OLD POST ALERT! This is an older post and although you might find some useful tips, any technical or publishing information is likely to be out of date. Please click on Start Here on the menu bar above to find links to my most useful articles, videos and podcast. Thanks and happy writing! – Joanna Penn
I started with writing non-fiction because I needed to change my own life. Writing self-help enabled me to do that.
But then I was freed to write with more honesty. To actually investigate the topics that interested me in a story. I started my first novel, Pentecost, during NaNoWriMo in 2009 and now it has sold over 40,000 copies. My life has been changed even further by my fiction. But I know how hard it is, and so does Ali Luke.
I've known Ali as a fantastic blogger for several years now and I have been so excited to see her independently publish her fascinating novel, Lycopolis. Both of us will tell you that it's well worth pursuing your fictional dream.
I write both fiction and non-fiction, and I can tell you now that the easy money is in non-fiction.
Fiction is hard to do well. With non-fiction, you’ll probably be successful if you just can write clear, simple, direct instructions. With fiction, you need to be able to do far more than string together a sentence.
Fiction is tough to sell. It’s easy to find people who want non-fiction content – companies needing web copy, charities needing brochures or letters, blogs needing regular posts. No-one’s going to commission you to write a novel, unless you’re already well-known.
So why write fiction at all? If it’s hard to do, and unlikely to make you any money in the immediate future, is it even worth bothering?
Yes. Yes, and yes again. Here’s why you should start, carry on with, or finish your novel:
#1: You Enjoy It
Your life probably involves an awful lot of activities that you do because you have to or because you should… like going out at 7am every morning for your day job, or washing the dishes, or refraining from eating three slabs of chocolate cake at a sitting.
But there is nothing wrong with doing something simply because you love it. If you enjoy writing fiction – if it brings you alive, makes you happy, keeps you sane – then that’s a good enough reason. It’s more than good enough. And don’t let anyone convince you that it isn’t.
#2: You’ll Grow as a Writer
It’s much harder to write good fiction than good non-fiction. To make a novel really work, you have to master a whole range of elements, from the big picture of story construction and character arcs to the tiny details of choosing the perfect words for every single sentence.
In the process, you’ll become a better writer. You’ll learn far more than you would if you just churned out easy, mindless non-fiction pieces on topics that you already knew inside out.
#3: You’ll Learn Things You Never Knew About Yourself
You won’t just learn about writing as you go through your novel: you’ll learn about yourself. Fiction is a great way to explore your thoughts, emotions and beliefs. The characters, themes and situations that come up in your work will give you a new take on aspects of your life and yourself.
This one might not always be positive (part-way through writing my novel Lycopolis, I realised that I have rather more in common with my antagonist than I’d like!) – but it can definitely be a great way to get a better handle on who you really are, and who you might want to become.
#4: You Can Reach People in Different Ways
I love writing non-fiction; most of the articles I write are aimed at writers, and it’s always lovely to get a comment or email saying how much a particular piece helped someone. But while a non-fiction piece can be useful or even inspiring, it’s fiction that really has the power to get deep into peoples’ hearts and minds.
I’m sure you can think of novels that have stuck with you for years … perhaps ones that you go back to again and again, when you’re feeling down, or ones that completely changed your outlook on something. Stories and characters have the power to engage our emotions, and by writing a novel, you have the opportunity to engage with your readers in a deep, abiding way.
#5: You Have Control Over Publication Now
In the past, publishing a novel meant either submitting to agents and publishers and hoping for a lucky break, or paying for thousands of printed copies and trying to sell them yourself.
Today, ebooks and print-on-demand have revolutionised the publishing industry. If you can’t find an agent who loves your work enough to represent it, or if you simply don’t want to spend months or years trying to get published, you can get your novel into online stores almost as soon as it’s finished.
Of course, the indie route isn’t for everyone, and traditional publishers are still hugely important. But as a novelist, your options are wide open. If you want to see your novel in the hands of readers, you can write in the confidence that you’ll be able to achieve this.
#6: You’ll Never Know What Could Have Been
If you don’t write your novel – if you let that idea turn to dust, if you leave those first few chapters in a bottom drawer – then you’ll never know what might have been.
Perhaps that novel could have been the first step in a whole new career.
Perhaps it would have been a best-seller.
Perhaps you’d have touched someone on the other side of the world.
Perhaps your novel would still be in print five hundred years from now.
Ten, twenty, thirty years from now, you could look back and see what you’ve achieved as a novelist … or you could look back and wonder what might have been, if only you’d had the courage to keep going.
This week, make time for your novel. Go back to those notes, or those first few chapters. Write the first few brave words, or dive back in where you left off. Make a commitment to finish: you could complete the draft of an 80,000 word novel within a year, writing just over 1,500 words a week.
And if you want some support (or if you want to share your own reasons for writing a novel) then just leave a comment below.
You can also watch an interview with Ali about combining writing fiction and blogging for a living here.
My review of Lycopolis:
I'm not a gamer but I was fascinated by the dual worlds of this novel. I enjoyed the fast paced suspense of the ‘real world' segments of the book but was also interested in how the online gaming part of it worked. I like a supernatural side to my novels and the way the nightmares were enmeshed in the game and the character's real lives was skillfully done.
