Principles of My Writing
« Writing is not a method but a way of looking at the world. The convictions that nourish each of my novels. »
Every year, thousands of people dream of writing a novel. Some begin, few make it to the end. Over the years and several published novels, I have understood that there is no universal method. However, certain principles have always accompanied me. They are what I share here.
If it were enough to apply a ready-made method, bookstores would be filled with masterpieces. Yet, all novelists end up discovering some fundamental principles that allow them to transform a simple desire to write into a real literary project.
1. Start with a story that haunts you
The most frequent mistake is looking for an original idea at any cost. However, an idea is often just a fleeting spark.
What allows you to write a novel over time is a story that continues to haunt you when you close your computer. An obsessive question. A character whose fate you refuse to abandon. A novel requires weeks, months, sometimes years of companionship. Without this form of fruitful obsession, it is difficult to go to the end of the journey.
2. Characters before plot
Many beginners exhaust themselves building a perfect plot mechanics. Yet, readers rarely remember a book for the perfection of its scenario: they remember first the human beings who traversed it.
Who is your heroù What do they desire deep down° What do they fear? What do they risk losing if everything falls apart? The more you know the humanity, the flaws, and the dilemmas of your characters, the more your story will naturally find its way.
3. Read to learn how to write
All writers started as readers. Reading is not just about escaping or entertaining oneself: it is the attentive observation of the invisible mechanisms of narrative.
How does an author manage to create tension° Why do some dialogues seem so strikingly true? How does emotion arise from an apparently simple sentence? Every great book read becomes a living writing lesson. Reading remains the secret and permanent school of all novelists.
4. Write regularly: The discipline of art
Inspiration is capricious. Discipline is much less so. Waiting for the ideal moment to write is often the surest way to never start.
A few hundred words a day are enough to give birth to a world. Books do not arise in the sudden illumination of a weekend: they are built patiently, sentence after sentence, day after day.
5. Accept imperfection & the work of rewriting
One of the greatest obstacles lies in the fear of the first draft. All writers go through this thankless stage where the ideal vision clashes with the clumsiness of the first words.
The first draft's role is not to be perfect: it serves to put the story on paper. True creation begins afterward, when you cut, move, rewrite, and sculpt the text. A novel is not merely written; it is shaped through rewrites.
✨ The real secret
After several published novels, I remain convinced that technique alone is not enough. You can teach the architecture of a narrative, the pace of a chapter, or the art of dialogue. But no one can teach a way of looking at the world.
This unique perspective is what distinguishes one writer from another. Two authors can tell the same story: they will never write the same novel.
Conclusion
How to write a novel' By reading a lot. By observing beings with empathy. By working regularly. By accepting doubts and imperfections. And above all, by taking your project to completion.
Because a finished novel, even imperfect, will always have infinitely more value than a dreamed masterpiece that exists only in its author's imagination.
Continue reading the Founding Corpus
📌 This article was also published on the author's official blog:
Read the original publication « How to write a novel' » on Rida Lamrini's Blog ↗