There’s nothing quite like the rush of excitement when you get a new novel idea.
There’s also nothing quite so damning as hitting a wall and … um, wondering if you have what it takes to actually finish that novel.
I recently talked with a writer who said he has a problem finishing because he’s unable to take the leap and commit to the time it takes to finish.
“I find myself mulling the story over, thinking about the characters, and wondering what will happen next,” he says. “But I rarely take the time to sit down and put some of those thoughts into actual words.”
It’s true, books require one thing beyond inspiration, great ideas, and wonderful writing: commitment. And that means that some days you’ll feel yourself plodding or outright stuck (and miserable).
Writing a novel has been compared to months of pregnancy, running a marathon, climbing a mountain, or even going to war. And it can feel like all those things in one.
So, one crucial task of finishing a book is to believe that the very act of finishing is magic itself because the stamina it takes to finish a novel is the same kind it takes to make a novel good.
“It does not matter how slowly you go so long as you do not stop,” said Confucius, who had to be talking about novel writing.
It’s tough to keep moving, though. The slow march of daily progress can abrade against the sparkling zeal that fuels the early creative stages, and the day-after-dayness of it all often exhausts writers’ attention spans.
It’s critical to remember that training for a marathon isn’t just about physical training; it’s also about preparing your mind to run for such a long time. This is where the metaphor of pregnancy doesn’t necessarily apply: Some novels take nine months, but some might take nine years.
Writing The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao was anything but brief for Junot Díaz: It took 10 years. J.R.R. Tolkien labored 12 years over Lord of the Rings, as did Victor Hugo on Les Misérables.
That’s fitting, you say, these are all big books. But Catcher in the Rye also took 10 years. You need to prepare your mind for the grind no matter what length or how ambitious your novel is.