For absolute novel beginners: Your first step isn't a short story or a completed work—it's a 'bulleted list of delusions'!

The current discourse on novel writing for beginners... isn't it a bit too difficult?
*Well, I'm mostly looking at light novels and web novels, though.

Write short stories. Finish long novels.
Talking about plot structure and the like is such a hassle!!!

I mean, I'm not denying that advice.

But I do think it's 'difficult from the very start'.

Aren't there a lot of people who just lose their motivation?

It's hard for a beginner to jump straight into short stories with a full plot structure.
The shorter it is, the harder it actually is to pull it all together properly.
If you like it, that's fine, but if you're not interested, it's tough.
It's like being forced to play piano practice pieces. It's not fun.

Besides, you can't necessarily say that it hones the 'character development,' 'world-building depth,' and 'story construction skills for a 5+ volume series' required for the super-long commercial novels that are common these days.

Therefore, for the absolute beginner,

I will teach you 'how to create a novel from absolute zero'.
For entertainment-style stories. I'll share an easy, fun method.

First, let me say this.

The essence of entertainment novels is 'putting your delusions into text'.
And that works even if it's short.

Please take this away with you.

Why am I saying this?

Because beginners aren't even able to 'expand on their delusions' in the first place.

No, really, that's it. This is the part they can't do yet.
The expansion is weak. Even if you tell them to write their delusions, the volume is lacking.
That's why it feels vague, and they can't seem to start writing.

So, I'll tell you the true first step of novel writing.

It is a 'bulleted list of delusions'.
And you should start by thinking about the highlights.
This is the real first step.

A highlight is the scene that first popped into your head during your daydreams. Or it could be the very first scene of the first chapter.
It can just be a vague idea of 'a scene like this!' for the whole story.

Let me give you an example.
First, you daydream, right?

Like, I want to go on a journey where I eventually become friends with a female swordswoman.

At this stage, you haven't decided anything about what comes before or after.
Not just before or after, you haven't decided the opening or the ending.
In fact, even the detailed scenes are fuzzy.
There's just a vague desire and delusion.
But this is fine. This is the first step.

Write this down in a bulleted list.
Roughly, okay? Just the highlights.

This becomes the base of the novel, butdoesn't it feel a bit lacking?Yes. Let's add to it.

It's a little better, but still feels like something is missing. It feels like I haven't fully put my delusions into words yet.Let's add more.

Yeah, yeah. Feels good.
I felt like I was gradually able to put my delusions into words. But I can still add more.

The verbalization of my delusions has progressed significantly, and I feel like images are starting to float in my brain!
Adding dialogue makes it take shape all at once. Let's definitely think about dialogue.
Also, a dungeon just appeared on its own, and the protagonist became a support mage. Well, this is just for the vibe.At this stage, let's just go with the flow.

Now, let's push the delusions further. The mood is that of a middle school boy. I'll let the raw liquid of my delusions flow without brakes.

I've started bulleting settings and desires instead of writing sentences, but that's fine. Let's proceed like this. Because you can just delete settings you decide you don't need later.It's fine to decide later that you don't need this heroine either.

Now, I've also entered the turn where I'll start thinking seriously about character design and world-building.

The delusions from the first two lines have gradually taken shape. It feels good.

I'll continue with the delusions.
By the way, suppose I suddenly become curious about how they met.
Then, let's try writing that down.

I'll dig deeper into ideas 'when I become curious about them.' Once you get used to it, you'll prepare in advance, but until then, do it this way.
By the way, feel free to refer to other works as much as you want. That work had a meeting like this, that one was like that. And my preference is this, etc.

Even this meeting is necessary as a setting for a full-scale story, but remember that when you were doing the initial two-line delusion, you weren't thinking about anything. It's fine to add this later.

Now, let's assume the third one struck a chord. Mainly because it's easy to handle.

Shall we adopt it like this?

Let's think about conversation scenes and such based on this.

...is what I'd like to say, but it's gotten long, so I'll stop here for now.

So, what do you think?

Can you see how it evolved from the first two lines of delusion into an actual 'story'?

