: Re: Where to go next in the writing process? I'm a new writer, have been working on a novel length piece of work for the past couple of years, and I have always been the kind of person to

@Kevin153

There are many different processes, and none is "right" or "wrong." They just work well for different writers. You need to find the one that is a good match for your own strengths and weaknesses. There are a few writers who can just dive in and intuit the structure. But the majority of writers do at least some planning and outlining.
If you're looking for a structured, step-by-step way to move from outline to novel, many writers swear by the "Snowflake Method" (formulated by Randy Ingermanson), which is a way of starting from a core idea, and moving though a series of increasingly detailed outlines that culminate in a finished book. But that's only one of many methods.
Other authors take an approach that focuses on a three-act structure, and alternating rising and falling action --McKee's Story is a well-known text for that, although it's oriented towards cinema. Others take inspiration from the classic structure of the Hero's Journey -- Vogler's Writer's Journey covers that. For me, I've found the most help recently in texts that focus on highlighting the goals and transformative journeys of the characters. Story Genius (Cron) and Techniques of the Selling Writer (Swain) are a new and a classic text in this mode, respectively. Both are very good.

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