Novel Writing Workshop

Lesson 1.1
Fitting into Conventions

While it's not something many people want to do these days, it is important to fit in to the conventions that are set out when you are writing a novel this is all about conforming to the reader's expectations in some way or another. If you have any reservations about this conforming and think it'ssellig out, then stop writing right now, because in the end the reader is your customer, they are the ones who will be picking up your book and if you can't please them, you will never be successful.

Wow that sounded harsh, but heck reality never claimed to be soft. Anyway, on with business. This first lesson is going to talk about two major conventions that fit in with every novel type.



1) Fit a Specific Genre

You must fit a genre and no matter who picks the book up, that genre must be instantly clear. You will find a list of basically all existing genres here: NWW: Genre. We will be using this list shortly.

While it is possible to mix genres that are not normally associated together, it is highly discouraged for amateur and even professional writers. There are so many previously established "Cross-genres" that you should not really need to make your own. However, you still can create your own if you really really must.

You should be able to walk into any large bookstore and find exactly where your finished, published novel would be. If you really need a pick-up, you could even slide your finger into the stacks making a book-sized gap exactly where your novel would fit.

There are many reasons why you should fit into a specific genre. The bookstores need to know where to put yoru book. Readers who like specific genres will be able to find you easier. Booksellers process things in a very categorical way, as do publishers, and therefore agents, and then so must writers.

Your first exercise is very simple. From the list I provided (NWW: Genre), pick a genre for your novel.

If is often suggested to pick the genre you like to read, however, if you are anything like me, you don't stick to one very specific genre. So find a genre that you could write in. One you are comfortable with. If you aren't into technology, don't try for a science fiction.

Include the subgenre. This is specific. Look over other material in that subgenre. See what is being published and decide if you could fit in with that genre.

Once you have decided what genre you are going to be in, create a subpage of your Novel Writing Workshop page called "Statement Sheet". We are going to be using this page alot in these early lessons.

On that page, fill in this sentence:
"The genre of the novel I am creating is..."



2) Length

Another big convention, believe it or not, is the length of your novel.

Many publishing companies, especially certain line types like Harlequin and Silhouette, are very specific in what they will expect in terms of length and style. These kinds of publishers often offer "tip sheets" that they will gladly send to anyone who requests one and includes a SASE. These tip sheets will tell you everything you need to know about how to get published by those companies. (The Harlequin website www.eHarlequin.com actually has most of their tip sheets online.)

However, if you aren't writing in a genre that follows strict rules like that, there is a good way to determine what the conventional length for your book should be. This will be your next exercise.

Your second exercise consists of finding about half a dozen books in your genre. Find books that match as closely as possible to your genre and the feel that you want to create. (You do not have to know what your book is going to be about at this point, but you should probably have a general feeling. Feel free to come back to this exercise at a later point, when you have a better idea and try it again.)

Once you have your books gathered, calculate the word length of each book and average them. The forumla for calculating the approximate word length of a book is:

Number of Pages in Book x Number of lines on a Full Page x 9 = Word Length

The result of your averaging will be your target word length. This is what you should be aiming for. Give or take a little.

You can then determine how many pages of manuscript that will be by dividing the word length by 250 (the average number of words per double-spaced page). For example, a 100 000 word novel would be 400 pages.

On your Statement Sheet add:

Target word length:
Number of manuscript pages:



That is if for this first workshop lesson. It was short and simple. Just to get you started. Keep reading in the genre you have chosen to write in to get to know the field. Many of teh choices I will be asking you to make later will require a good knowledge of what works in your genre. When you are ready move on to the next lesson.



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