Why Do You Want to Write a Novel?

This month, I’ve been discussing how to get ready to write a novel and forgot to ask the most basic questions–why do you want to write a novel?

There are no wrong answers, except that one where you want to write a novel because you think you’ll get to be rich and famous after publishing one book. Most writers never get wealthy or even write fiction as their full time job. It’s second job or a hobby they do in their spare time.

Now that that myth is dispelled, I’ll tell you my reason. I was born a writer. I have to write. Like exercise, I feel better when I do. If I had never published a single story, I would still be a writer. Writing novels seems to be the best form to tell the stories I want to share.

Now it’s your turn. I’d love to know your reason!

January 26, 2026 1

Three Tips to Discover the Kind of Writer You Are

Discovering what kind of writer you are–meaning what’s your pattern of writing–will go a long way in helping you complete a novel. I mentioned some different patterns for my Monday Spark–the hare writer, the tortoise writer, or somewhere in between. When tackling your first novel, take the time to figure out your pattern so you can be your most productive. Here are three tips to discover the kind of writer you are.

Writing Sprints

If you google writing sprints, you’ll find any number of ways to do them. The point of a writing sprint is to dedicate a relatively short amount of time to writing and to do nothing but writing in that time. No research, no distractions, no leaving your seat until the time is up, and above all else, no editing. Here’s my post on why writing and editing must be two separate activities.

If you find this concentrated time is beneficial, then you can plan writing sprints throughout your day and week. For example, a half hour sprint works for you. Schedule a half hour before you go to work and another half hour after supper. Or doing your lunch hour. Or before bed. Maybe plan three or four sprints on Saturday.

Writing Binges

This one is harder to pull off because it takes a much longer piece of time, but some writers work better when they have a whole day to use for writing. Find a day where you can set aside most of it to write and see how much progress you make. If you can crank out 10,000 words, this is probably your best pattern for writing. If you write about as much as you would with a few sprints a day, then you should stick with the sprints.

Most writers use a combination of short and long sessions, developing habits that work best for each individual. But regardless of what your optimal pattern of writing is, I urge you to also become …

A Flexible Writer

You will get so much more writing done if you learn to write in almost any situation. When I was single, I thought I had to have large chunks of quiet time in order to write. Once I married and had kids, I realized I had to adapt my pattern or I would never complete another story. So I trained myself to write in any situation where I was sitting down. Doctor’s office? Check. Waiting for soccer practice to end? No problem. Riding to a conference? Got it covered.

And if you can’t write in a less than ideal setting, train yourself to edit. I find editing takes less concentration than first draft writing, so I will switch to editing if circumstances are interfering with my concentration to work on a first draft.

How did you develop your writing pattern? What tips would you give newbie writers to discover what kind of writer they are?

January 22, 2026 1

What Kind of a Writer are You?

What kind of a writer are you? And I don’t mean what genre do you write. I mean, what’s your pattern for writing? Are you a weekend writer, writing for a few hours each weekend? Are you more of a tortoise kind of writer. Slow and steady gets the book written, like writing an hour each day unless something major comes up. Are you a hare writer? You block off a weekend to bang out as many words as you can in forty-eight hours.

And your writing pattern can change based on the circumstances of life, if you write long enough. So let me know what kind of a writer you are and if that pattern has changed over the years.

Here are this month’s other tips on what you need before you start your novel.

January 19, 2026 4

How to Read a Novel Like a Writer

To write a novel you have to be a reader. But your reading style has to change once you know you want to tackle the awesome job of completing a novel. You have to learn how to read a novel like a writer.

Reading a novel for analysis

On Monday, I asked you to name your three favorite novels. Once you decide which ones are your favorites in the genre you want to write in, you need to sit down with that book and dissect it, study it, analyze it like you’re preparing for test that your class grade hinges on. How? Keep reading.

What do you love about your favorite novel?

On your computer, phone, or notepad, jot down what you love about your favorite novel. Is it the characters? The plot twists? The descriptions?

After writing down what you like about the novel, think about why you like those aspects. For example, I love the descriptions of the world the Time Traveller finds when he uses his invention to travel to the year 802,701 in The Time Machine by H. G. Wells. Why do I love those descriptions? Well, they’re described so well that I can see myself walking beside the Time Traveller, living the scene with him. He thinks he’s found humans on the wane, in the sunset of their evolution, and his description of the evening while he considers this theory complements his thoughts.

Now that I know why I love this description, I need to dig into it and analyze it. There are a number of ways to do this, but the easiest it to write or cut and paste the section you want to analyze and then highlight the words, sentences, and other elements that makes this part of the novel resonate with you.

Here’s a sentence from The Time Machine I think describes the evening vividly and sets the mood for the scene:

“The sun had already gone below the horizon and the west was flaming gold touched with some horizontal bars of purple and crimson. Below was the valley of the Thames, in which the river lay like a band of burnished steel.”

Color seems to be the key to creating a vivid description in this sentence. “Flaming gold”, “purple”, “crimson”, and “burnished steel.” What’s the lesson? When I want to describe something or set the mood of a scene, specific colors can do that work for me.

You can use this approach for any writing you admire to draw lessons you can apply to your own novel.

What novels have influence your writing and why?

Here are more tips on writing descriptions.

January 15, 2026 3

What are Your Three Favorite Novels?

Since the theme for JPC Allen Writes this year is how to write a novel, I’m spending January discussing aspects that prep you for writing a novel. So what are your three favorite novels and what does this have to do with writing one? Well, usually what you love to read will be what you want to write. Also, it’s impossible to write a well-crafted novel in a genre you aren’t familiar with as a reader.

My question asks you to name three favorite novels, but as I worked on this post, I realized I’d have to include more than three. So feel free to answer the question with the titles of as many of your favorite novels as you want.

My criteria for a novel to qualify as a favorite is that I like to read it over and over again and still enjoy it. So here are some of my favorite novels in no particular order:

Death on the Nile by Agatha Christie. I still think this is her best novel.
The Time Machine by H.G. Wells. This was the first story to used a machine, instead of magic, to travel through time.
Watership Down by Richard Adams. A wonderful fantasy adventure.
Plot It Yourself by Rex Stout. One of my favorite novels from my favorite mystery series.
Fantastic Voyage by Issac Asimov. A sci-fi adventure with a mystery.

Your turn. List your favorite novels and why you love them.

January 12, 2026 2

Tag: How to write a novel