Fiction books are some of the most lucrative types of books today. They are based on make-believe stories that writers create in their heads and bring to life through the written word. You may be wondering how to write fiction books and become of those who create imaginary worlds and get others to see them through words. Here are steps on how to write fiction books.
Learn How to Write Fiction Books
Fiction books are very different from historical texts and other non-fiction texts. Fiction is literature and it involves creativity. There is a peculiar way in which you write literary works. For instance, works of literature use certain devices such as suspense, climax, anticlimax, and a host of other literary devices. So, you should learn the rules of imaginative writing. Since you are reading this article, you are off to a great start.
Have a Theme
While learning how to write fiction books, you should also have an idea of what you want to write about. What exactly would your fictional text be focusing on? Do you want to write on romance and heartbreak? Would your story be centred on resilience?
Even though you would be spinning and weaving your plot and making up the story, there should be a goal or objective that your plot is going to achieve. Every aspect of your story should work towards achieving your goal for writing the book.
Create your Characters
The next step on how to write fiction books is creating your characters. Start with your protagonist or main character. The protagonist is at the centre of your story, and the other characters are connected to him/her. Also, create an antagonist who will oppose the protagonist. Have a mix of round characters and flat characters.
You have the creative license to give your characters any physical features and behavioural characteristics you want them to have. The attributes of your characters are called characterization. The behaviour and actions of each character should contribute to the story, in one way or another.
For instance, a character could be described as loquacious when he is introduced. Later in the story, he could reveal the protagonist’s secret without intending to. It could also be that his talkativeness simply provides some comic relief.
Choose a Point of View
Step four on how to write fiction books is choosing a point of view. Your point of view also called (POV) is the angle or perspective from which you tell your story. There are 4 points of view: Omniscient, First Person, Multiple, and Third Person points of view. Each of these points of view has a perspective from which you would narrate your story. Let’s look at them briefly.
The Omniscient Point of View is one from which the narrator (you, the writer) tells the story from a bird’s eye view. That means that you know everything that goes on, including what the characters are thinking or doing in secret.
The First Person Point of View is one where you are a character in your own story, and you are telling your readers about your experience. Here, you have first-hand information of what you witnessed.
The Third Person Point of View is the ‘he/she’ point of view. Here, the author narrates from an external perspective. The narrator is not a character in the story.
Multiple Points of View is a narrative style where you switch between different styles of narration. You could use the omniscient point of view in some parts of the story, and then use the first person point of view in other parts.
Create Suspense
Suspense is an important element of fiction. If you want to learn how to write fiction books, you should also learn how to create suspense in your storytelling. The essence of suspense is to keep your readers transfixed and unable to tell what would happen next in the book.
Be unpredictable. You can create suspense by making certain characters oblivious of something that the readers know, or by introducing a new character who has a history with the protagonist. Let your readers not know how the story ends until the story ends.
Mix the Literal with the Literary
The beauty of fiction writing is that you can use both figurative and simple, plain language. Put some flavour into your text by sprinkling literary words and descriptions from time to time. However, use simple words where simple words can convey the message better.
Write in the Active Voice
In addition to learning how to write fiction books, you should learn how to write in an active voice. Generally, the active voice is ideal for writing any kind of text. The active voice quickly tells the readers who did what. It follows the grammatical rule of subject-verb-object.
In contrast, the passive voice uses the object-verb-subject which does not make it clear who the doer of the action is.
Eliminate the Fluff
In the course of writing, you are likely to add some superfluous words or change some details. This would call for a revision. Cut out the unnecessary details. Kill off undeveloped characters that you introduced and never mentioned again in your story.
Remember to make your sentences as simple as possible; revise unnecessarily lengthy sentences that can be made more concise, even while they retain their meanings. Use synonyms instead of repeating words too often. Don’t be verbose; except in the dialogue of a character that is known for verbosity. This rule of trimming down to the essential works in how to write fiction books as well as non-fiction books.
Get an Editor
Learning how to write fiction books does not end at writing. It also extends to understanding the importance of getting a professional editor.
Since your text is fiction-based, you would need a developmental editor who is an expert at editing novels and other literary texts. You could reach our editors at My Sharp Pen Editing Services, and our developmental editors will guide you on how best to make your book more appealing to your readers. Just like for any other text, editing is a vital part of the writing process.
Publish your Fiction Book
You probably wrote your book to sell it, and now that you are done with the writing and editing processes, you should put it on the bookshelves. Decide on the format you would like your book to be published in—ebook or hard copy—, then get it published. When your book is out in the market, you have successfully completed the process of writing fiction books.
Learning how to write fiction books can be worth your while and possibly a good investment if you are delving into the fiction genre full-time. Fiction stories are mind-stimulating and can transport your readers into your make-believe world if well written. With these simple steps, you should be able to write a captivating spellbinding fiction book in no time.
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