Writing a novel is tough; but the idea of a story is plenty motivating. Even the most experienced authors can get tripped up, though. Here are five habits you may find helpful to write effectively and efficiently. Note that every writer is different; you may find advice contrary to be more helpful. But these have worked for me, so I hope they might serve you well.
1. Practice
Writing short stories are a great way to start off. Focusing on particular elements of writing in each story will help you tie them all together in the end. Dialogue, plot and structure; characters with emotion and viewpoint; descriptions and settings; plot and structure, revisions...there are countless "elements" to a novel, making mastering all of them difficult with only one project. I quickly got hung up on my big writing project. Far too often, I would have to switch gears between these elements that I had not become accustomed to. When I started to write short stories, or even short scenes, that were focused strictly on mastering a particular element of writing, my larger project seemed less overwhelming.
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2. Commit
Many sites help you commit to writing often. Getting that word count up is like running a marathon, but for a quick sprint, try NaNoWriMo (National November Writing Month). This site offers rewards, motivation, and feedback from other authors as you scramble to reach a word count. The only problem is that it's held in November, which for many students is a poor time to commit to writing every day. Camp NaNoWriMo offers April and June sessions which are more manageable for me. Writing every day for a month forms a habit, which will prove to be invaluable in your journey to publishing.
3. Remember
Some of the greatest ideas come to me at inconvenient times; in class, the middle of the night, even driving. Nothing is worse than failing to remember later what that idea was, so recording every idea is essential. Some writers keep an idea journal where they scribble concepts down. This journal doesn't have to be anything fancy; just something that is readily available on the go.
I personally use Microsoft OneNote. It's free to use, and is basically a virtual journal with tabs to keep all your ideas organized. Keeping organized is always important—especially considering the wealth of information you as an author must keep track of. OneNote is available on most devices for free.
4. Writing by scenes
It would make sense to write the story as it happens, right? That's what I thought, and I quickly discovered, for me, writing scene by scene is much easier. Just as your novel has a purpose to express, so too do "scenes." The entirety of any story can be broken up into scenes, where a character develops the plot, and himself. Every scene must contribute to the plot and character development. It's these scenes that provide a purposeful building block to the larger picture; the better you can construct and weave together these scenes, the better the novel will present itself. Scenes can highlight your novel's purpose through themes, tones and symbolism.
Scenes are just easier to manage. When writing chronologically, it's easy to get caught in a writer's block. Scenes are more easily edited, and gives you a picture of where your novel is heading.
Scenes also give you a goal. You can tell yourself, "I'm going to write one scene this week, where my protagonist will resolve the main conflict with the antagonist." This strays away from the word and page count, and rather on the substance of the scene.
5. Complete, not perfect
What is most frustrating in writing is deciding that the sentence you just wrote is awful, deleting it, then spending up to five minutes constructing a perfect sentence. Though you may be proud of your work, it most likely will be edited at the revision state anyway. Who knows? You may remove that page entirely after having a plot revelation. The point is, focus on completing your story. Then you can worry about the quality in the rough draft. The writing process works, because it saves time and worry. Writing a compelling story is hard enough without being caught up in grammar and style and all the horribly complicated situations the English language can create.
