How to finally finish writing your damn novel in just 8 steps
Posted: Mon Feb 10, 2025 7:22 am
Right in the middle of my desktop.
The folder called “Book Ideas” to write my novel.
This folder devoured every idea that came into my head. I once typed three words on a blank sheet of paper. Months later, even a few lines.
And further?
At some point I began to fear the blank page. Shrugging my shoulders, I concluded: writer's block .
But why? If a surgeon never has a costa rica telegram screening blockage during surgery, a cook never has a blockage during spaghetti, and a construction worker never has a blockage during construction?
Because it's their job.
And because they follow a proven process that always gets them to their goal.
“A story is not like a road to be followed,” wrote Alice Munro, “it is more like a house.”
So to create a finished book you don't need a long roadmap, but rather a simple set of instructions.
I will give this to you today.
Here are the 8 steps that will take your novel from the foundation stone to the finished living room:
Step 1: Lay the foundation for your novel
Now it gets unpleasant:
Lower your expectations.
Yes, you read that right.
Accept that your first book will not be a masterpiece. It might even be terrible. The main thing is that you finish it. Because then you know that you can write a book and that the next book will bring you closer to the masterpiece.
The folder called “Book Ideas” to write my novel.
This folder devoured every idea that came into my head. I once typed three words on a blank sheet of paper. Months later, even a few lines.
And further?
At some point I began to fear the blank page. Shrugging my shoulders, I concluded: writer's block .
But why? If a surgeon never has a costa rica telegram screening blockage during surgery, a cook never has a blockage during spaghetti, and a construction worker never has a blockage during construction?
Because it's their job.
And because they follow a proven process that always gets them to their goal.
“A story is not like a road to be followed,” wrote Alice Munro, “it is more like a house.”
So to create a finished book you don't need a long roadmap, but rather a simple set of instructions.
I will give this to you today.
Here are the 8 steps that will take your novel from the foundation stone to the finished living room:
Step 1: Lay the foundation for your novel
Now it gets unpleasant:
Lower your expectations.
Yes, you read that right.
Accept that your first book will not be a masterpiece. It might even be terrible. The main thing is that you finish it. Because then you know that you can write a book and that the next book will bring you closer to the masterpiece.