5 Lessons I’ve Learned Writing My First Novel

My first novel, “Nevoeiro”, is on its way to its seventh anniversary. At the time, aged 18, I sat at the computer with an idea and only rested when it was written, complete, and made into a story.

However, due to my tender age and the anxiety generated by wanting to have the book in my hand as soon as possible, I made some mistakes that, fortunately, generated important lessons.

So, here are 5 lessons I learned in the process of writing my first book, hoping they can shed a light on your path as a writer.

1. Ideas come from our daily life

There is a notion, to which I have given the name of “literary potential”, which is nothing more than a tool to discover the best form of an idea, to hold the attention of readers or viewers. “Nevoeiro” begins with an argument between two people, which leads to an uncontrolled riot in a train station after the first act of violence.

The truth is that I witnessed that argument. Only… there was no violence. That “twist” gave it the trigger to hold the reader’s attention and to unfold the story. So when we complain about lack of creativity or lack of ideas, we just have to look at our daily life and give it “a little twist”. (And sometimes we don’t even need the nudge…)

2. Consistency is key

It takes some discipline to work a novel into its perfect shape. In my case, the process was slow and fast at the same time, paradoxical as it may seem. If, on the one hand, it was slow, in that I didn’t have the discipline I have today to work on the story in a cadenced way, on the other hand, I wrote almost half a story in one frantic, sleepless night.

And that has implications for the rhythm of the story itself. The rhythm should be decided by creative issues, and not passed onto the pages as a result of the rhythm of the writing itself. Hence, establishing a routine, is the best way to discipline ourselves, especially for beginners

3. Writing is a process of deconstruction

Almost like sculpture, the act of writing is about deconstructing a world that already exists inside our heads as writers. But for that to happen, we have to acute that world. We have to give free rein to our imagination and give body to the universe we want to create, to the characters. Getting to know them as if they were close friends, letting them speak inside our minds.

Starting from this complete knowledge of our story, we deconstruct it for the reader, knowing that not everything will be part of the final result. But the better we know this world of ours, the better the story will be.

4. Time, time, time: letting the story rest

Part of the discipline that is required of those who undertake to write a book also has to do with the ability to… do nothing. Of finishing the story and letting it breathe, rest, without looking at it. As writers, we get addicted to the manuscript, we know it almost backward, and we need to create some distance.

In writing, as in life, we get better insight when we step back and look from the outside. And after this distancing process, we will be able to start an editing process that will involve cuts, changes, alterations, which will be all the more difficult to operate, the closer we are to the story we are creating.

5. Understanding that a story is like a dance: it is made by two people

The doctrine diverges on who we write for when we write. I have a clear opinion on this: those who say they write for themselves are lying when they decide to share what they write. I think that when we allow the public to read us, we open part of ourselves to acquaintances and strangers.

And this notion of complementarity between those who write and those who read is important, insofar as the process of the story is only complete when it reaches the hands of the reader. And that same reader will make interpretations that we never even dreamed of. But they will enrich the universe of that story without messing with the words.

Finally, keeping in mind the idea that someone will read us helps us to make decisions: we have to constantly put ourselves in the reader’s shoes, trying to understand whether the reader, who has less information than us about the world we create, will always be able to keep up with what is happening. Keeping the reader active, inside the story, is something all writers should strive to achieve.

I absorbed many other lessons from the process of writing the novel, but I think these were the main ones. The act of writing is exhilarating, difficult at times, but it gives one of the best feelings in the world when you feel the impact of the words out there.