On Writing a Novel: Begin, or It Will Never Get Done

So you want to write a novel?

But you can’t seem to get started. Or you can’t finish.

Do you know what your biggest obstacle is?

You!

You tell yourself you can’t find the time. You’re too busy, your day is too full. A thousand things are going on in your life that you have to deal with day after day–the spouse, the kids, the job, errands, the blues. Yeah, I know. And you can’t put any of that aside . . . or so you say to yourself.

Well, I’m here to tell you that if you ever want to get that novel written, you have got to sit your ass down and make the time.

How do you do that?

By making writing a priority in your life. Put some writing time right up there at the top of your to-do list. Steal an hour in the quiet, wee hours of the morning — yes, set the alarm clock for 5 a.m. — or 30 minutes during your lunch break. Or a couple of hours late at night after the children and spouse are snoozing. Whenever you can find some time.

Hey, no one ever said this was going to be easy. If it was easy, everyone would have done it. You, your cousin, your lover, your best friend. Writing a novel is grueling work. Yet the rewards are immense. Everyone senses this and that’s why so many people want to become published authors.

But you’re going to be different from all those wannabes. Right? You’re going to make writing your novel a priority. You are going to set a regular writing schedule and stick to it. Before you know it, you’ll have written 10 pages and then 25, 50 and 100. And by then, you’ll start to believe in yourself. You’ll start to feel that you have something important to share with the world. You will see the end approaching and nothing will keep you away from your writing.

When I wrote my first novel, I was working as an editor full time but I was determined to get it done. I got up at 5:00 in the morning five days a week and wrote for several hours on the weekend. I was single and dating at the time and my then-boyfriend dumped me. He felt that my novel was getting more attention than he was. And he was right.

I’m not suggesting that you give up your love life or do anything as dramatic as that. In my case, the relationship was beginning to falter anyway, and the novel did it in. But you get the point. You may have to make sacrifices somewhere in your life if you’re serious about writing a novel.

Somehow, someway, right now, today, you’ve got to begin by making writing your novel one of the top two or three priorities in your life. If it’s really important to you, you’ll find a way to do that.

You’ve got this.

Writing Creatively

On Writing a Novel: Begin, or It Will Never…