So You Think You Want to Write a Novel...

"I've started a novel, but I can't get past page eight," the college student confided. "I love to write. It's in me and I have this story idea, but...I dunno. Why's it so hard to get it down?"

It is hard, isn't it? Much harder than you thought it would be. When you read good books, the words flow from the page with seemingly effortless rhythm and the pros make it seem like anyone with an imagination and a good grasp of the English language could churn out a bestseller every couple of months. Why not you?

Then you try. And after a few pages you start to think, Maybe there's more to this than I thought.

So you start doing what you should have done first, which is study the craft and art of fiction writing. And you discover a new world that has existed right there all along and you had no idea it was so complicated!

When you think of being a writer, what you're really thinking is novelist.

But that is sort of like taking a first-year EMT and asking him to perform brain surgery. A novel is a 70,000-120,000 word Mt. Everest. And just as a novice mountain-climber wouldn't begin with Everest, you shouldn't try to master novel-writing before mastering the craft on a smaller scale. You'll get discouraged too quickly and give it up altogether.

Short stories, magazine articles, and essays are an excellent way to cut your teeth on the world of publishing, get your name out there, and add credits to your budding resume. Start with something small. Enter contests and read the winning stories. Figure out how they did it. What is they have that you do not yet?

The Internet makes things so much more accessible. Writing contests abound, but do your homework. Sleazy contests abound, too. Watch out for entry fees. Legitimate contests do often charge a nominal fee, but make sure the sponsor of the contest has a good reputation in the literary world.

My first magazine article was published while I was still in college. The pay was a check for $35, but I felt as if I'd won the Pulitzer Prize! Seeing your name in print is a great boost for a beginning writer and helps fuel your writing drive while you stare at more rejections.

A couple of stories I had published nearly 20 years ago are still surfacing and I can google the titles and still find them on the Internet! Quite interesting! It's amazing the lifespan of a single well-placed article.

So go for it. If you're hitting the wall on your great American novel, set it aside and tackle a 1000-word story. Fill it with all the passion, story arc, conflict and suspense you are saving for your novel, trim the words until they fairly sing with tension, and send it in.

That little 1,000 words could be the start of something big!

.