How To Write A Novel

'Your voice. Yes, find it. Don't ask me how. It's a discovery that's as mysterious as it sounds, but at some point you will suddenly realize that you are channelling an authentic part of you. And that's it. Magic.'

Kate Atkinson.

Step 1: Forget about it.

The default option for all writers is to disappear from your work entirely. 

'Invisibility is a superpower.' Banksy.

This is a good place to start. It’s the only place to start. If you start with what you think is a voice, you're bound to make the mistake of being 'quirky' along with 99% of writers. Just check those Twitter profiles. It's a mistake we can all make. We all want to be 'different'. But that 'quirky' voice may well be derivative (favourite book, last book you read) and if it’s a faker's voice, you will alienate half your readers (and half the agents.) You can't afford to do that.

So start by going for prose like a window pane, as George Orwell put it.

If you do not progress from step...