Learning to be a Novelist

Focus on the Large Red Ball

Learning to be a novelist is learning to focus, and to focus in a particular way. Since I had no track record of finishing the second draft of a novel-length work (several NaNoWriMo “winners” don’t count), I had to overcome the dilettante factor and actually devote myself to the task of learning the craft as I wrote.

Inspiration wasn’t a problem, but plot outlines were, among many other things. As different problems in the craft of novel-writing crept up, I dealt wit...