After my first daughter was born, it took me a year before I could write again, and during that year I felt anxious and guilty for not writing. With the birth of my second daughter, I gave myself a year off. It’s been six months, and I’m inching toward that scary moment of trying to eke out some sentences.

The problem is I have no idea how to write a novel. Yes, I have written three, but it feels like that doesn’t help. I wonder if other writers feel this way. Is it a lack of confidence? Fear that I just got lucky before? Fear that I have nothing left to say? Or does each new novel force you to figure out its form anew?

In the beginning novel-writing workshop I taught last summer, I told my students they needed to answer three questions before they began:

1) What does your main character want?

This will be the motivation that drives him/her throughout the novel. This is the light in the distance your character is galloping toward. The answer doesn’t need to be complicated.  Some examples: love, safety, closure, meaning, a home, freedom. And then conflict comes in when there are obstacles to that want. Example: Jennifer is a surrogate mother who changes her mind. What she wants: to keep the baby. Obstacle: the couple that has hired her wants the baby too.

2) Where does your novel begin?

You want your novel to begin right about the time a pivotal change will occur/has occurred.  One way to think about this is to imagine the moment a boulder has begun to roll down a hill. Something has been set in motion. Or why is this day different from the ones before it?  Some examples: an event, like a wedding or funeral, the discovery of a dead body, a man has found his wife is cheating, a woman has learned she’s pregnant, a son is going home for the holidays, it’s the first time a character will do X.

3) What is the world of your novel?

Whether your novel is set in 2010 or 1610, you need to place us immediately in the world that you are creating—let us know where the story is taking place and what kind of guide we’re going to have.  This means you have to choose the specific setting, the point of view from which you are writing, and the tone of voice.

For the novel I’ve been thinking about I don’t have a clear answer to number one yet, but I think I know the answer to number two. Number three is my favorite—this is what’s going to help me face the blank page. I loved recreating New York in 1900 for Mothers and Daughters, and for this next novel, there will be period elements as well.

There are a zillion ways to write a novel, of course, but sometimes it’s helpful to have guidelines to give you direction. But there’s always a chance I’m going to wing it.

Related posts:

1. Me & My Mom: An Interview
2. Birth Story
3. The Myth of Balance
4. Mommy Wars and Getting a Grip
5. Getting Away