so i think i have nailed down the stages i go through to create a novel.

STAGE ONE: THE IDEA

this is "the drawing board"

you and perhaps some pals (since group brainstorming works miracles hot dangit) have been reading books, watching movies, listening to music, and, lo and behold, one of you has an idea!

this idea can be vague. it can simply begin with simply one character (a grumpy old man) or a scene (someone is being corrupted by,,um,,something that looks like a worm). or maybe a concept (a space adventure...with dinosaurs!) either way, this has piqued your interest. holy crap, you think, i wanna write a book.

this is by far the funnest stage. that wonderful feeling of finally hitting inspiration is later crushed harshly with the rest of the stages.

STAGE TWO: KEEP BUILDING

with that idea in hand, you need to take it a little further. start mapping out the setting and figuring out the cast of your new story.

This stage is really about planning the general stuff- setting, characters etc. Events will come later. Right now, gathering enough research about your selected genre/archetypes and figuring out a general idea for your story will suffice. aka, "It's a dark fantasy about an elderly mage and his companion, a young knight in training. theyre battling against an evil dragon"

Your original idea will be warped quite a bit. Characters will be added and then cut, story elements introduced and taken away. This is pretty much your trial and error period to figure out what will work for you and what wont.

Once you have your general concepts and characters, you can move onto the hardest and longest stage

STAGE THREE: OUTLINING (AKA WANTING TO DIE)

so here's where you stick your nose to the grind and the work really starts. playing around with ideas? easy. laying out a interlocking set of events thats interesting to read? not so much.

yeah, this is where we actually plan out a vague, general overview of your entire story.

you should follow the exposition》rising action》climax》falling action》closing format I detailed in an earlier chapter.
i use simplistic flow charts to start off my books. like heres the raw i did for arc 6:

-begin with asher and arisha interrogating someone. They die.

-bit with time and other dragons

-party split. umbra distracted and Victor kidnapped by pilate by chloroform

-they meet and Pilate is friendly.

-subplot with Matt and them. Figure out later.

-umbra finds victor, but scares pilate. He calls for back up. Pilate runs out.

-umbra makes victor hide and he takes the punishment, making sure they dont know hes here. Asher assaults him and stabs out his eye.

-they drag out umbra and pilate finds victor near catatonic after his subplot. He says he'll help him escape.

yes, i literally wrote the phrase "figure out later". thats what this stage is about. get the basics out first, figure out the details later. i stretched this vague list into over 20 chapters of rich story.

i also jot down my themes and character development in more detailed descriptions.

my "outlines" as I call them are in a separate document. this document, no matter how hard I try, is always disorganised and insane. But that's okay- ill clear up everything in my plans later.

the outlying process is pretty much just trying to get my story from beginning to end- and that's harder than it sounds. i try to come up with all my events and set them in order and actually get a scope of my story. once i do that, everything becomes easier.

this stage takes the longest, as you will inevitably hit countless roadblocks while trying to outline. and thats okay. you can't expect yourself to write out an entire book in one sitting. i sure as heck cant.

if (when) you get stuck going from one event to another, or youre not sure what to do next, just take a break. you obviously dont know right now, so stop trying to force it out of yourself. creativity, unfortunately, cannot be forced. go do something else. perhaps, if you hate yourself like me, you can go plan/write the other projects you have going on at the same time.

i found my best ideas come when im not trying to think of them. after having put down my story idea and walked away, the solution to my roadblock usually drops out of the sky a couple days later. just don't give up.

and the best way to cure a roadblock. try forming a think tank. grab a friend (or multiple friends) and just toss around ideas. two minds are better than one. a different mind will come up with ideas you never even thought about. the power of brainstorming is so underrated.

STAGE FOUR: PLANNING

so, against all the odds, you have a complete outline of your book. you almost died, but hot dangit, you did it! now do it again, but with feeling.

flesh oh your entire outline. that bullet point of "characters go to restaurant, villain attacks" becomes:

-Sally and John go to dinner

-on the tv, there are reports of natural disasters

-Sally starts to get frightened. She knows something John doesnt.

-outside, there is a commotion

-John goes on alert, grabbing his sword. Sally is distraught, knowing what's outside

-Salar kicks down the door, summoning fire to his hands and calling for John and Sally to come out  

Same thing,,,,but way more detailed. Youre pretty much planning out every paragraph and movement of your characters.

"thats tedious" you say. yes, i fully agree. but it keeps you from being in the middle of a chapter and having no idea what to do next. this is the best prevention for writers block ive found.

well, there you go. ive taken you through the entire process. This is how i write. Do you have a way that works wonders for you? then use it! you havent found one for you yet, then this method is a good starting point.

"but dad, this is complicated-" wRITING A BOOK IS COMPLICATED YOU DIMWHIT. writing a book is a lot of things but it sure as heck isnt easy. youve gotta put forth a heck of a lot of work if you wanna make a book that's rich with story and is well thought out, well honey, you gotta work!