Can you see how it looks like it could become a 'work' if you keep going like this?

From the first chapter to the highlights and the ending. Character designs and world-building are starting to take shape, too.

Doesn't it feel like the framework of the story is coming together?

After that, it's easier to write if you focus on things like conversation scenes. It makes it easier to expand on later.

If you keep adding to it, it will turn into a decent story before you know it.

By the way, I wrote an ending for now, but that's just a convenient place to stop.

For now, it's fine to just say 'it ends when I can't think of what happens next.'
No, really. You don't need to think about completing it from the start.

If there's a part that's troublesome or you can't think of anything, just skip it for now and write from where you want to write.
'Something happens and something gets solved' is fine for now. Just for the time being.

So, how is it?

Don't you feel like you could make a story if you keep going with this?

By the way, did you realize that you can change the setting and situation as much as you want from here? Please grasp that, too.

A medieval European-style world is fine, but do you see how this could also be a modern dungeon story?
You could set it in a facility, and it could easily become near-future or sci-fi.
It could even work in a ruined post-apocalyptic world.

Change the tanned bikini-armor female warrior into a woman in a tight bodysuit.
Change the monsters into autonomous runaway machines.
If you make the dungeon a ruined research facility,
in no time at all, you have a sci-fi near-future hardboiled world.

What do you think?

Can you see how a story can expand infinitely from just a two-line opening?

Let me say it again.

To be blunt, at this very moment, you've already...

The minimum viable story is complete.

There are still many things to do to turn this into a 'work,' but...

Even if it's just a bulleted list, a story is still a story.

All that's left is to decide whether to write what you've put in one or a few lines as 100 lines or 1,000 lines.

If it's just a hobby, this is enough to enjoy. It's fun just looking at your bulleted list of delusions, and that's totally fine. If you want to publish it and get evaluated as a work, you'll need to flesh it out, but that doesn't mean 'anything else is no good.'

The essence of the story remains the same.

If you proceed this way, the story is already complete.
All that's left is to make it longer with more detail and refinement.
Even at the bulleted list stage, it's already fun enough for yourself.

The stage where you enjoy drawing rough sketches for an illustration is the stage where you enjoy looking at bulleted lists and plots for a novel. There is no problem at all with stopping here and mass-producing them. Unless you are aiming to be a professional, you don't have to obsess over completion or publication; you can just enjoy mass-producing bulleted lists. Do whatever you like.

However, if you are going to post it or want feedback, 'fleshing it out' means changing it from a 'story only you understand' to a 'story that others can understand too.'

Please grasp the fact that stories can be created easily.

Delusions become the core of imagining situations.
If you connect situations, they become a story.
If you polish the story, it becomes a work.

'A series of situations is a story'

Please keep this in mind. That is all.
Even if you just dump (a series of) situations into a bulleted list, it is a perfectly valid story.
It can even end in 10 lines.
If you write that in tens of thousands of lines, it becomes a work you can show others.

To put it extremely, just to put your mind at ease,
the only difference between the state in the example and the state of a finished work is the 'number of lines.'

Of course, there are many things to do and techniques involved in increasing the number of lines (fleshing it out). Emotion, mystery, structure, prose, characters, and so on.
Just like painting or adding parts to a plastic model, there is clumsy fleshing out and skillful fleshing out.
But please grasp that the prototype is the same.
Please grasp that you are writing 10,000 lines for something that could end in 10 lines.

Isn't there a situation you like in your brain?
Isn't there a situation you think might be interesting?

Let's start by writing that down.
Let's start with 3 lines. If it's fun, make it 30 lines.
If that's also fun, make it 300 lines, 3,000 lines.
Add dialogue, write the narrative text.
That's all there is to it.

The better you get at this 'fun at the bulleted list stage,' the higher your ability to come up with novel ideas will be.

The better you get at this 'fleshing out of bulleted lists,' the better your novel writing skills will become.

And the multiplication of your idea-generating ability and your writing skill is what makes a novel interesting.

This concludes my advice for true novel beginners.

One last word.

Delusions are even more fun when you put them into words and leave them in a tangible form!!!

Good luck.