How to Write a Fiction Book: Character, Plot and POV

A novel, a novella and a short story are built from the same five parts. This guide takes one invented mystery, Ten Days in Kestrel Bay, through each of them, so you can see every step on a real example. The process around them, from setting a word count to revising, is in the 10 steps to write a book. If you have the story but not the time to write it, a novel ghostwriter can write it with you.

The five parts of a fiction book at a glance

A fiction book stands on five parts: a premise, a main character, a plot, a point of view, and scenes. Get these right and the rest is easier to fix.

Start with a premise you can say in one sentence

A premise is your whole story in one sentence. It names a character, a goal, an obstacle and the stakes, the thing the character loses if they fail. If you can’t write it yet, you may not know your story yet. That is normal: the sentence is the first thing to work on.

The premise is the promise to the reader. The plot keeps that promise, event by event.

Use the builder below. Fill in four boxes and it joins them into one sentence you can copy.

Once your premise reads well, turn your premise into a hook for a back cover or a pitch.

Build a main character with a goal, a reason and a flaw

Readers follow a character who wants something. Give yours three things before you draft.

1. A goal the reader can see. “Find the missing pages” works better than “find peace.”
2. A reason the goal matters to them now. Mara’s father lied to her once before, and she never asked why.
3. A flaw that gets in the way. Mara trusts no one, so she refuses the help she needs.

The flaw often makes the ending land. In many novels the character gets what they want only after they change. Mara solves the mystery only when she finally lets someone help her.

Write a one-page sheet for your main character: age, job, what they want, why, what they fear, and one habit readers will remember. Stuck on a name? Try our free character name generator.

Shape the plot: five turning points

A plot is a chain of causes: each event leads to the next. Five turning points hold that chain in place. You can plan them before you write or find them as you go, but know them by the end of your first draft. Planning more than one book? See how to write a book series.

Many writers place turning points at rough percentages of the book. The figures below follow the Save the Cat! beat sheet as adapted for novels by Jessica Brody. Treat them as a rough guide.

After the climax comes the resolution: what the character has learned and where they end up. For Mara, it is whether she stays in Kestrel Bay.

An 80,000-word novel is a planning example only. Length depends on genre and readership.

If you want to plan chapter by chapter first, see how to outline a novel.

Choose a point of view

Point of view (POV) is whose eyes the reader sees the story through. Pick one before you draft, because changing it later can mean rewriting much of the book.

Here is the same moment in all three.

First person and close third keep the secret. Omniscient can share it with the reader before Mara knows. That choice changes how the mystery works.

Omniscient moves between minds on purpose, in one narrator’s steady voice. Head-hopping is different: a scene told from one character’s view that slips into another character’s head without warning. It can confuse readers. If you write in close third about several characters, switch at a scene or chapter break.

Also pick a tense, past (“Mara tied off the line”) or present (“Mara ties off the line”), and keep it.

Writing for young readers? POV and voice expectations shift with age. See middle grade vs young adult.

Write key moments as scenes

A scene shows a moment as it happens, with action and dialogue. A summary tells the reader what happened. Summary moves time along quickly. Scenes are where readers feel the story, so give every key moment a scene. When your characters talk, see how to write dialogue in a book.

The writing teacher Dwight V. Swain, in Techniques of the Selling Writer (1965), described a scene in three parts: a goal, a conflict, and a disaster, the setback that leaves the character worse off. The card below adds one question of our own: what changed?

If you can’t fill in “what changed,” the scene may not be needed. Cut it, or merge it with the scene before.

Mistakes that stall a first novel

• No goal by the end of the opening chapters. Readers tend to drift when they can’t tell what the character wants.
• A middle with nothing at stake. If the middle sags, look at your midpoint. It should raise the stakes.
• Head-hopping. Several characters’ thoughts in one close-POV scene. Pick one head per scene.
• Summary where a scene should be. The big moments happen off the page and get reported afterward.
• Rewriting chapter one forever. Finish the draft first. The opening is easier to fix once you know the ending. If your draft has already stalled, use our plan to finish a book you have already started.
• A flaw that never matters. If the character ends the book unchanged, the climax can feel empty.

When to get help

You can write a fiction book on your own, and many authors do. Help makes sense in three cases.

• Your draft is finished, but the story isn’t working. A developmental edit looks at plot, character, pacing and point of view across the whole manuscript. For fiction it is $330 for the first 10,000 words, then $0.033 a word: $2,640 for an 80,000-word novel. You get an 8 to 20 page editorial letter plus chapter notes.
• You want to write it yourself, with support. A book coach reads your pages and keeps you on schedule, from $849, or try one session for $399. Our coaches work with fiction, non-fiction and memoir, including romance, mystery, thriller, suspense, fantasy, young adult, women’s and contemporary fiction.
• You have the story but not the time. A fiction ghostwriter writes the novel in your voice, from your outline and interviews. Fiction ghostwriting is 33¢ a word, from $6,600 for 20,000 words. Every word written by a human writer.

Fiction writing questions first-time authors ask

What point of view is best for a first novel?

Close third person and first person are both good choices for a first novel, because each keeps you in one character’s head and makes point-of-view slips easier to spot. Choose first person for a strong, personal voice. Choose close third if you might want a second viewpoint character later. Omniscient is harder to control, so some writers save it for a later book.

Can I switch point of view in a novel?

Yes, if you do it on purpose. Many novels rotate between two or more viewpoint characters, switching at a scene break or a new chapter, often with the character’s name as the chapter heading. What can confuse readers is switching in the middle of a scene without warning, called head-hopping. Pick one character per scene, and make each switch clear.

What’s the difference between a premise and a plot?

A premise is the story in one sentence: a character, a goal, an obstacle and what’s at stake. A plot is every event that follows from it, in order, built around turning points like the inciting incident, midpoint and climax. Write the premise first. It tells you what your plot has to deliver, and it helps you test ideas before you spend months drafting.

Can I base a fiction book on real events?

Yes. Facts and historical events can’t be copyrighted, though another writer’s telling of them can. The bigger risk is real, living people. Calling a book fiction does not protect you, and a disclaimer may not either, if readers can recognize a real person in a character shown in a false and harmful way. The Authors Guild advises changing identifying details beyond recognition, since a new name alone is likely not enough. This is general information, not legal advice.