Finishing a Novel

I make no illusions of having written a best-seller or even one that will sell a few hundred copies. I am, however, extremely proud of having completed my novel knowing now the realities authors face.

I recently read a staggering statistic which stated only 3% of people who set out to write a novel actually finish and of those, only 20% will ever get it published. Are you kidding me? That’s only 6 people out of 1,000. (There’s that accountant again!).

There is a litany of reasons why this is the case including lack of a consistency, story blocks, etc. but the most prominent reason based on studies is disorganization. I must concur with this. When I started my book, I had no clue where to begin. I had a great idea (which came from a dream, by the way) and had put some thoughts on paper, but that was it.

Where do I go next, I wondered?

The most important step I took was to take a creative writing course on story structure and planning. It was invaluable! I learned that doing research, having your characters “built” and structuring your story, makes the journey so much more enjoyable. I couldn’t wait to write my next scenes.

Did this make me a brilliant writer? Of course not – not even close. But what it did do is help me get to the finish line which based on the stats, only a few ever do.

Write On!

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