9 Things to Do Before Starting a Novel | setting yourself up for success!

Starting a novel draft goes smoother when writers engineer their thinking environment, lock down the story’s engine early, and reduce friction in the workflow. The most consequential move is building “optimal thinking space”—a setup that keeps brainstorming active even when the writer isn’t actively drafting. For Jaylen, that means curating music that matches the book’s tone; repeated listening turns the songs into background prompts that pull the story back into the mind.

From there, the preparation becomes more structural: study comparable books closely, then make the writing workspace simple enough that it gets used. Reading several titles that share the same narrative techniques, themes, or overall objectives helps writers spot what works and what doesn’t, including pitfalls they can avoid before they draft. Jaylen recommends gathering a small set of “vibe” books (often three or four) before starting, especially when the project involves a specific or unfamiliar approach—like the plotless vignette style used in a previous ghost novel.

Workflow design matters just as much as inspiration. Jaylen sets up notes in an intuitive, low-friction way: most notes live in a phone notes app, then get consolidated into a single document for easy access. The guiding principle is to avoid extra steps and scattered systems—pretty templates and separate apps are abandoned because they add friction. The goal is one place to reach everything quickly, with plot events loosely ordered so drafting can begin without hunting.

Before committing to full drafting, Jaylen also tests the novel’s voice. Writing a few “test scenes”—sometimes an opening, sometimes other moments—helps confirm how the character’s voice works and prevents the early chapters from becoming a long period of trial and error. That voice work is especially valuable when the writer has already drafted a handful of chapters over time, because it reduces the risk of getting stuck once the real draft begins.

Next comes deliberate choices that are hard to revise later: narrative style and point of view. Jaylen urges writers to think through tense, POV, chapter and scene structure, and whether the book will use form experiments. If something feels off during drafting, the fix often isn’t “more writing,” but changing the narrative approach—shorter scenes, different POV, or a different scene style.

Character work is treated as tension engineering. When assembling a cast, Jaylen emphasizes “optimizing tension” by designing relationships with stakes baked in. In the upcoming novel Salt Birds, a character’s role changes from a potential brother or neighbor to the wife’s step-brother, which intensifies family drama and property-related conflict. Finally, each character needs clearly pinned goals and motivations; otherwise drafting risks producing scenes that don’t serve the plot.

The last preparation steps are about pacing and feedback. Jaylen pushes for an inciting incident as early as possible—often by page two or by the end of chapter one—so early scenes function as setup rather than prolonged backstory. After writing roughly four or five chapters, the draft benefits from discussion with a trusted reader or workshop group, focusing on where the plot could go and where it shouldn’t, not just what’s “wrong” in the opening pages.