is becoming too much, lower it by a few hundred words.

My second suggestion is to clear your schedule and make yourself comfortable. Get rid of all the distractions that you're able to. Turn off the WiFi and open up your laptop. Try to focus on your writing as much as possible.

Finally, make yourself want to write. What gets you into the writing mood? Some scented candles, or an essential oils diffuser? A specific room or chair? A cup of tea or coffee and a chocolate biscuit? Put on a playlist if you like music, or find a quiet space if you like silence. Do whatever signals to your brain that now is the time for writing.

In this vein, I also find it helpful to leave scenes unfinished. It's fulfilling to finish a scene or chapter at the end of each session, but it can also be unhelpful. I often find when I return to writing the next day that the cursor is blinking at me and the page is blank. Whereas, when I leave a scene unfinished and return to it next session, I have an immediate starting point. There's no reason to hesitate, staring at that horrible white Word document.

But once you've started writing...well, then what?

Just Keep Swimming, Swimming, Swimming

As I draft this, I’m listening to a podcast about sharks. Did you know that sharks need to swim constantly to stay alive? Sharks draw oxygen from the water and need to keep water flowing over their gills, or else they die.

In some ways, authors are like sharks. If we want to get to the coveted end of our novel, we have to keep swimming, and consistency is key here. A lot of writing self-help books suggest writing every day, and this is great advice, but also not a necessity. Writing every day without giving yourself time for rest often leads to burnout. Despite this, I do recommend you write regularly. It's extremely difficult to finish a novel without consistent and regular work. So here are some tips to set aside consistent writing time and keep swimming!

Celebrate!

Congratulations, you've done it! You've finished your first draft and you're well on your way to becoming a bestselling author. But what comes now? Well, of course, you celebrate your win! Take some time off. Tell your friends and family about your achievement, buy yourself a tub of ice cream and watch a great movie. Relax. You've earned it, and you've made it further than most people who say "I want to write a book" ever do.

Some Ideas for Celebrating Your Win:

First drafts are hard to write, especially if you've never managed to finish one before. But you've done it. You said you wanted to write a book and now you've got a completed manuscript sitting in your File Explorer. It may not be very good, but that's ok. Good first drafts are impossible to write, so don't beat yourself up over it.

But obviously, there's still a fair way to go before you become a bestseller. So what's next? While we don't have time to go into detail about editing and marketing, I'll give you a brief overview of the next steps.

What Now?

You want your book published. You've got your first draft written and the email address of a handful of publishers. So what now? Send a copy of your first draft to your favorite publisher and sit back to await the accolades?

Unfortunately, no (but that's the dream, isn't it?). In reality, the first draft is only the beginning of the publishing process, there's lots more to come! So how do you become a bestseller? Well, let's take a look.

 There's a lot of research included in this step, but it's well worth it in the end. It is a lot of hard work, but at the end of the road, you'll be holding a published novel in your hands.

Well, I hope this beginner’s guide to writing your first novel was helpful! Before I go, and before you return to your current plot bunny, I want to leave you with a takeaway piece of advice. The key to writing lies in two words, persistence and consistency. You have to be persistent to write a novel, consistently getting back up when you’re knocked down, persistently working through the roadblocks that pop up in your path. You also have to be consistent, working on your novel regularly, researching regularly, committing time to improve your craft. No novel can be written without the application of these two things.

So, go forth and write! Conquer that first draft, defeat the plot bunnies, and write the story that’s been on your heart! What are your go-to tips for writing your first draft? How do you like to celebrate a writing milestone?