How to Start Writing a Novel
Four ideas to get you started (which is the most important part.)
Because it’s how I roll, I’m going to start with a story.
I wanted to write a novel for at least twenty years before I actually wrote the first (truly awful) draft of my first novel. Legit, from the sixth grade until my early thirties, I wanted to be a novelist badly, but I never wrote a book.
I kind of hate that it took me so long to actually do it. When I think back about why I was in my thirties before I actually sat down and finished a long-form story, a few things come to mind.
I was paralyzed by fear of failure. What if I couldn’t do it? As long as I just wanted to write a book, I was okay. But if I actually tried to do it and just couldn’t — then what?
I was also like a deer in headlights when it came to the idea of rejection. Because, what if I actually did this thing and no one wanted to read it? What if all I had to show at the end was a stack of rejection letters and a stupid novel that sucked so bad I couldn’t sell it?
What if I wasn’t good enough? What if, really, I just turned out to be a bad writer?
The size of the project was also a thing. When I write something short, I can hold the whole thing in my head at once. I…
