Begin with a hook. Compare "Once upon a time..." to "Michael's sports car whizzed around the corner. He and Paulo were neck and neck. Who would win? It was uncertain; Paulo had trained for years, yet Michael had talent. " Which opening was more interesting to you? Chances are, you chose the second one. It was descriptive, it set up a tension from the start and it begged you to read on and learn more.
Don't place all of your interesting plot material at the beginning. Keep up the level of interest throughout the story by doling out new twists, ideas, information, etc. as the novel proceeds. A good way to do this is to end chapters with a cliffhanger or a moral dilemma.
Let your emotions show in your writing; lead with what you know. If you lost a loved one, write about that. If you're crushing hard, write about that. Use thoughts and feelings: Your characters have feelings too. Try to think how you would react to being in that situation and express this through your writing.
Add sufficient detail to bring the story to life and to make the character seem truly real. If it is a sad book, add enough detail to bring the reader to tears. Add different ideas throughout the book and in every different idea, add a different way to describe it. Details attract readers to your book and keep them riveted. Develop good, in-depth characters. Make sure to include flaws; no single person is perfect or all-good, even if they kid themselves that they're perfect. Readers will be turned off by a totally perfect character.
Reread your work now and then. How is it flowing? Does the flow seem natural or do the chapters or sections seem a little jilted? Flow is important so that the reader doesn't feel that things have come at them from left field or that there is no connection between the chapters. Avoid using vocabulary that you're not familiar with; there can be a pressure to make it work too hard and sound out of place.
Keep writing. Step away from the advice here and just get on with it. Don't rely on tutorials and other people to write the book for you, let your imagination flow through the book and watch as a simple idea becomes an entire novel, all of your own doing.
Have your friends and family read the finished result. Take constructive suggestions on board where you think they will improve the book. Print the book out, bind it and place it on the bookshelf as a family treasure. If it's really good, you might even consider getting it published, either through a publisher or by vanity publishing, but that's a whole other tale.
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