How Do You Start Writing Your Novel?

Last month, I discussed ways to get ready to write a novel. This month’s posts are about starting the writing process by creating characters–this is how I often start my novels. But the most common way for me to begin is for the climax to pop into my head and then I write a novel to meet it. But telling rookie writers to start their writing process with inventing a climax is too confusing. So I’ll focus on characters, my favorite aspect of writing. But before we dive into characters, I want to ask other writers–how do you start writing your novel?

There’s no wrong way to begin. Does a specific plot twist inspire you? Or an intriguing setting? Maybe it’s a genre or subgenre. I’m curious to get other writers’ opinions because there are as many approaches as there are writers.

Here are my posts on getting ready to write a novel if you missed them from last month.