Each time I teach “Structuring a Novel with Good Bones,” I learn again how difficult it is to condense the process into six hours and how exhilarating it is to step back and examine the entire process.

At day’s end, it seemed as though I’d climbed a mountain where (for a day) I could look down at the forest and take note of the trees. My aerial view of writing a novel is below for those who appreciate concise road maps. Note the word ‘my.’ There are as many methods and belief systems as there are writers: this one’s mine.

Overarching Hints of Huge Importance (to me)

Slay the reader over your shoulder. (Everyone thinks it’s you anyway: give it up.)

Let it rip without reservation during your first draft.

Be as hard on yourself as possible when revising

Read, read, and read some more, and with a critical eye

Built a great research library (and I advise print books.)

Timeline to get from the first page to the last

1. Find your story. Find your pivotal character/s.
2. Write an overview of your story (only a page or two) . Find the ‘what if’ that you’re exploring.
3. Start a character list; using as much or as little information as you feel is important at this stage. (Name your characters with care. (Don’t repeat the first letters; change the rhythm.)
4. Chart your characters’ connections to each other.
5. Capture scenes you will/can/might include: one scene per index card and then order them chronologically.
6. Outline the story’s spine, going as far into the cascading events as you can imagine. (Some see to the end right from the start, others do not.)
7. Write your first draft. Try to work from beginning to end without stopping, but it’s not always possible.

(Let your manuscript cool for at least six to eight weeks. Then repeat numbers 8 through 13 below until satisfied with the novel)

8. Read the entire book (on paper!) from page 1 to the end.
9. Again, outline: What will be kept? What do you plan for revisions?
10. Revise for the large picture (Does the story work?)
11. Read aloud (text-to-voice software is super-useful.)
12.  Revise to improve writing.
13. Revise for every possible detail and then read aloud again.

Rinse and repeat as many times as needed until you feel the ‘it’s right’ in your soul.