So you want to write a novel

By J. P. Kurzitza

Anyone can write a great fiction novel. That's right, ANYONE! You don't need an M.F.A, or a PhD, or ABCDEFG, you just need to know how to do a few things really well...and get lucky. But Thomas Jefferson said it best when he said: "I’m a great believer in luck and I find the harder I work, the more I have of it."

So You Want to Write a Novel... was written for the many who’ve wanted to pursue the lofty endeavor of penning (typing) their very own opus, but for one reason or another got lost in the whole process, or perhaps were even a little intimidated. This writer’s booklet was designed to get the ball rolling, so to speak. It even offers proven story templates that have worked to help plot the many, or few, twists and turns, climaxes and conclusions within an aspiring writer’s first book.

If you’ve got great story ideas that need something to harness and channel them into a cohesive format that makes sense, then give So You Want to Write a Novel... a read and let the process begin.

• Language: English
• Publisher: J. P. Kurzitza
• Release date: Sep 21, 2011
• ISBN: 9781465868466

J. P. Kurzitza

If I can write a novel, then you surely can! I've been writing since 2007. I’ve also been a stay-home dad since 2007. Hmm—coincidence? My primary genre of preference for writing (though, what exactly is a genre anymore) is YA/ MG fiction, but ultimately I go wherever the story takes me, whether short story, flash fiction, or adult fiction. And when I say YA, I mean more like J.K. Rowling, not Sarah Dessen. My alias is J. Paul Wallace. I am a prime example of someone who can write, minus all the education and acronyms at the end of my name.

Book preview

So You Want To Write A Novel…

by J. P. Kurzitza

Smashwords Edition

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without the expressed written consent of the author.

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All characters appearing in this book are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

Copyright © 2011 J. P. Kurzitza

Cover design: J. P. Kurzitza

ALSO BY J. P. KURZITZA

FICTION

The J.A.S.O.N.D. Saga

Book 1 – JULY

NON-FICTION

So you want to publish an ebook…

For my grandmother who taught me to water the plants regularly if I wanted them to grow.

Table of Contents

Introduction

Unearth the Story (one sentence at a time)

Characterization—Who Are They?

Template #1—Victories & Defeats

Template #2—Twists & Turns

Template #3—The Tragic Hero, or The Absent Antagonist, or Three Strikes

The Writing Process

The Grand Fallacy

Conclusion

About the Author

INTRODUCTION

Hello, my fellow newbie-writer in pursuit of perfect prose. Welcome to my instructional booklet that offers practical tools to help get your butt in gear and finish that book you’ve always dreamed about writing.

Let me first start by saying that I wrote this booklet with the assumption that you already have an awesome story idea that is just yearning to be turned into a novel. While I can help you plot and plan the skeletal aspects of your future book, sadly, if you don’t have a clue what to write about, I can’t help you.

Someone once wisely said, the story is everything. If you don’t already have that, then this booklet won’t be of much use to you. No amount of exceptionally written pages or well crafted sentences will do enough to make your book a page-turner if you don’t have a compelling story. It’s like spraying a skunk with perfume—it just masks the inevitable stench that will surely follow. Being an English major doesn’t necessarily mean you can come up with a great story idea, although you may certainly know how to write the crap out of a sentence.

You don’t want your story to be a 3 dressed up as a 9 (as Trooper once said), do you? Nobody does, and especially not your readers. They can see through all the smoke and mirrors of well written sentences that lack the foundation of a rich story. So make your story a 9 dressed up as, well, a 9!

Long story short: find a compelling story idea!

I’ll be honest with you again—this booklet was expressly designed to offer you my three story templates I’ve developed. They’re awesome, let’s just get that out of the way right now, and should really help you organize what most often becomes the daunting task of planning a novel.

Also, it’s probably important to stress that this