Starting Your Novel: Don't Wait

The first rule for those of you wanting to start writing your novel is this…DO NOT WAIT FOR INSPIRATION. Being inspired is a fine thing—and it feels FANTASTIC when you are!—but it despite all the mysticism surrounding inspiration, it is actually a very small part of the writing process. In fact inspiration in and of itself is utterly meaningless. What is far more important is your dedication to your writing, whether or not you are feeling inspired.

Every professional athlete has mornings where they’d rather not get up and go work out, the same is true of writers and writing. I once wrote for a guest post that writers are like sharks. Sharks cannot breathe under their own power, they have to keep swimming so that fresh water can pass through their gills and oxygenate their blood. If they stop swimming then they begin to sink and suffocate. Writers suffer this same problem. A writer who is not writing is sinking and will find it harder to consistently write again when they pick up their pen or sit down at the keyboard to work on an extended project.

I’ve heard a number of people say “If you don’t feel it then don’t force it” in countless variations. This is dangerous advice for the writer who isn’t limiting themselves to shorter works and, more importantly, intends to COMPLETE a larger body of work. A novel is not a sprint, it’s a marathon, and novelists must strap themselves in for the long haul and write daily, whether or not they feel like it. If you don’t, then FORCE IT. It will hurt, but when you look back, more likely than not you won’t be able to tell the difference between it and your “inspired” writing. If you can then this is what revision is for anyways. Muscle through it and meet your goal.  

In short, if you want to start writing a novel, then start writing a novel!