Writing a novel is not an easy task because you cannot write everything in a few days. It took me forty-nine weeks to write Hired Fiancée. I dedicated myself to writing a thousand words a week.

The hardest part about the whole thing is keeping your storyline organized. It is not supposed to be too fast or too slow. So, that is what I am going to address today.

For instance, I may not write anything for some weeks; maybe due to writers’ block or school stuff. This takes you a step back because you have been out of contact with the story.

You don’t want a book that is extremely unrealistic (except that is what you are going for). If not, then you need a method to keep your storyline intact.

I am going to give you a few of my tips on how I accomplish that;

• Read the previous chapters

This is maybe the most important one because you don’t want to write something that has already happened or something that doesn’t relate to the previous ones. I can read as far as ten chapters back if it would help me get back into the story. It is like understanding your characters all over again. It is like relating to the story all over again. In that moment, read it like a reader and not the writer. As a reader, you know what should happen next. And who knows, you may get a different point of view and write a better story.

• Make notes of the things that have happened so far

I usually advice for this to be done on a separate page or a piece of paper. Writing with your hand helps you think clearer, well for me it does. But do you, so either on a paper or on a different page on your laptop or whatever you use to write. I bullet point the events that have happened so far and it helps me with what I should do next. My bullet points turn into a diagram because I try all the different options.

• Watch movies

You may be thinking, ‘why should I watch a movie to help write a book?’ But it helps so much. Think about it like this, in a movie they have an hour and thirty minutes to make a movie seem realistic. Any good movie leaves you feeling satisfied. In that short time, if you didn’t feel like it was rushed or it was too slow then the movie was good. That is how your book should feel even though it can be longer. You don’t want the activities to drag or be too fast. I usually watch movies when I feel like my storyline is slightly disorganised.

Also, please if you have more ways of keeping your story organised then don’t hesitate to share so we can all learn.

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