Checklist: The 4 things you *need* to start drafting your novel

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Novel November is upon us, and if you're anything like me, you had every intention of spending October plotting a great story (A.K.A. Plotober), but didn't actually end up making much progress.

Have no fear! You can still write a great story, even if you start drafting right now with no previous work. You only really need 4 simple things to start writing your novel - keep reading to find out what they are!

(Fair warning: drafting is probably not going to go as smoothly as it would with a month of prep work under our belts. But we can still totally do this!)

Somewhere to write

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This is the easiest one, so let's use it to get the ball rolling!

All you need for this is somewhere to write your story down: a computer, phone, notebook, even a stack of gas-station napkins!

You definitely don't need to do this, but I would also suggest deciding when you're going to write so you don't have to think about it every day!

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A character

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Characters are arguably the most important thing in your story. Characters' actions drive the plot, and it's through their eyes that readers view your world. Basically, you need a character!

Specifically, you need a character with a desire, something that drives them to act and move through the story.

Strictly speaking, you can discover everything about your character through the writing process, even their desires, but if you want to figure out a little more about them, I like this character sheet ;)

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A setting

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Now your character needs somewhere to stand. By no means do you need to have a complex, fully-thought-through world, but it's a good idea to start imagining what the space around your character looks like, whether it's extravagant, minimal, or anything in between.

(Author Erika Swyler wrote a short but fantastic article about "worldbuilding as set design" that you should definitely read!)

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A conflict

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Conflict is the driving force of story. Conflict and causation are what create an interesting narrative, instead of just stating a list of things that happen.

Just like everything else in this list, there's a huge range of conflicts you can write about, from intergalactic war to losing your keys.

If you want to learn more, Scott Myers wrote a great article about the power of conflict in storytelling.

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And that's it! You now have everything you need to start the herculean task of writing the first draft of a novel. Of course, you'll need much more information than just these few things, but those can (and will!) come and you write consistently and develop your story.

If you want to follow along with my journey of writing a novel for the first time, make sure to follow me on TikTok!