Novel Basics: An Illustrated Guide to Writing a Novel by Juliet KincaidLet longtime college writing instructor and novelist Dr. Juliet Kincaid talk you through her unique method of brainstorming a novel with twenty 3" by 5" index cards in the first part of Novel Basics, an Illustrated Guide to Writing a Novel. Once you've completed your personalized pack of cards, follow through on what you've started with Dr. J's expert guidance on time management, drafting a novel, and revising one as well. Altogether Novel Basics provides a compact, yet complete guide to writing a novel, whether it's your first, your fourth, or your fifteenth. Excerpt from Novel BasicsI know you're out there. I've met you in some way or another.Maybe you're the girl in an online group I belong to who wants to start your coming-of-age novel about growing up in the Ozarks amid the opioid crisis, but you don't quite know how to do that.You could be a short story writer intimidated by the sheer size of a novel.Or maybe you're the man I talked to at a local authors fair who always meant to get back to that novel you started twenty years ago, but now it sits hidden in a drawer at home.Perhaps you tried to write a 50,000-word novel during a National Novel Writing Month event, but you didn't make it all the way through. Or you did finish and now you have the diploma declaring you a NaNoWriMo winner, but you don't know what to do next. Let's say that you're the author of a brilliant, well-received first novel who can't get that sophomore effort together.Maybe you're like me. You have several completed novels in your file cabinet that you could never get an agent or publisher interested in, so you gave up on those projects. Possibly taking a little time to explore one of those will help you decide if it's worthwhile for you to go back to it . . .Maybe you don't quite fit into any of these slots I've mentioned, but still you're like the rest of us. You've got an idea sparked by that powerful question "What if?" that keeps bugging you, an itch you'd like to scratch at least a little bit . . .As for qualifications, Dr. J, as her students called her, has a huge experience with the novel. She has more read than 3,000 of them and counting. Her dissertation on fiction in diary form was labeled remarkably free of jargon. She has written more than a dozen novels and published five so far. Thirty-five years of experience teaching writing at the college level have honed her communication skills. The book Novel Basics is based in part on Dr. J's popular workshop of the same name. Here are two testimonials from former students of the course for Juliet's unusual approach to brainstorming a novel. "Novel Basics is the perfect kickstart for new novelists to prepare before writing the first line and continuing through the middle to the conclusion. Important story elements are presented in the logical, easy-to-follow order the writer should consider them. Experienced authors can also benefit from this new approach for their next projects." Mary-Lane Kamberg, award-winning professional writer, speaker, and editor and co-leader of the Kansas City Writers Group and founder and director of I Love to Write Camps for young writers. "Starting with a simple question ('Who wants what?'), this method offers writers a step-by-step guide to organizing and plotting a novel. Kincaid's approach helps writers think about critical points beforehand so the writing process will be smoother and more productive." Author Cheryl Brinkman Johnson