A Novel in a Year-Part 1

Louise Doughty, a novelist and columnist for the Daily Telegraph, wrote a series of columns in 2006 about how to write a novel over the course of a year. She offered advice from her own writing life as well as exercises to help a new writer develop the techniques and craft necessary for writing a novel. The response to the columns was overwhelming and Louise included many responses to the exercises from her readers in her columns.

The columns are available on The Daily Telegraph website, though they are deep in the archives, and have also been gathered together and published in a book, A Novel in a Year: From First Page to Last in 52 Weeks, available through Amazon.

Week 1 – Take up a notebook and pen, and write one sentence

Week 2 – Some simple advice: read

Week 3 – Keep your first line simple, serious and avoid the jokey one-liners

Week 4 – Your greatest asset at this stage is passion, so enjoy it and exploit it

Week 5 – Having an endless fascination with other people is essential for writing

Week 6 – Start by excavating your own secrets, and then you can try turning them into fiction

Week 7 – Even a small accident can be turned into something consequential

Week 8 – It is vital to set aside a time and place where you can write undisturbed

Week 9 – Feeling trapped, either physically or emotionally, can provide fertile ground for dramatic writing

Week 10 – Don’t be afraid of dramatic subjects — be bold

Week 11 – Invent a character whose voice is not at all like your own

Week 12 – An arbitrary change to your original idea can have unexpected benefits

Next up, the next twelve weeks of Novel in a Year columns.

Pick up your copy of A Novel in a Year: From First Page to Last in 52 Weeks and visit Louise’s website to learn more about her novels.

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