Why I’m Writing a Novel, and Why You Should Too
For those of you who follow me on Instagram or LinkedIn, you probably know I’m writing a novel to be completed by my 30th Birthday in mid-December. As of this week I’m 80% through the manuscript and saw this milestone as an opportunity to elaborate on why I’m undertaking such a project and why others should undertake similar ones.
My First Attempt at Writing a Novel
This isn’t my first attempt at writing a novel; that took place in early 2018. I was living in Northern California halfway between San Francisco and Sacramento. Having made the mistake six months prior of choosing where I lived based on where my project was located, I’d spent the last three months commuting by car and boat for four hours per day to my jobsite in downtown San Francisco. It goes without saying when the weekend came, the last thing I wanted to do was make the same trek.
The town I lived in didn’t have much for a 23 year old apart from a few nice hikes and a nice gym. I knew I needed a project to keep sane, and I chose to write a novel. The genesis of this seemingly random selection dated back to my first Advanced English assignment in 2011. We were tasked with writing a five page descriptive essay on a past event. Not only did crafting this piece stimulate me, the resulting mark gave me confidence I had potential outside of math and science.
The rest of that year proved to be arduous as I never recaptured the success of that first piece. However, it did plant the seed there were other avenues I should explore. Returning to California, I spent the next four months working on my novel every Saturday at a Barnes and Noble. Halfway through that time period I moved to San Francisco with four other guys, which ultimately ended that project at 54 pages.
The Writing Itch Returns…
Fast forward to last summer, the same writing itch reemerged, which lead me to create Becoming Polymathic. During the holidays that year, the itch intensified, and I set a goal to self-publish a novel by my next birthday. It’s been a demanding yet evocative project that, as of today, sits 80% complete at 190 pages.
Why now, though, and why writing in general? Why did it take 13 years for a mere interest to manifest at the highest level in the form of publishing a novel?
Writing’s Role in the Human Experience
To answer both these questions, it’s paramount to first understand the significance of writing to the human experience. When we’re learning to speak, we do so by examining a series of written consonants or words then try to extract meaning from them. The better composed these elements are, the better our linguistics.
As we age, it continues to roost. All entertainment — books, lyrics, movies scripts, and speeches — originate from writing. All businesses begin with a written prospectus, along with all ad copy, email correspondence, and marketing. Even computer code is a form of writing, and we all appreciate the results of poorly written code.
The ability to write well is foundational to any level of success in any pursuit. Taking it a step further, the ability to write with different objectives provides limitless opportunity for individuals to succeed in any interest inside or outside their core competencies. That last statement underpins my logic for pursuing this novel, and also why I strongly encourage you to pursue a similar project even if publishing is not the goal. The project need not be grand in scale, it can be as simple as daily journaling. The only stipulation is it must be appropriately challenging.
What Writing a Novel has Taught Me
The process of composing my novel has not only taught me more about writing than all my previous projects, but has also built on important core values that apply to Becoming Polymathic and beyond such as abstraction, consistency, discipline, flexibility, and precision.
Writing reveals intent and, unlike other mediums, it affords you the privilege of reflection. In layman’s terms, you can edit what you wrote, it’s hard to edit what you spoke. Often when engaging in the writing process, we discover a disconnect between our true sentiment and our chosen word composition. By filling this void, we are deepening our perspective, to which there is no downside.
As to why it took me 13 years to finally act on this interest, I can answer that in a single word — maturity. The word maturity evolves throughout one’s life, particularly in youth. At this stage in my life, it’s meaning is two-fold. One, it means appreciating the commitment required to create something significant. Two, it means viewing obstacles as necessary parts of growth as opposed to limitations. As evidenced by the page counts of the three aforementioned projects, the greatest contributing factors to developing maturity are experience and time.
I wrote this piece not only to discuss the logic underpinning my pursuit, but also to demonstrate the importance of writing to the human experience. I truly believe everybody should take on the responsibility of improving his or her writing and view it as a gateway to improving external and internal communication. Should you take it on, by default, you will improve your standing in the world.
Write More.
Be More.
Becoming Polymathic.
P.S. I provide novel status updates on Instagram and LinkedIn every two weeks. You can follow the progress using the hyperlinks.