*What keeps you reading?*
The book opens with the summoning of the demon but it doesn't seem to have any impact. Certainly there's nothing in the real world that changes. But then, page by page, it manifests in different ways even to the physical attack of wolves. You keep reading to find out what happens to the characters, particularly Kay and Edwin, the most sympathetic players. I read this in two sittings so it certainly held my interest!
Image: Flickr CC / Lauren Alyea
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1 2 3 Next »… or you could look back and wonder what might have been, if only you’d had the courage to keep going.
OK, now you got me to finally start writing that novel I've been planning for years.
Doug, I'm thrilled! :-) Honestly, getting started is the hardest part. Once you're over that hurdle, the rest is downhill. Best of luck with your novel (and come back and let us know how you get on, won't you)?
It's definitely worth writing that novel Doug - and you'll be surprised at how the creativity starts to flow once you open the floodgates!
Nice! While I may say it is lack of a solid idea or time to spend on what I've secretly deemed "luxury writing," I suspect it truly is my own fears that keep me from doing it. Thanks for ripping away a few of my fears today ...
Thanks Jan! It *is* tough to find the time, but I hope you can carve some out. I reckon we all deserve a bit of luxury writing. :-)
How very true
Fiction is an art form, and although non-fiction can bring a great deal of joy (I also really enjoy writing in the more relaxed, natural manner too), it's not a deep meaning art like fictional work is.
I haven't had chance to work on my fiction book for a few weeks, and i cannot wait to get working on it again.
Some great points. thanks for sharing :)
Matt (Turndog Millionaire)
Thanks Matt! Hope you can get back to the fiction soon ... I think even just an hour a week can make such a different (not only to the work itself, but also to the writer).
A huge thanks to Jo for being the first stop on my virtual book tour ... it's always lovely to guest post on The Creative Penn (such awesome readers!)
You know I love having you Ali!
I don't seem to be able to write linearly. A scene or chapter will come to me and just spill out as fast as I can write it, but the next one will be a completely different part of the story. So I wind up with scene 83, then 47, then 9, etc., & I am drowning in bits and pieces. Anyone else have this? Any suggestions for me?
How about keeping the bits and pieces like a puzzle? Maybe you can use note cards to just track the high points of each piece you've written. At some point you may want to physically lay them out in order (9, 47, 83) to see where you need the connections. It's like you have the walls and now you need to connect them with ceiling beams to make one coherent structure.
I'm not very linear myself but once you see the sections, you can kind of see where/how they'd connect.
I think Eva's suggestion is great. :-) And if you want a version of that on a computer ... Scrivener has a system of virtual index cards -- you can write a scene description on a card, and it's linked to the text of the scene itself. So when you shift the cards around, your scenes end up in the right order.
This is also how I write, and Scrivener is the best tool for this. You can write in scenes and arrange them later. I am currently writing a scene about two thirds in but I don't know how it connects to the before that or after that :) I clean that up in 2nd draft. I think this way of writing must be quite common as Scrivener seems specifically designed for it.
Thanks Joanna for an inspiring read! I've a feeling I'll be re-reading your six great reasons time and again. Best wishes, Stephen :-)
Thanks Stephen! And I hope your own novelling goes brilliantly. :-)
What great, positive and uplifting reasons! I often wonder why I "waste my time" until I remember the exhilaration of being in the moment while writing. Thanks for the reminders!
Thanks Eva! That in-the-moment feeling is so definitely worth it. :-)
I shall include my quote from the War of Art - Steven Pressfield - which is on my wall
"On the field of the self stand a knight and a dragon.
You are the knight.
Resistance is the dragon.
The battle must be fought anew every day."
This is why we resist writing, and why we must :)
I'm still polishing the draft of my novel prior to resubmitting to agents or an epublishing place, but I get such a kick when the stats on my fictional blog show that someone on the other side of the planet has been on the page! When (I refuse to stick with 'if') the novel is published, I hope to experience the same kick again. :-)
Remember, you are empowered with options now Nikki and self-publishing is a viable option for global reach.
I think my best income stream would probably come from asking a dollar of everyone who has ever said to me - "I wish I could write a novel".
I too went the NaNoWriMo route using it as a good kick up the behind to get my novel finished. It had been an on and off affair for five years, and one solid month of writing finally got it done. That moment of pressing submit on the last day was a wonderful feeling!
I wholeheartedly agree with Ali's comments about growing as a writer. I think the first book just proves that you can string a 100,000 words together without your head exploding. And that in itself is a liberating experience. Each subsequent work teaches you so much about the craft and about yourself. I've just finished the first draft of my third and it is a world away from my first novel. I think the first also gives you an insight into what might be. You either reach the end and simply feel like you've ticked something off your bucket list, or else you're hooked!
I've heard from some good sources that it takes 5 books before you really know what you're doing! I am looking forward to that point :)
If nothing else, by five you are well and truly convinced that this is something you 'have' to do, rather than should/could.
Thanks for sharing! All great reasons for writing! I am in the process of publishing my first novel. During the writing process, I rediscovered my love for writing.