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Writer's pictureHolly Searcy

My Least Favorite Things about Writing a Novel

I had to do it, right?


Since we already covered my favorite things about writing a novel, why not take a brief look at the other end of the spectrum? Let me start with this: Writing a book is a blast. I’m not here to say otherwise. However, obstacles arise that can temporarily sap the experience of its fun. I’ve already touched on writer’s block in a previous post, so we’re not going to go there. No one wants an uncooperative brain that makes you stare dumbly at an empty page. End of story. What follows is a set of my personal writing nemeses.




Incessant Self-Editing


I’m a self-editor. It’s a state of being I can’t seem to turn off. Every time I sit down to write, my brain demands I look over what I wrote during my last session (maybe two…or three—heck, read from the beginning again and see how many things could be improved!) and give it a little edit before I move on. Once that’s done, and I start writing new content, that whispering self-editor doesn’t simply sit back and wait for the next session. No. That annoying little whinger makes me stop over and over and over and over, reading, re-reading, and reading again to see if there are better ways to say what I wrote five seconds ago. News flash, brain! I can do this part later! Let me get the dang words on the dang page and finish the dang book, and we’ll make it better later! One day, I’ll find that pesky voice’s off button. For now, I do my best to write through the temptation to stop every two minutes. (Guess how many times I re-read this paragraph…)

Outlining

When you read a book about writing by a world-famous author, it will likely tell you the key to success when telling your story is to have a good outline from the outset. Plan the whole thing out. I’m not going to argue—the proof is very much in their pudding. I will say, however, I do not find this to be true for myself. I find outlines far too constricting. I seize up. I’m so worried about the story box I’ve created for myself that the narrative doesn’t flow. Both books I’ve completed were written with only a few plot points mapped out in my head that I knew I needed to hit somehow, some time. Most of the in-between stuff simply…happened. I’d start writing a chapter thinking, “I’m going to have the characters do thing A.” By the end of the chapter, the characters were doing things M through Q, and I was just along for the ride. Is this the best way to write a novel? Probably not. But heck, it was fun. There’s nothing quite like inhabiting your characters so completely that they simply tell the story for you.


Feedback Panic

 

Anyone who has ever created anything and shared it with other people has likely experienced that tingling of nerves in the gut as your work falls under the scrutiny of outside eyes (or ears, or hands…whatever your medium demands). I have a particularly anxious brain, so that tingling is actually more like being electrocuted by Emperor Palpatine after refusing to join the Dark Side. My brain won’t stop plaguing me with doubt, questions, insults. What will other people think of it? Will they hate it? Surely they will hate it. But what if they don’t? Did I create something that is worth other people’s time? Of course not. But maybe? The internal dialogue goes on and on. Even when I get positive feedback, that silly brain of mine questions it. Suddenly everyone I know is most assuredly a liar and just telling me nice things to placate me. Sigh.

 

If I may offer some unsolicited advice? Do not fall into this trap. When someone says nice things about your work, accept them. Enjoy them. Celebrate them. If someone says critical things about your work? Accept them. Enjoy them. Celebrate them. You’ve found someone willing to take time out of their life to read your story and offer another perspective. Use it to improve, even if the feedback isn’t what you want or need to hear.


Final Thoughts

 

In the grand scheme of writing a novel, these are all minor upsets. The end result of holding a finished book in your hands is more than worth it all.

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