How to Choose the Subject of Your Next Novel

I've heard many authors discuss their books in such a way as if they didn't have any control over it whatsoever. That concept sounds comforting to many writers who sit at their laptops looking at a blank Word document with a blinking cursor situated at the upper left hand corner.

As a ghostwriter, it presents somewhat of a delimma for me as I have many general concepts and ideas that I would like to explore. But what to tackle first? Will it be interesting to others or just myself? Here are some ideas to help budding authors select that all important subject.

Step One - What subject interests you? What kind of books do you like to read? Are they fiction, non-fiction, romance? There are so many genres of literature it's almost impossible to elaborate on them all. For discussion purposes, let us assume that some type of fiction book will be written.

Step Two - Once you have nailed down a general subject matter and genre of book, try coming up with a brief synopsis of what the book will be about. For example:

"After the main character survives a childhood riddled with abuse, he/she decides to make a life for themselves in the streets and discovers that the torment he/she suffered provided the will to survive a life of unknowns".

Step Three - That is a very general idea. Now try to decide what hardships etc. this character will endure. What moments of clarity will be provided to help your character? Will they have a love interest? Where will the book take place? What will be the character's name? and so on.

This step is crucial as you can imagine. A character living in the South for example will have different outdoor elements and a different social culture than someone from the northeast for example. Make notes of all the ideas introduced in Step Three. An interesting footnote: A friend of mine that is a ravenous reader once told me that if the book she is reading doesn't have memorable names, then it probably isn't very good. She loved lyrical and unusual names or nicknames in books. For example: Romey Dupree, Bug-eyed Sue or Cheeky Carlucci.

Step Four - When writing a book, particularly if it's fiction, the author should be able to write with detail and purpose as if the character was as real as a family member or friend.

I would begin with your main character and flesh out as many traits, distinguishing physical features etc. as possible. An example of the Main Character

Sex of Main Character: Male

Age of Character: Mid Teens

Name of Main Character: Frankie Boudreaux

Ethnicity: Cajun

Physical Looks: Dark Complexion, brown eyes, small for age, thin, nervous tick in eye, etc.

Personality: Shy? Outgoing? Temper? Withdrawn? etc.

Friends: None? a Family member? etc.

More in depth plot: Elaborate more here. Where will the main character run away to? What happens along the way? Does he have a plan or is he just running? What does he learn from the experience?

How does this experience change him? Is he abused on the streets? Is he rescued? does he get in trouble with the police?

The bottom line is that you should be able to write about this character and his experience as if he is a close friend. You should take care to make him memorable.

The ultimate goal is to develop a character that people are going to identify with and care about.

Some good examples of Novels to read or refer to are: To Kill a Mockingbird, A River Runs Through It, The Color Purple, She's Come Undone, Fried Green Tomatoes, The Firm, A Time To Kill, and so on. There are a plethora of novels that reflect superb character and plot development. Look for quality authors such as Maya Angelou, John Grisham, Wally Lamb, Stephen King etc. There are far too many to list, but each of these authors have a wide variety of excellent novels to refer to.

Writing a novel takes time, patience and care. With the proper time and attention, you just might be on the New York Times Bestseller list!