Great?
Sweet!
Not so great? OK. Inspiration is on the way. First, a story.
New Year’s Day 2014 a friend challenges me a to write a novel. This was January so NaNoWriMo had concluded two months earlier. I decided to give it a go and take up the challenge without too much self-inflicted drama.
My attitude going in:
Have fun!
Experiment.
I literally didn’t know what I was doing. I had, though, written about a half dozen non-fiction books at that point. So, relating to myself through the page was already embedded in my creative DNA.
My friend had given me a specific prompt so bizarre that the idea of writing a book based on it bordered on absurd. Then I asked myself a question: Under what circumstances could this (absurd idea) not be so absurd? What dynamic could give the idea sufficient legitimacy to sustain my interest over a few hundred pages and tens of thousands of words? The answer to that question came in the form of a single sentence. And from there I was stoked.
I love playing with ideas. They are my favorite treats. Like a dog with a good meat bone, I dig in and don’t let go. I had a ball writing my first novel. And yes, I finished it.
“What dynamic could give the idea sufficient legitimacy to sustain my interest over a few hundred pages and tens of thousands of words?”
Here’s a tip for writing, well, anything – including your first novel. Try falling in love.
If that doesn’t work, try NaNoWriMo Pep Talks.
Don’t spend too much time hanging out on the Internet. That’s not writing. That’s a proxy. Writing is writing.
