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A notebook for fiction writers and aspiring novelists. An editor’s perspective.
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“I want to write a book, but…”
The fiction writers that I know, we’re all daydreamers at heart. The obstacle confronting us is that—well, we’re all daydreamers at heart. And, sorry to say, but daydreams don’t magically turn into completed novels. The truth is that daydreams—those misty thought-bubbles from which all novels spring, and the reality of churning out a book—sitting down to actually write a few hundred thousand words—requires two completely different facets of a writer’s personality. Two very different abilities.
Our Right Brain—that artsy-fartsy, huggin’ and feelin’ hemisphere—is content to sit on a comfy couch all day, dreaming about pirates or unicorns or maybe what happened that one night at summer camp. Our Left Brain—the logical, mathematical, factual part—pays the bills. Sets the alarm clock. Saves for rainy days. For many of us who write (or sing or paint or photograph or philosophize), our Left Brain may be underutilized—and is probably suspicious of why we’ve chosen to write a novel and how this career choice is going to pay for the kids’ college tuition. Yet it must, sooner or later, take the cerebral baton from our Right Brain and run with it.
And trust me, that race will be a marathon.
As previously mentioned, passing the baton from our Right Brain creative self to our Left Brain logical self is where a great many novels stumble and fail. A hazy notion may sprout, may grow a leaf or two, but then the idea of developing an entire tree’s worth of leafy green ideas fills us with dread and discomfort. Many of us will—either temporarily or permanently—dissolve back into a safe, complacent daydream. Should we never attempt writing again, we’ll always wonder, …what if?
And writers do sometimes plow through those fears, push themselves to go the distance and even become published authors. A few even become household names. But each one of us, sooner or later, has to take the chance and write those few few words, then paragraphs, and pages. And for some of us, even though the fear persists, a stronger emotion takes over. Maybe it’s the risk of a dare, or the sense of impending accomplishing or (and ain’t nothing wrong with this…) an intense yearning for fame and fortune.
However, it’s important to understand that the process of “writing a book” begins long before the physical act of writing begins. For those wannabe writers who fall in love with the concept of being published, and then sit down to write a story—only to discover they don’t know what to write about—just realize that those writers are deep diving into the shallow end of the pool. Attempting to climb a ladder with the bottom half the rungs missing. Framing a roof before pouring a foundation. And attempting many other lame clichés as well.
My suggestion? Allow yourself sufficient time to establish enough of a story to solidify a few solid ideas. You not have concocted an entire story, but it’s useful to have determined at least an inciting incident and whatever the resulting results. Or establishing a character’s personality enough to ground readers who this person might be, and what’s the motivation? In other words, have a few scenes or chapter’s worth of material stored up so that when you first sit down to write, you’re not staring into some endless black void of uncertainty. For many writers, having a vague semblance of a plot or a strong character personality is enough for the Left Brain to intuit where the Right Brain is coming from. And that’s all it takes!
Another option? Don’t think of yourself as sitting down to write a novel. Think of yourself as writing a short story. Don’t worry about what might happen 200 pages later—stay in the moment and write what that particular moment brings. Give your brain a pleasant little jump start, perhaps 1000-2000 words… and see where that leads you. Very often that short-story-of-an-idea will soon expand in scope and complexity—and now you’re on your way… to all that aforementioned fame and fortune.
Refer again, should you desire, to: Where To Start. And: Focus on the Now. And: First Drafts.
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