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.