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Create a new novel
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This wizard takes you through the steps to create a new novel. At the end of the
wizard MyNovel will create the novel for you and open it. You need to complete the
whole wizard in order to create the novel.
Step 1 : Start page
This is the start page for the wizard. Read the text before progressing by clicking
the next button.
Step 2 : Title and concept
Think of a working title for your novel. You can change this later. Then
think of a brief concept or tag line for your novel. Again, you can change
this later too. If you are struggling to think of a title you can click click here
to get some inspiration to get inspiration from the MyNovel website. Finally
you should decide the approximate reading age of your novel. MyNovel has built-in
text analysis tools which will enable you to keep your text at an appropriate readability
level / reading age. For more information see readability.
Once you are happy, click the next button.
Step 3 : Novel type
MyNovel is as prescriptive as you wish to make it. You can use a built-in template
to use as the basis of the structure of your novel or you can choose Empty novel
and structure the novel yourself. If you are a first-time novelist you will find
the built-in templates very useful as the basis of your novel. The principal template
is The Hero's Journey, which you will recognise
as the structure of most of the stories you read or watch at the cinema. There are
other templates for love stories, adventures, quests and so on. It is possible to
add to or edit the existing templates (for instance if you wish to distribute MyNovel
to your novel writing class / group). For more information see
novel writing templates. Once you have studied the templates and selected
one you are happy with click the next button.
Step 4 : Writing goals
You should now set yourself some writing goals. First of all enter the estimated
total word count of your novel. Some guidelines are provided for target word counts.
For instance shortish novels start at about 50,000 words. Quite often, for adult
fiction, you can expect to write in excess of 100,000 words. It is quite easy to
be daunted at this stage, but try not to be! Think about how many words per day
you want to write. 250 is a default number. Some days you will write more. Some
days less. Think of the average number. If you change your estimated word count
or words per day you will see the completion date change automatically.
Similarly you can change the completion date and MyNovel will calculate the
number of words per day you would need to write.
This facility is also useful for
NaNoWriMo entrants. Start a novel on November 1st. Set the completion date
to November 30th and write as many words as you can in that time.
Once you are satisfied with the goals you have set yourself click the next
button.
Step 5 : Author information
You should now enter your name address and so on. MyNovel uses this information
when automatically generating cover letters (submission letters to literary agents)
and title pages. For more information see the novel explorer.
You may not have a web site yet. If not leave this blank. If you want further information
about creating your own author website please contact us. We may be able to help.
Once you have entered your personal details click the next button.
Step 6 : Summary
You've finished! The final page of the wizard shows a summary of the information
you have entered. When you're happy click finish. Your novel will be created
and opened in the MyNovel MyNovel workspace
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