First of all, writing a novel is not a difficult thing. Just ask Eminem. It's like keeping a diary from a godlike perspective. Pay attention to a few things which should get you started in no time.
One of them is planning. A novel starts as a project, just like a house does. You want to build it and sell it, then you need to plan it first. You can't put a flimsy foundation on a four storey just like you can't end a tragedy with a wedding taking place. So at first, plan your course of action. Decide what the end is before you start writing the beginning. Otherwise you'll just go with the flow, the main reason successful writers suddenly get blocked. Inspiration comes and goes, but rationale doesn't, as it's not based on momentum, but on a logical course of ideas. In this case, we're talking a fictional course of ideas. Begin with knowing where you start, where you go from there and when will it end.
Next step, characters. There's a reason writers like Hemingway or Mark Twain chose to build their characters based on themselves and friendlies: they're real, therefore plausible. It's hard, extremely hard I might add, to build plausible characters from scratch. That happens because of the difficulty one encounters when trying to be several people at once. A good 'fictional' character is one you are able to see and react to it, care about it. Think about Tom Sawyer for an instant.
Next comes coordination. Once you find the persons you want to build your characters around, find their connections. Of course, those are tightly related to your plot. By taking in consideration the psychology of your characters you need to find the best way they can relate with one another and with the plot for maximum of impact on the readers. Actually this is the hardest part. That's because you need to detach yourself emotionally from you brainchild and exploit its pieces to the limit. Once you get that done there's no turning back. You may have dozens of drafts written, but those will only affect the novel semantically or grammatically, the core itself will have been established.
I do not care to elaborate on certain novel rules and limitations. As far as modern writing goes, there are none. In the old times there had to be certain truths to be established, characters to be defined by the course of their or others actions. There are no such tedious requirements today. Everybody writes. But a weak novel is still weak, old rules or new. Before you write you have to think as a director. If you can manage that you're halfway there. The other half is pure luck.
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