Long fiction is long. I wrote it twice because the devil’s in the details, and it deserves emphasis even when the key detail in question is part of the two-word title of the writing style. There are a whole host of challenges that arise when setting out to write novel-length fiction that simply do not apply to shorter types of writing, like flash fiction or traditional poetry, and a good deal of these directly result from the length of the work. There’s a lot to think about when starting a novel - premise, strategy, characters, genre, setting, plot, point of view. Will you have to do research on far-off places, or ancient history, or oddly specific ins-and-outs of the industry you’ve chosen as your character’s occupation? Absolutes are rare in writing, but to the question of whether you’ll need to do some kind of research when writing your novel, the answer is yes. You will. Prepare your mind. 

And while you’re doing that, figure out what kind of writer you are. Before you take that question on an existential three-act mental journey (you have a whole life for that!), just focus right now on whether you’re a Planner, or an ‘As-you-go-er.’ Do you write best when you have a pen in one hand and a detailed map of your made-up world, along with pages and pages of notes on character backstories, gripped tightly in the other? You’re a Planner, my friend. Does the thought of doing all that before starting your story stress you the heck out? Would you rather take that amorphous, definitely-something-but-not-yet-fully-formed idea-nugget in your brain, put it on paper, and work from there? Then the life of an ‘As-you-go-er’ novelist might be for you. One thing that’s extremely helpful for both types of aspiring novelists, however, is outlining. 

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But outlining is planning! And I’m not a planner!’ ...I can already hear the newly-christened ‘As-you-go-ers’ crying out in betrayed anguish. As I said before, there are few absolutes in writing, and who knows? For you, outlining may not be an absolute that you need to get that New York Times Bestseller out of your head and into that headline. But for the rest of us mortals, there is a grand benefit to be gained from sketching out some of the basics of your story before you get started. Where does it take place? What are the main characters’ names? What do you want to happen in the story? Where do the characters start, and where do they end up (in a geographical sense, but also personally/emotionally)? Outlines can be as intricate or simplistic as you want - it’s your book, and only you know what works for you in terms of preparation, but making one is a good way to get you thinking about the details of your novel, and may save you some working-things-out-time down the road as you write your story. 

Interested in trying your hand at writing a book? Look at the presentation made for our club’s meeting on this topic, and then dive in! Remember, you may have what you imagine to be the best novel-nugget of an idea sitting in your brain, but unless you put the work in, nobody will ever see it, and the world will spin on, oblivious to what it might have had. How’s that for motivation? Get writing!