Everybody who investigates writing a novel learns about plot and characters, about dialogue and description. I think that’s reasonable, but not as comprehensively useful as it once was, before the internet days. I have some ideas of my own about what goes into good writing. Consider these components like the face/vase optical illusion; they exist simultaneously and in the same space as the traditional components. Also note: I am not a published author. Those who man the gatehouses of commercial publishing may not agree with me. But heck, I’d love to hear from people about this.
Wordcraft
That is, using written language to successfully accomplish goals. This includes not just the basics of grammar and spelling everybody graduates from high school with, but a sense of cadence and an extended understanding of vocabulary. To understand vocabulary, you need more than a big list of words (because a lot of great authors do wonderful things with a relatively small list of words). You also need to understand relationships between the words chosen, and making deliberate decisions in using those relationships. This category further includes layout and word arrangement, which should again be considered in light of the vision one is trying to communicate.
Here is a simile to explain why wordcraft is important. The book or webpage or whatever that somebody is reading is like a window to another world. As most windows contain glass, the medium contains words. If a writer ignores the words, the glass ends up smudged and dirty, blurring and distorting the story beyond. Refining wordcraft is like polishing the window to make it as transparent as possible.
As far as I know this skill is developed by the usual tactics of much reading and writing– but also, much reading of what you write.
Alone, all it produces are eloquent but not very interesting blog posts.
Storycraft
Fundamentally, this is skill is about learning what to show, and when and how to show it. A story should not be presented the way our lives are experienced, with every moment of a character’s life (through the story) described. Even reality TV skips the boring stuff. A basic rule of thumb is to exclude every detail that does not advance the reader’s understanding of the story you’re trying to tell.
But that’s the most basic level of storycraft. Just as the point of wordcraft is to keep the window transparent, the point of storycraft is to keep the reader curious and interested. This is a technical skill and one that can (I believe) be studied in order to gain basic competency. As a technical skill, it’s been developed and refined and passed down, and techniques can be learned from others. It is NOT about what is being observed through the window, but about organizing and presenting the observed matter so that the viewer remains as entertained and interested as possible. Storycraft shares basic concepts not just with pedagogy and marketing, but also with visual artistry and aesthetic design.
There are a great many variations built upon the foundations of basic storycraft, but you have to have the foundations first.
Refined storycraft alone produces comedy, best presented verbally. Have you ever heard, “It’s all in the timing?”
Ideas
This is the bit a lot of people think about when they think about creative writing. It’s what’s beyond the window, it’s the vision. There are many many sources out there that suggest ways to learn about ideas. Most of them are grounded in observation and speculation. Look at the world around you, ask questions about it, and come up with answers. Your observations will rarely be original. Your questions and answers might be, but it isn’t required. The more you observe your world and the more questions you ask, the more ideas you will have.
It’s important to know that if you come up with a different answer to a question that has already been answered convincingly, you’ll have to do a lot more work to support your idea– which usually involves coming up with more ideas. At some point you’ll rest your construction on ideas your readers are already familiar with. These familiar, shared ideas are much of what comprises ‘genre conventions’ and influences genre expectations.
Ideas alone produce either daydreams, or are cloaked in a mass of forgettable and confusing prose.
Persistence
Oh yes. You have to keep going. You have to keep writing. All of the above without persistence results in a lot of pretty, gripping, clever story fragments, or, in the best case, occasional brilliant short stories.
On the other hand, persistence alone doesn’t make a good story. It can and does produce vast manuscripts. Unfortunately.
Flexibility
What flexibility means in this context is that you have to be willing to read and change what you write. None of the first three are finished and done in one go. No, not even ideas. They are all improved by reading your work, thinking about it and experimenting.
I don’t think you end up writing if all you have is flexibility. Maybe you get involved in some other aspect of novel-production?
Nathan Fall is discussing. 
Jenna is discussing. 
Annabelle, 
Nathan and one other person are discussing. 
, yet I’m a kid so I think different from you “adult” figures…
Nathan is discussing. 
Chrysoula, 
Michelle and 2 others are discussing. 
Neil is discussing.
Nathan Fall 4:24 pm on October 26, 2006 Permalink
jugling is always fun…
I’m doing well with a stick Shift and it’s only been ehh… 5 days