by Elton Gahr

Created on: May 14, 2009

Perhaps, the most intimidating thing in the writer's career is beginning a novel. This is a natural reaction to beginning any project that is going to take a year to complete and hundreds if not thousands of hours. Still, it's not even the time that is so intimidating it is in most cases the desire to write a perfect novel that stops us from writing at all. So how do we move past this intimidation and begin to write a novel?

The first step is to create the time. One of the most frustrating things that can happen is deciding that you are going to start your novel and then continually finding yourself without the time. This not only makes the novel move much slower than it should but puts you in the position of trying to regain momentum every time you sit down to write.

Finding time isn't as hard as it might sound on the surface. The fastest way to do this is to give up something. Unplugging the TV and putting it into a closet will for example magically create 5 to 10 hours a week of free time we had no idea existed. Getting up an hour early every day is another option. Consider your time and find a way to make it a daily routine.

Once you have time the first reaction is to jump into writing. This may be a good idea for you, but often it is not. There are several things you can do before going full steam into a novel writing project. One is to create an outline. This roadmap will give you a good idea of where you are going, but just like a roadmap on a trip you shouldn't be afraid to deviate if you see something interesting as you're going. Many of the most fun parts of a trip are those that we didn't originally plan.

A second way to go is to write short stories. As a new writer there are numerous techniques and skills that should be practiced. Doing so in a novel limits how much experimentation you can do because a failed experiment with a novel is a year, a failed experiment with a short story is at most a week. Playing with the ideas and character of your novel in short stories can often create interesting back story as well.

The next thing that you need to do is create goals and find a way to enforce them on yourself. Writing is often hard work and as you go you will be tempted to give up. There are as many ways to do this as there are writers but there are some common ones. Writers groups are possibility. A good writers group will keep you accountable to write so you have something to share each week. Another possibility is bribing yourself. Write down a deal in which you will give yourself something you like for every ten pages you complete. There are many ways to set up goals that can be self enforced so find the one that works the best for you.

Finally, you must remind yourself that what you are beginning is not a novel. It is a first draft of a novel. This is an important distinction because while a novel should be good, there is no such requirement for a first draft. Put down the characters and ideas in the best way you can but don't expect it to be perfect, expect it to be a first draft.

As with any major project, a bit of planning can make things far easier. Don't allow yourself to jump to quickly into writing but don't allow yourself to give up either. Simply make a plan, find a way to enforce it upon yourself and then implement that plan.

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