Why is it so hard to complete a novel and get it on bookshelves?
It’s not really all that difficult if you stand back and look at it objectively.
- You write, the word add up, and eventually there’s enough words to call it all a novel.
- You rework it, get some feedback, fix it further, add a final coat of polish and send it away.
Its a process. Its simple. Repeat it often enough and you’ll eventually hit gold.
Why then do so many people get bogged down?
The fact is, it takes time – a sustained effort over a long period – to complete a novel, and then it takes a whole lot more time and effort to get it published.
Any sort of sustained effort is difficult because real life inevitably throws road blocks at you.
So how do you keep the enthusiasm up?
Make a decision.
“Yeah, I did that, but…”
No! Make a decision. A real decision! The kind of decision that goes like: “I’m going to do this no matter what!”. Not the “I’m going to write a novel” kind, because that’s giving yourself leeway to ‘always be writing a novel’. As Yoda says, “Do, or do not. There is no try.”
The moment you commit to it however, it becomes easy.
Real life stops throwing road blocks in your way because you can see them for what they really are: speed bumps. They may slow you down a bit, but they can’t stop you any more.
Once you’ve made the decision, there isn’t a speed bump out there big enough to stop you. You’re going to get a novel on the shelves no matter what!
This is absolutely correct. A major reason so many don’t complete is that it’s just a bloody lot of work. The simple act of putting somewhere between 80 to 100,000 words in a sequence is a very big task, completely leaving aside the issue of quality. Then editing is about the same amount of work again or more.
One mistake a lot of people make is thinking that you need “passion” or belief in your project. Nope. Well, except that you should choose a project that you have strong gut feeling is likely to be saleable. No, all that you need is the commitment and discipline to force yourself to the keyboard every single day for a long, long period of time. No passion required. In fact, it’s impossible to be passionate and stay that way about such a big project from beginning to end. If you’re relying on passion to fuel the effort you’ll never get there.
Exactly!