Why is it so hard to write a novel?

Why is it so hard to write a novel?
Here are 4 possible reasons

At the moment I cannot yet tell you how to write a novel because I have not yet been able to do it. Why is it hard to do something that you can explain quite simply?

I do not and cannot know why it is hard for you. But because I am trying I have been thinking about why it is hard for me.

Let me first explain why I say that it is quite simple to explain (yet hard to do). Current common sense wisdom says that a novel is a work of fiction of about 100 000 words. Youth novels and certain genres such as romance allow for word counts of 50 000, 60 000 or up while genres such as fantasy and science fiction allow for considerably more. But lets work on a good average of 100 000 words.

A novel is a work of fiction that tells a story. That means it is a sequence events, happening to a character or group of characters, that follow each other. You can start splitting hairs here but for the moment I am considering a novel in its most basic sense and not necessarily something good or even publishable.

The sequence of events in a novel is called a plot. And there are a number of of the shelf plots that can be used. The basis starts of with what is called the three act structure but other versions such as the hero's journey also exists. I have written about my own fill in the blanks plot structure here.

Hypothetically you could write 1000 words a day (If you write less double the estimates that follows, if more then half). Let's say you write 5 days a week. It will take you 20 weeks to write 100 000 words.

You can start on day one. Pick a character. Decide on something that happens to that character and write until you played out whatever the character would logically do in the situation. Then you take the character where is is then, give him/her a new situation or complication and write again what would logically happen.

You continue to do this until you have reached 100 000 words. Easy. You will have written a novel and you can then decide if it is good enough and worth editing or not.

But if it is so simple and doable to write a novel (and I believe there are even simpler methods to create a novel) why is it also so hard. Or, why have I been unable to write a novel in five times that amount of time.

Here is 4 reasons why I think it is so hard to write a novel.

1. The problem of preconceptions

Even though we can explain a novel quite simply and accept that what I describe above is a novel we do not want to write that kind of novel. Every one of us have an idea of what kind of novel we want to write, and what not. There are some things that are acceptable and some things are not.

I have a preconceived idea of what a good novel is, based on my own reading experiences. I want to write a novel that I would like to read and therefore it needs to meet certain expectations. I cannot see how following the method above would create a novel of the kind I want to read. So on top of the basics I add extra requirements.

For instance, I want there to be some kind of humor in my writing. These extra standards make it harder to start and keep going. If I for instance have started a novel and wrote ten pages and then realize that I have not yet put any humor in, I rewrite or start over instead of forging ahead.

You might have other requirements or a network of requirements of which humor is just one. Do you want to have good dialogue, prosaic descriptions, fast action, nail biting tension, flights of fantasy, good sex, short paragraphs, first person narrative, epic scope...(I can almost go on endlessly listing possible requirements)?

The first thing I need to let go of is not only what a novel is, but also the kind of novel that I think I should be writing. Eliminating my preconceptions will allow me to focus only on moving events along for the character, adding word count, working towards that goal of 100 000 words. And to do that I have already chucked humor out the window and might chuck out more.

What do you need to give up to write a novel? Can you lower your standards?

2. The problem of procrastination

Procrastination is not doing today what could be left for tomorrow. And then never allowing tomorrow to arrive. There are many reason why each of us procrastinate and then not write a novel.

I procrastinate for one thing because I fear of not being good enough. What if I write a novel and it is utter rubbish? Then I might have to deal with the reality that I am not a good enough writer. So I spend my time learning new skills, reading about writing, planning, researching, thinking, but not writing.

All these actions are good and have their place but if they are done in stead of writing then they are procrastination. It is a postponement of doing the work of writing. And for most of us writing can be postponed indefinitely because there is no real time consequences.

What I mean with real time consequences is that for most of us it matters only to us whether we finish the novel or not. I understand that writers that are contracted to write a book get it done and I think it is because for them there are real time consequences. But to write on spec, when few people even know you want to be a writer you are only accountable to yourself. And if you have even a tendency to procrastination it will show up and take permanent residence.

