Ruzkin on Writing – The Formation of a Novel

Almost everyone I meet wants to write a novel, or had dreams of writing a novel when they were young, or has shifted that dream to the future, promising they’ll have a bestseller published when they retire. I ask, Why don’t you write it now? They say, I don’t know how. There is only one way to write a novel, and it is a very simple method. It’s called sitting down and writing the damn book. This is how it’s done. Before you can write a novel, you need to be able to write. I didn’t say write well. Just write. I know some incredible poets. I have friends that make magic happen whenever their fingers touch a keyboard. But being able to write beautifully is not enough to net you a novel unless you can sit down and pound out the words day after day after day for months. It doesn’t matter if you write badly so long as you can sit down with the intention of writing and squeeze the words. You’ll probably end up with a bad novel, but the good writer that only writes “when inspiration comes along” or “when the vibes are right” or “when I have something significant to say” has no novel at all. A novel requires a significant commitment of time. The first draft can take anywhere from a few months to a few years. Every draft after that will take a few months, and every “tune-up” will take a couple of […]