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Just as from small acorns big oak trees grow, almost every literary classic in history has started with the germination of a tiny idea in the author's mind. So how does an author nurture and develop that idea to eventually form it in to a full length novel? What are the stages he must go through in order to achieve this goal?

The first thing any aspiring author must learn to do is form the habit of carrying around with him at all times some means of recording any ideas which may pop in to his head without warning. This may be a notepad and pen, it may be a Dictaphone. It makes no difference which but the last thing he can afford to have happen is that an idea strikes him and he has no means of recording it in hard copy. The number of such ideas that I personally lost before learning my lesson still gives me great cause for rancour.

When the author has the idea thus recorded, he may at a convenient time begin the development of same. It is not advisable to merely rush in and begin what will probably count as the first draft of the novel. Instead, the writer should be sitting down to develop his idea in more substantial note form. He has to define where he will start his novel, how he will develop his idea during the course of the novel and how he will tie all the loose ends together in a tidy bundle at the conclusion of his novel.

The writer should not worry about grammar or structure too much at this stage as much as getting the details of the plot and characters down on paper. Once what is essentially the summary of the novel is complete, it will be time to organise these ideas in to a logical sequence and prepare such as summary notes for each chapter. In a similar fashion, it is a good idea to develop the principal characters of the novel in this respect and build them an identity which can later be developed and expanded upon when it comes to writing the actual novel.

When these notes are complete, the writer should read carefully through them and determine whether he is required to perform any research prior to beginning writing the novel. This may be involve researching details of a place which is integral to the plot in the novel which the writer either has never visited or has not visited for some time; it may involve researching the ins and outs of a career which one of the characters in the novel pursues. Whatever the research involves, this is the stage at which it should be carried out. Although further, unforeseen research may be necessary later on, any which we can identify at this stage should not be put off to a later time.

We are therefore at the stage where we have our plot developed and detailed in note form, our characters have at least begun the process of assuming a real identity and we have the technical information to hand which we believe we will require. It is only at this point that we should sit down with our notes - to which we should be constantly referring - and begin the process of creating the text of the actual novel.

Learn more about this author, Gordon Hamilton.
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