To get beyond procrastination you have to make yourself accountable. You have to join a writers group, set deadlines, work in rewards or do whatever you need to do to get the book in motion.

For myself, I have done four things so far. I have started this website where I write about what I do and learn on my way to writing a book. Thinking about that, like in this article, gets me past my own bullshit so that I am honest with myself. I also blog about my writing journey and what I do to write a novel here, which means I am almost daily thinking about the writing of a book. I have also signed up for Holly Lisle's How to Think Sideways: Career Survival School for Writers because it contains both a method and a timeframe for writing a novel.

I trust this is enough to get me past my own procrastination.

3. The fear of success/failure

We are very strange beings indeed in that we revel in the struggle. We enjoy suffering, we love being a victim. We do not want things to be easy. We want it to be hard work and desperate effort.

Ask anyone and they will tell you to write a novel is hard. The theme of this article is exactly that: "Why is it so hard to write a novel."

What if it isn't?

What if writing a novel was really easy? If it was then we would get it done no sweat. And when we have it done we have two of one results. We either write something good and succeed, or we write something bad and fail.

Just to qualify, succeed or fail here is meant in the sense that we write something a reader might enjoy and a publisher might publish, or not. Because just finishing a novel is a already a kind of success.

But back to succeed or fail.

If we succeed or fail in writing a good novel we then have to deal with the next set of consequences. If we fail we have to find something else to do with our creative time and do that or figure out how to do it again and succeed. If we succeed we have to go through the process of selling our manuscript, get it published, market and and deal with everything there is to being an author. And apparently it is sometimes worse being an author of ten books than being a writer of none. At least as a writer you still have the stars in your eyes.

For myself I am working very hard on getting past my fear of failure and success. And I fear them both equally. As long as I am a struggling writer I don't have to share my quirky ideas, face criticism, sell my book or deal with the public in any real way. I am honestly still writing just for myself and I am having fun doing it.

But I did not start writing to write for myself. I started writing to connect to other people through the means of story. Which means I need to face my fears and get a novel kicking and screaming across the finish line, and then deal with the result.

4. The dabbling commitment switch

The last thing I think that it is difficult to write novel is because there is a boundary between writing and writing to finish good. Many writers, and would be novelists, write as dabblers.

We live in a world where we have easy access to a multitude of creative avenues. And it is very easy to dabble in a lot of them. Personally I am a trained fine artist with a post graduate degree in drama and have been designing websites for a couple of years.

Giving the opportunity I can dabble in improv theatre, playwriting and directing, painting, illustration, and design, not even counting other possible forms of writing.

But committing to write novel requires me to stop dabbling, limit my options, and commit to writing (even just for now). And we find it hard because we like having options. We like not being restricted. We like having the freedom to do anything we want.

There is a switch we need to flick to switch over from dabbling to commitment. And just flicking that switch takes more commitment than what most of us would want to put down.

There is nothing wrong in dabbling. It makes us well rounded and interesting people. But it does not make us novelists.

For myself I have to accept that until I have finished a novel I am not going to direct a play. I am not going to be a cutting edge painter. I am not going to be anything else or take anything else seriously because the commitment required to write a novel is a real commitment that I cannot dabble in.

Now I know there are people that can write novel with their left hand while running a company with the right and be a national triathlete at the same time. I am not one of those people and I have to accept that and make my own commitment. Or commit myself to the reality that I am never going to write a novel.

And I am not prepared to do that.

Will it still be hard to write a novel? I expect so - if it was easy it would not be worth it.

Will I do it? That is a question on the level of Hamlet's dilemma.

"Thus conscience does make cowards of us all;
And thus the native hue of resolution
Is sicklied o'r with the pale cast of thought,
And enterprises of great pith and moment
With this regard their currents turn awry,
And lose the name of action."

Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, Act III Scene I