Drawing on his own experiences and on those of successful writers, Nigel Watts takes aspiring novelists through the process of writing a novel, from the germ of an idea, through developing plot, character and theme, to editing and presenting the novel for publication. He gives practical advice on how to get started and how to keep going if you meet writer's block. Featuring a range of examples to illustrate key points, each chapter ends with suggested exercises to help develop the reader's writing skills.