If you’ve never written a novel before, it isn’t as easy as one might think. Writing large projects such as a novel is a good size undertaking.  A writing project is so different from any other project that I’ve ever encountered.  For some reason, if you start a project, say like redecorating your house, you can pick up right where you left off without too much trouble.  However, writing a novel is different.  If you get interrupted, coming back is almost like starting all over again. 

 The reason  for this may be that unlike other projects, writing is totally cerebral.  You have to remember many details in recreating an environment, a mood, or rediscovering your characters. Yes, you have notes, but even with those notes, you have to realize that depending how much time you let lapse and what happened in your life in that period, often those events will give you a slightly different outlook.  The very scene you wrote two months ago may be quite different if you had to rewrite the same scene today.

So, how do you avoid stalling out on your novel? 

Before you do anything, you need to determine whether you are writing this novel for yourself?…or are you writing this novel with the hopes that the world will love it and you will be handsomely compensated in royalties one day?

The answer to the question will guide you.  Say, I’m writing this novel for me. I have a story to tell and I know that if I just get the story down, I’d be happy with that.  Maybe I’ll be lucky and sell it.  This is a writer who views his writing as an avocation, a hobby.  If this is you, write to your hearts content.  Spend 15 minutes with www.simpleology.com to keep you on task and pushing forward.  Simpleology.com is an online tracker that will help you find success in achieving your long-term goal, namely the completion of your novel. 

However, if you are writing because you want compensation you can eventually live on, then you want to treat your writing as a business right at the outset.  This is to increase your chances of reaching your goal sooner, rather than later.

We begin with the defining your unique value positioning  (UVP).  In marketing this is communicating your value to your readers.  It will help you know why your fans are buying your books, so you can give them what they want.  Why would you buy the book you are about to write?  Why will a complete stranger buy the book?  You have to give them a reason to.    

Secondly, you want to establish your brand.  This is important because it will help you stand out amongst the thousands of well established authors.

Third, you will establish your goals.   www.simpleology is a goal tracker.  In the next couple of days we will define your target goal.

Tomorrow I will go into more detail about Unique Value Positioning.  I know this sounds like a lot of work before you even tackle a novel, but if you layout the groundwork ahead of time, this will make the business of writing your career rather than your hobby.

If you read my last post, it is clear evidence that I was drunk with tiredness.  Geesh.  I reread it and a couple of the sentences didn’t even make sense to me.  Sorry about that.  I’ve gone in and edited it.  

Okay, so the lesson learned here is that:  I will try to post before 10 PM, because obviously I am useless after that.

That said, it is now a little after 1 AM.  I just have one more thought on ROI - return on investment.  If you calculated the hours you have spent working on your first novel and how much you were paid for your efforts, you would be very disheartened.  So it might be a good strategy not to think about compensation at all.

You should write because you have a story to tell.  You should write because you need to express yourself.  You should write because writing is part of who you are.  And if you are persistent and keep learning, compensation will follow.

Why do you write?  What motivates you to throw yourself into isolation so that you can spend hours living and interacting with the fictional characters in your head?

Fiction writers may dream of writing a blockbuster novel, but in reality, based on everything I read, there are only a handful of writers that are bonafide blockbuster club members.  The Tom Clancy-JK Rowling-Stephen King group is unique. 

Since my background is sales, I know that if you have an average novel with a unique twist or niche, a good marketer could catapult the measly average 500 book sale to astronomical figures.  Apparently, most of today’s hopefuls will sell around 500 of their books or less — that is, if they get published.

This is a paltry amount given the fact that a good number of those books were bought by friends and relatives of the writer.

We have two questions.  Why isn’t the book selling?  And why isn’t the publisher’s marketing department helping? 

The book may not be moving for one of a dozen reasons.  Lacking broad appeal.  Limited exposure.  No marketing plan.

This brings me to the second question.  Publishing houses have evolved over the last 30 years.  Editors are swamped with manuscripts to read.  The publisher takes the lion’s share of the risk, because he or she has paid a small advance to the writer and incurs the cost of the actual printing process.  Over the years, the publishing houses have pushed the book marketing responsibilities onto the shoulders of the author. 

Unfortunately, the author usually has little marketing experience, so it may come as no surprise that the sales of his/her recently released book spikes and then recorrects itself.  Only clients that are bringing the publishing houses money get to use the publisher’s marketing team to coordinate and synchronize all efforts.

But maybe, just maybe you wrote a good novel.  With any luck it will get recognized with or without expert marketing.  People gravitate toward good literature. 

Later we will discuss how to increase your return on investment (ROI).  Topic and book cover appearance, marketing, pricing, distribution and writing talent.

As comedian Bill Cosby once observed that anyone can be mediocre and still be successful.  You don’t have to have writing talent.  Talent isn’t everything, but it sure does help.  

I am always amazed at people who write novels without first plotting.  They freewrite and polish up the awkward sentences, add some transitions, and submit it for publication.  But if you look at a well crafted novel, it is more than storytelling.  It is about taking the reader to another place.  It is about braiding subplots and developing interesting and bigger than life characters.  

As you study good fiction writers, you can see how complex details can become.  Since books are written over time, it is easy for the writer to forget characters and their motivations, plot development, etc.  One tool I found useful is called ywriter4.  It is free.

Apparently, a computer programmer was frustrated by his inability to keep track of themes and character threads.  He developed a computer program  to do just that.  His program helps you track exactly what you develop, so that you can see where you’ve been and where you are going….It is a great tool and worth downloading.  So, if you have been using the pencil and notebook and still feel like you don’t have a grip on the overarching view of your novel, check this out.  http://www.spacejock.com/yWriter4.html. 

Also of interest on Simon’s site are a submission tracker; a track your minutes program if you are a freelance writer and need to track billable hours; and articles on Writing.  Visit his Resources for Writers page to see if his suggestions are something you might want to use.

Before I left for vacation, which is over two weeks ago, I mentioned that when I returned I’d begin a discussion on time management.  I have to confess that I might be writing about managing time more for me than for those who read this blog.

 I have the first part of the time management down — setting realistic goals with a time frame.  Those daily lists of things to do are very short term goals.  The element that I seem to suck at is prioritizing. 

I started using an online task tracker. www.simpleology.com   This is a simple, direct way in altering bad habits.  It helps people stay focused to reach goals by gently pulling out of you what you want, the things that distract you, the game plan to reach your dream.

I discovered Simpleology just before the Thanksgiving holidays.  Of course, it was a hectic time, but I managed to get through the lessons.  Intellectually, I can identify my staying on target issues, but changing my behavior is a whole other story.  I got so busy that one day I skipped it and the next time I skipped it, I missed a couple of days…and now it has been a couple of months.  So, intellectually I got the message, but I tanked on the execution.  I am back to the same writing avoiding ways. 

So, today I start again.  I am going to stick with this program, because I know it will guide me when I veer off the path.  For me, this is a lot like learning to ride a bicycle.  I got to put back those training wheels to get my balance and confidence, to prove that I can ride and stay on the road.  I took the training wheels off too soon and was wobbling all over the place. 

I know that if I adhere to the Simpleology program that my life will be transformed.  Check it out and let me know what you think. 

The best part about this program is that it is not just for writers.  It is good for any goal.  Since this program discourages multi-tasking, because that really slows up progress and efforts to achieve the goal, it seems frustrating in some senses that only one goal can be the target.  Maybe this is the first and most important lesson for me to learn….too much multi-tasking dilutes the possibilities for success.