Yes, I did go to happy hour. But I only had one glass of wine, and by the time I walked home half a mile in the freezing cold, I wasn't even tipsy anymore (yes, tipsy after one glass of Pinot Noir--oh have the mighty have fallen). I skimmed how-to-write-a-novel books. Two of them in fact. And I can now quite confidently report (as if it wasn't abundantly obvious before) that novel writing is totally overwhelming for one who tends to peddle in press releases, op-eds, media statements and the occasional quasi-confessional blog entry.
Experts urge would-be novelists to write about what we know, which I am working on, I just happen to know quite a bit (calm down, I have never claimed to know much of anything useful or important. The mishigos that clutters my brain isn't all exactly something to be proud of). My problem seems to be the challenge of selecting which witty observations and nuggets of personal experience would be appropriate to use, and spinning them thusly. Also problematic is the dilemma of using real life characters as inspiration for fictional ones. Let's face it, I know a lot of characters. And I don't want any of them to sue me should I do a poor job of disguising any of them in ye old tome of navel gazing self reflection.I suppose that much of this boils down to a crisis of confidence in my imagination. Or a clear lack of imagination, which of course, is totally worse.
Despite all this, I did manage to draft some short character sketches and rethink some structural decisions I realized I could be more flexible on. And this morning I discovered an old note book filled with scribblings, much of which were actually pretty good. Soon, I will be ready to pull the trigger and actually do this thing. Perhaps 2010 will be the year of the novel. Which, to be honest, has been a personal dream of mine for some time. If only I could figure out why realizing it would be so scary.
Good luck with this project. Just to share a little known fact: 84.6% of all "how to write a novel" authors have never written a novel.
Yes, I just made that up, but researching it would require too much effort. I guess, I'll never write non-fiction.
Posted by: restaurant refugee | January 12, 2010 at 02:51 PM
The one writer I know, a guy who actually did write a novel, has ideas spilling out of him all the time. He writes stories all the time, some are good, some suck, but he never stops. If you look at the bios of great writers, they are all driven in some way. Most really creative people are obsessed at some level or other, and they do it because they almost can't help themselves. Unless you're holding back on us and there really is something in you that you're dying to get out, deciding you want to write a novel without knowing what you want to write seems assbackwards to me.
Posted by: Gomez | January 13, 2010 at 04:48 AM
RR--What I read was actually rather informative, stuff like structure and how to draw out characters. I found it informative enough to take notes. Let's just say that taking notes on reading isn't something I am normally compelled to do.
Gomez, I hear you. I've actually had some ideas percolating for a few years, and I've been in the note taking phase for longer than I care to admit. I'm normally just so entrenched in non-fiction writing for work, that I've had some issues transitioning to fiction. The lack of fiction writing training may have a little to do with it too. Regardless, it's not a random whim. It's been a long time in the making. But you're correct. I'm not 100% driven. That may explain my hesitancy to take pen to paper.
Posted by: HP | January 13, 2010 at 05:57 AM