Recently I went and spent a day hanging out with my oldest friend, someone I have known since fourth grade. We spent the day going to a couple of bookstores, a very cool 80’s and 90’s toy store, and after watching some movies and getting some dinner, we stood outside talking before ending the evening. We talked about life stuff, current events and then he asked me about writing and how that was going. I told him the truth, it was going both very well and at the same time, it was proving tough. I told him about how I had read and seen interviews with authors saying they got to a point where it was hard to read and write, and it was a phase they had to get through. We started talking about my first novel I was able to finish during the 2020 pandemic. He asked me a few questions that I thought were very insightful and were helpful to unclogging some of the writing rut I had been in lately. He asked two questions which led me to reflect on my approach to writing, so I thought it could be helpful to share my answers with my readers.
His first question was: “What made you get through the first novel?” I told him I believe It was my dream to write and finish a novel that helped me establish a routine and how the process works for me. I made myself sit down and do it. Whatever that looks like. Notecards, Notebooks, etc. I also told him during those first few months of the pandemic where it felt so scary and intense for all of us, I really did feel it was a now-or-never situation.
His second question was: “What is something you can tell me as someone who has written a novel?” It is a cliché and you hear a ton of writers say it, but I find this sentiment to be very true - once you have actually done it, and regardless of the quality of your work at that rough draft stage, you have the knowledge that you completed it. You finished it. You wrote something. You were able to get through the gauntlet of creativity - the ups, the downs, the various paths and ways your brain and emotions can and will lead you to explore. Once you get through that journey and are holding a 300 plus page book, it can really help jumpstart your motivation to continue and create. You hear from published authors that they still look at a bookshelf with their own books on them in moments of doubt to reestablish that yes, they know how to do this - they’ve done it before! I told my friend that feeling was fantastic.
As of this writing I’m currently working on two novels, editing the first one, and working on short stories and comic book scripts. I told my friend I don’t think I could have had that confidence without working on that first book. I told him because I had been through the journey, I knew what was in store at least conceptually. Every new project is different and will throw you curveballs, but the emotional impact you feel when a scene isn’t working or when one is, or when you take a cheat day and start beating yourself up for it…you know in some combination that feeling will happen again. If you are willing to learn from these feelings and feel them again, I told him, then keep writing. Some go through the gauntlet and find it isn’t for them and that’s okay. But if you do finish something, be incredibly proud and then do it again and again. The power and feeling that comes with completing a project is a huge boost for anyone who likes to write. My friend told me he was excited to get back to his writing and I can’t wait to see what he comes up with (and if you are a writer reading this, you too)! Finishing is such a big thing and I’d encourage everyone interested in writing to see projects through to a finish, no matter what.
