BOOKS

I’ve Been Writing Fiction for 45 Years

Here Are 5 Hard-Earned Lessons about Making a Living from It

--

How can you make money writing fiction? Photo by Neel on Unsplash

The journey began in 1978 with the publication of my debut novel, "Stupet" (“The Precipice”), which narrates the tale of a young man grappling with illness and his fear of death. I penned this novel amidst an existential crisis at the age of thirty. At that time, there was no internet, self-publishing platforms, advanced marketing strategies, or widespread computer access.

My initial computer acquisition occurred around 1985—a formidable IBM portable computer that operated with floppy disks. In the early 1990s, access to what are now viewed as outdated home computers was limited to a select few individuals. There was no AI or Grammarly to aid in punctuation, and certainly no internet to swiftly search for synonyms on Google.

Today, with the help of modern technology, anyone can conjure up a novel in a matter of weeks, if not days.

The writing process back then took an exceedingly long time and offered no guarantee of success. When I was authoring the book “Stupet”, I had the wild idea that I shouldn’t sleep at all or as little as possible, so I spent the nights awake and the days working at the high school where I taught.

--

--

Øivind H. Solheim - the Novel Author
Practice in Public

New novel: The Man Who Stopped Aging, Amazon Kindle. Love story & intellectual investigation: Can we extend human life to 100 or 110? www.oivindhsolheim.com/