Writing the Novel: The End in Mind

If your dream is to be a novelist then begin with the end in mind.

And what is the end? It is this: the book in your hand, the book on the shelf. That is the end you are working towards. What else?

Once you have that, no matter what happens to impede you, to slow you down, if you can firmly hold on to that image of the book in your hand then you have leaped from the realm of possibility to the realm of reality. The human mind does not make the distinction between that which is imagined and that which is physically real.

If you can, make a short trip to your local library and find the spot on the shelves where your book would be if it were published. Make that place your special place, because one day it will hold your name.

ZHZ. 

Editing: Part 1

I have no doubt, that most writing is in fact, editing and re-writing.

Some believe that a short-story, novel, play, poem just pour out onto the page, fully clothed, ready to leap into our imagination. This isn't true. Never was. Until AI systems take over the world and replace us, I think we can safely assume it will remain this way.
So why is it so important to state the obvious?

It is about the mindset required to craft a good piece of writing.

No writer will produce a piece of work ready for publication on the very first go. So why berate yourself if after re-reading the piece you have written you find that it does not match your lofty expectations? Swallow a chill pill, take some time out and have another go.

There are different levels when it comes to editing and re-writing. Without boring you with banality of the science of writing, I think they fall into the following:

Macro and micro. In general, the macro-level is about structure, the choice of subject and so on. Micro is about grammar, spelling. It is these very different perspectives, the forest and the trees, the big and the small that lies at the heart of re-writing and editing.

Nothing is irredeemable, nothing that cannot be improved upon. Whether a piece of writing is worth spending time over…now that is a good question. Only you can answer that. You have one life, but possibly many attempts within you. Do not squander those chances, but also do not give into the demons of despair who urge you to give up. Those demons may be human, or they may be blaring their hoots of derision inside your head. Why waste time listening to them when you could be re-writing your masterpiece?

Good luck.

ZHZ.