My first novel is underway. It’s been a long, slow, tortuous process but it’s officially safe to say that it’s a work in process. And that’s a big deal.

See, the idea for this novel has been floating around in my head for no less than a decade. That’s really about average for an “author.” A lot of people believe they have a winning idea for a novel.

They may have a killer idea.

They may outline some plot points.

They may flesh out their characters.

But that’s where most “novelists” stop. They leave a good idea gathering dust on the floor of their closet never to see the light of day again.

And that’s where most good novel ideas end.

So why did I decide to start?

I decided to give it a shot for two fairly reasons. The first is, quite simply, I was reminded of the idea.

My family recently moved into a new home. This house was more about location than the house itself, so it ended up significantly smaller than the old one. In order to combat claustrophobia my wife and I have been deep purging our things. We’ve donated a lot of stuff to the local church thrift store…

But as we were going through the things for our office (now doing double duty as craft room) I ran across the old notes I made about the story while I was still in high school.

I found a brief summary of the original idea, not enough for a complete plot.

I found a fairly detailed map of the fantasy world the novel would be set in.

I found some sketches (I used to sketch, a lot) of some key characters.

Overall, I didn’t have much. I had one scene, I had a setting, and I had a VERY general overview of the characters.

On to reason two…

I decided to write the story now because, as far as I can tell, there has never been a better time of writing a novel with end goal of being published. With the invention of the Kindle platform literally ANYONE can publish, market, and sell a book.

And I think that’s why I never wrote the story before. Well, that and crippling laziness and procrastination in general. When I came up with the idea the only avenue to publication was the traditional path: write a query, send it to a publisher, get rejected, write another query, send it to a different publisher, get rejected, rinse, repeat.

When you’re already lazy, that kind of barrier to entry makes it seem impossible to get in the door.

But with self publishing getting my work out there is definitely a reality. I may try the traditional route, as well, but I know that if my novel is never published traditionally I can still put it in people’s hands.

So, I’m writing a novel. As I write this I’m around 40,000 words (you thought I was just going to “say” I started, right?). I’m sure there will be more updates as I brain dump all over this blog…

photo credit: JoelMontes via photopin cc