So You Want to Write a Novel ...

A lot of people, when they find out I'm an author, share that they've always thought of writing a novel, but never got around to doing it. Or that they started a novel, but never finished. Or even that they've written a novel, but aren't sure where to go from there.

For anyone thinking of becoming a novelist, 2011 is the best of times and worst of times to begin a career in writing.

The Best Time to Write

The days of a writer toiling in isolation are over. Online communities of writers, local writing groups, critique partners around the world are only a click away (I recommend Nathan Bransford's blog to anyone wanting to learn more about the industry). The wonder of the internet provides tremendous access to a community of writers that are eager to support you in your dreams of becoming a novelist.

Whether you're discovering your passion for writing late-in-life, or you've written stories since you were a child, there's never been a better time to be a writer. I encourage young people to write* and learn about the craft, because it is a skill they will use throughout their lives. My early passion for writing helped me throughout my careers as engineer, scientist, and politician long before I became a fiction writer.

If you have the passion to write, I say put your heart on the page and see what happens. You may find a piece of yourself you never knew existed.

The Best/Worst Time to Publish

The best and worst of publishing are two halves of the same coin: the publishing industry is being revolutionized by e-books and e-publishing. Amazon now sells more e-books than paperback and hard-cover books combined. Low priced e-books (at $0.99 and $2.99) are putting pressure on an already squeezed industry, and traditional publishing is on the ropes, trying to adapt and change a business model that has existed since Gutenberg pressed the first modern book. Getting your first book published the traditional way has always been difficult, but now the odds are incredibly long and getting worse. Small publishers are popping up to fill the gap and try to find new ways to connect writers and readers, but it is still far more difficult to get a book contract than it is to write the book.

Meanwhile, self-publishing has outright boomed.

The increasing ease of print-on-demand books and self-publishing on Amazon.com and Barnes&Noble.com has meant many more authors are publishing their own books every year. With self-published authors like Amanda Hocking and J.A. Konrath making crazy amounts of money with low-priced e-books, self-publishing is gaining the respectability that only earning money can bring. At the same time, reaching readers is very difficult for most authors, without an established platform or the sales channels that traditional publishers provide. But, as time goes on, more and more authors are being drawn toward the self-publishing model.

Should You Write That Novel?

I encourage anyone who has the itch to write to sit down and try it - not because it is easy, but because it can be such a rewarding creative experience. By rewarding I don't mean cash or fame, because there's very little of those in writing, in spite of the J.K. Rowlings and Stephanie Meyers of the world (or the Amanda Hockings). Mandy Hubbard (author/agent) talks about the hard truths that even successful authors who hit the NYTimes bestseller list and out-sell their advances, rarely make enough money to quit their day jobs. My guest post on a writer-friend's blog The Fiction of Writing is as true today as when I wrote it a year ago: publishing is a harsh business, but there's never been a better time to be a writer.

*If you have a teen writer in your house, I am giving two writing workshops at the Palatine Public Library this summer called Writing While Teen. Sign up here.