Anthropologist, international lecturer, and consultant Alexandra Hamlet now has a new title–award winning author. In her first novel, Hamlet jumps deep into the military-intelligence world with her suspense-thriller The Right Guard.

If you have been considering writing your own first novel, these steps can help you get started.

The first step is to get words onto the page, no matter what those words are. Every novelist starts somewhere, and that starting point is getting words onto the page. The blank page is the writer’s worst enemy, so start by brainstorming or outlining. Once you figure out the backbone for just one scene or perhaps a tangential plot line you can build off that and eventually you’ll have a whole novel.

The second step to getting your novel written is to write! Write, write, write! Even though you may not like everything you write every time you sit down to put words on paper, getting the words on the paper is the important part. The more you write, good and bad, the more ideas you have to build off of. Once all of your ideas are on paper, then you can go back and edit out the good from the bad.

The third step is to edit, and be prepared to edit out the extraneous. Extraneous characters, plot lines, and scenes all need to be cut or refined. All the writing that you did for the second step means that there will be plenty of good, but you will also have some not so good. Make sure you have your trusted friends and family read through your writing, too, they will be able to help you figure out what you can keep and what needs to be edited out.

Finally, make sure you celebrate the milestones. Each chapter deserves a dinner out, the first draft deserves a bottle of champagne, the final draft deserves a party! Be excited, and stay excited about your writing, and you’ll see your own first novel come to fruition!

Tell us about your ideas for a first novel at www.facebook.com/Alexandra-Hamlet-1770423746571443/