If you are reading this blog, you may be thinking of writing a novel. Either that, or you’re wondering what the heck a former geologist knows about writing. I can assure you, while the study of our earth is fascinating and lends to a creative and seeking mind, I knew no more about writing a novel than you when I started. Perhaps my path can help.
So, what do you want to say? What do you want others to know? These are the questions you should first consider if you want to write a novel. Forget about plot, setting, characters, and conflict for a moment. Those details will come with time, and when you least expect them. Forget about publishing, book signings, and movie contracts. What is important now is your message. What is it? What needs said? What life perspective do you own? How and why do you see life differently? Like anything creative, it takes more than a dream. It takes vision. It also takes more than someday. If you ever want to write a novel, you must begin. But how? This is what I did.
At first, I just typed random thoughts and questions about life. They were not necessarily deep or profound, just simple observations I had always considered. Over time, I watched the thoughts and questions grow in number and then squirm under reexamination. Some made the cut for further exploration, many did not. I watched the survivors fight for supremacy and then coalesce into ideas (believe me, nothing focuses an idea more than seeing it written on paper). Strong ideas then grew into themes demanding their right for expression. The strongest of these simply would not be denied. They just needed a home, a story, and characters in which to grow, and grow they would!
All because I had something to say.
So, what do you want to say? What do you want others to know? These are the questions you should first consider if you want to write a novel. Forget about plot, setting, characters, and conflict for a moment. Those details will come with time, and when you least expect them. Forget about publishing, book signings, and movie contracts. What is important now is your message. What is it? What needs said? What life perspective do you own? How and why do you see life differently? Like anything creative, it takes more than a dream. It takes vision. It also takes more than someday. If you ever want to write a novel, you must begin. But how? This is what I did.
At first, I just typed random thoughts and questions about life. They were not necessarily deep or profound, just simple observations I had always considered. Over time, I watched the thoughts and questions grow in number and then squirm under reexamination. Some made the cut for further exploration, many did not. I watched the survivors fight for supremacy and then coalesce into ideas (believe me, nothing focuses an idea more than seeing it written on paper). Strong ideas then grew into themes demanding their right for expression. The strongest of these simply would not be denied. They just needed a home, a story, and characters in which to grow, and grow they would!
All because I had something to say.
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