And now it's time for the third installment in what I'm pretty sure has just become a series of fifty essays based around my fifty thoughts on writing. Because what I was really dying for was another way to drive myself insane. Oh, well. I work best when I'm trying to run in seventy directions at the same time, and this definitely qualifies as a series of sprints, if not a marathon. Remember, I respond well to bribery, especially when the bribery happens to be pumpkin-flavored. In the meantime, please enjoy today's topic. Namely:

Thoughts on Writing #3: You May Not Be A Novelist (and That's Okay).

You are a person, and you have a right to the ball! Just make sure that it's the right ball before you really get attached. Committing to the wrong ball just makes everyone sad. The original thought:

Putting fifty thousand words on paper does not make you a novelist. It means you successfully put fifty thousand words on paper. You should be proud of yourself for that, because dude, it's difficult to stick with a plot and a concept and an idea and characters for that long, and I salute you. At the same time, you're not a novelist. Sweating over those fifty thousand words until you're confident that at least forty thousand of them are good ones is what makes you a novelist. Good luck.

Ready?

Let's begin.

( My thoughts are not your thoughts; my process is not your process; my ideas are not your ideas; my method is not your method. All these things are totally right for me, and may be just as totally wrong for you. So please don't stress if the things I'm saying don't apply to you -- I promise, there is no One True Way. This way for my thoughts on becoming a novelist.Collapse )