Another novel/short question

If you have a book idea you're dying to write, if I were you I'd start writing it. I don't see how feedback on a little piece of it would be helpful, but then again I prefer to get a good, solid draft out before seeking comments.

All authors start out never having written a book before. It's hard--I know one best-selling author who says if you aren't tempted to bang your head against the desk at least 3 times during a WIP, you probably aren't challenging yourself enough--but it's one of the most rewarding things you'll ever do.

Good luck with it!

Marlys said:

All authors start out never having written a book before.

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I love that point.

Agree with Marlys that, if you want to write the novel & it wants you to write it (as it keeps niglging & pulling at your sleeve) -- go forth and write it.

You're good at non-fiction, that means you have cleared one major hurdle already -- you can string a sentence together. (That is a serious point.)

With all the creative writing courses in the world, in my experience writing is something that is best learned by doing.
I used not to be able to write a plot and my characters were cardboard. (Im a broadcaster, so like you good at nonfiction.) Ive been writing fiction (short stories & novels) for, er, a number of years, & I'm at the point now where I get stuff published. Your first novel might not win prizes (on the other hand, it might), but either way you will learn a lot about writing fiction while writing it.

JenniferDZ said:

I think about it all the time, but I don't think I'm ready to start the novel process.

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One thing I'm starting to learn for myself is that if you let this stop you, you'll never be ready to start. The only way to get good at writing a novel is to write one, then another, and another.
Was the first non fiction piece you ever wrote perfect in every way first time? I suspect not. It takes time and, more importantly, practice to hone any skill.
I'm with you on the fear thing, I'm still trying to get over it myself.

There are countless (okay, maybe someone counted them) authors who write novels and can't (or don't want to) write short stories.

Like everyone's said, the best practice is writing it.

Good luck!!!!

I discovered some time ago - after completing several novels - that I prefer to write short stories.

But if you think there's a novel-length story in there trying to get out, try to help it along!

I am also a magazine writer, and writing fiction is a whole other ballgame, innit? I wrote fiction long before I started being a journalist, and yet, I lost my fiction writing confidence after a few years of writing articles and no fiction. But I did NanoWrimo last year, and that finally pushed me to write the first draft of a novel. It also taught me that it's OK to write rubbish - that's what first drafts really are. But as magazine writers we might have forgotten that, after all, it's so much easier getting an article right the first time round than it is to get a whole novel perfect in one go.

Short stories and novels are very different. They are as different as magazine articles and short stories. So if I were you, I wouldn't have tried the short story version first, but just dived straight into the novel - if that's where your heart is.

If you are scared, it might help doing NanoWrimo this year. You'll have the momentum of 60 000 other writers around the world all trying to write a novel in a month. And as it's not for another 3 months yet, you got plenty of time to plan and outline your story.

I don't think Nanowrimo works for everyone. It does if you're used to writing 1,666 words per day, everyday, without burning out. I pushed myself too hard - because I just don't write at the pace - and I was burnt out and didn't write until February. This year, I'm setting myself a personal goal and hopefully that'll work.

bsolah said:

I don't think Nanowrimo works for everyone. It does if you're used to writing 1,666 words per day, everyday, without burning out.

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Only about 15% of the people who sign up for NanoWriMo manage to cross the finishing line at 50 000 words. But a lot of those who "fails" (I don't count writing 10, 15 or 35 thousand words in one month a failure), find themselves doing more in that one month than ever before.

Nano is not for everyone, but if you have a fear of writing, a fear of diving in, then nano is a good way to get over that fear. It allows you to write crap, actually, it positivly encourages you to write crap. Because that's where it all starts. Then you make it better, then you become better.

And if you can't make the 1667 words needed per day, aim for a 1000. If you can't make 1000, go for 500. OK, so you won't get the purple banner by the end of the month, but you will have 15 000 - 30 000 words. That's a good start.

Oh, and you don't need to wait until November of course. Aiming for a daily word count works just as well the other 11 months of the year too.

Stop worrying!

You're overthinking as a way NOT to write.

Like the others have said, read heaps of short stories. Then relax, sit down and write Once upon a time there was... and let it roll.
It will!

hey Jen DZ is quiet!

Does this mean she's writing her first draft of her novel!!

That is wonderful !!!!

Don't give up!!