Tips on writing a novel

How to get anywhere in your writing:

Lay out the entire book in a spreadsheet with everything that is going to happen before the details emerge. I could only do this to organize the many outrageous thoughts/ideas I already had come up with. Brainstorming through wacky ideas with no order may seem disorganized to begin with, but it's important to lay down in stone each chapter one by one until you have a “bullet point book”. Then all you need to do is fill in the points with paragraphs, expanding on the summary, using the instructions and ideas you started with.

Importance of character naming to get over writer's block: 

I found myself in a mental block in crafting ideas for the main character, i.e.; what she would do, look like and imagining details of the world she would encounter. I could not BUDGE on anything until I realized how important it was to start with the name. I tried a girl named Athica, but didn't care what happened to her. When I changed her name to something more sleek, Meleena, I realized I could work with a girl named Meleena! Ideas of what may happen to her suddenly started flowing. 

Write down every last little idea, everything...

or you will forget it. Even if it might be somewhere out and about, keep something handy for note taking. Make a file of disorganized ideas and just write any tiny notes, long paragraphs and explanations there. Even little things can add so much charm to a story and are so quickly forgotten because the story wasn't yet ready to write. This especially applies to alternative ideas for names, or miscellaneous possible names you don't have a character to fit yet. Also jot down colors of clothes, interiors, architecture styles, etc, whatever. Read them later when you have other mental blocks. when they start to get out of control, as ideas do, organize them into new doc/spreadsheet in a folder of ideas, organized based on topics:

ex: ideas for plot, character descriptions, beasts, misc facts about cultures or regions, architecture, etc. I promise, you will get distracted and you will forget sooner or later, likely before it gets used. 

As you write, keep an actively updated character list/log:

Update your spreadsheet that tells details of the character: name, gender, main role in plot, eye color (yes, do it), physical description, usual style clothes worn, culture, background, personality... and also importantly: what chapters they appear or are mentioned in. These details will come in  very handy when you need to keep consistent descriptions and don't want to weed through pages and docs every other time you ever described them. This is especially useful for obscure minor characters (often made up on the spot within a chapter), whose names you will have long forgotten should you need them later. That is why it is important to, when made up, to grab the spreadsheet and fill in their name and a quick description. 

Avoid over descriptions:

They don't always need every factor described or developed (in book or notes) for every minute character. Save the details of hair color, eye color, skin color, personality etc for the major characters. I get annoyed at overly-descriptive things that insist on telling me detail of every little minute character. 

Also helpful, "fate/left off" column:

I also find it helpful to have a column in this spreadsheet for a brief description of the character’s particular fate. For minor characters its good for stuff like: do they die in chapter 5? Well, that's helpful to know, so I don't write them into chapter 11 as if they were alive! For major characters, create columns detailing their fate at the end of the book, where they leave off,  do they reunite with a lover, get kidnapped, die, sleep soundly in their bed after all their adventures? That is good to know for a sequel, so I don't have to dig up where LAST mentioned, leaving every particular main character for plot consistency.

*note: this is NOT the same as a list of "potential or ideas" for characters! This "fate/left off" list is for already existing characters only! A list of ideas for new characters should be a separate document detailing just that. DO NOT overlap these lists.

Get going.

As a writer, you can't just sit around and daydream only. Get "out and about". Take the bus, hike with friends, anything that gets your juices flowing. Then get writing!