On writing a novel and my dream of becoming an international best-selling author
I'm doing good, I'm on some new shit
in the wise words of Taylor Swift:
I’m doing good, I’m on some new shit.
Been saying "yes" instead of "no"I thought I saw you at the bus stop, I didn't though
I hit the ground running each night
I hit the Sunday matinée
You know the greatest films of all time were never made
We’re going to start off with Taylor Swift because she is in fact one of the greatest artists of our generation. And, because Midnights, besides being one of her best albums, is one I’ve had on repeat, as I catch glimpses of the eras tour (and pray I get to watch it IRL as I also apologize to God for praying for a concert).
I recommend you play Midnights as you read this piece, or listen to folklore. Buckle up, because this is a longer piece. I’m using Chatgpt as an editor, and it thinks I should shorten up my piece or readers will lose attention. I’ve decided to ignore the advice and preface with letting you know this is a longer piece. And, you can enjoy my writing with a hot cup of coffee/tea/or whatever beverage you feel like. Make time for yourself, and for reading. No tldrs here.
I’ve been meaning to write for a while. In fact, I’ve thought about it so many times I’ve lost count. I’d think up ideas, and updates with an internal monologue that would shut them down.
What makes a good piece? What makes a good piece worth reading about?
The thought of writing something I’d have to market felt ingenuine, but that is the reality of the world we live in. You have to be marketable. As a writer, you market your words, in the hopes that people will read them. But, I don’t feel like it. And, now that I’ve limited my socials use (save for work), I feel no want of sharing out of my little bubble (that you’re now a part of).
When I took a break from Instagram, it was because I was done. Watching stories, consuming content that was making me feel like I wasn’t doing enough, being enough. Despite having been so good with boundaries on socials, I was mostly annoyed at first. How and why was I feeling inadequate? I wanted to explore what was making me feel so. It felt like a strange new feeling. It’s not one I’ve had in a while, because everything has always felt enough. I’m grateful, happy, at peace. I’ve worked so hard to feel at peace with everything in my life. But, when it started feeling forced, I knew there was a problem. So, I just decided to switch off — I didn’t want to be active. I was done. Tiktok was all “quiet luxury” and “how to look old money” garbage content which makes you feel like you need to buy all this shit you don’t need, and if it wasn’t that, it was “tap into your feminine energy” and “manifest aura” type stuff, and it’s like. Woah. I need a breather from all this content being shoved down my throat.
So I took a breather.
And here I am a little while later writing.
I fought a few mental constructs: what a good piece of writing is, how intimate is too intimate? how much can or should or do I want to share before it feels like it’s too much?
I started watching a fiction writing course by Brandon Sanderson, and in one lecture, he’s shared some invaluable writing advice. Like how I need to write for 4 hours, uninterrupted, to finish a novel in a year’s time (approx 100,000 words for a longer novel). If I write for 4 hours every week for 10 years, then my chances of becoming a professional writer are going to be higher. He also speaks about the importance of building writing habits, and how to do so regardless of your living situations. For e.g. he was literally laying bricks and working graveyard shifts, so he could think in that time and finish his novels. And yes a low-income job that allows you to write is still a luxury and privilege in itself. I haven’t sat and written for 4 years in a while. Hell, I don’t even block out 2 hour slots in my cal for writing. So, something has to give.
Why this is relevant? Because I’ve wanted to be an international best-selling author since I was a kid. You can ask my high school Academic Director from Year 10— this was my answer at my farewell event too. And it may seem ironic, given that I’ve been an entrepreneur, founder and operator a few times now. But, my first love was and always will be writing.
So back to the novel writing part of things, I had a dream when I was 15, and I decided to write it out. It ended up becoming a trilogy, a YA fantasy fiction trilogy idea. I wrote the first 14-15 chapters more than a decade ago. Two years ago, I’d applied for a writing fellowship program, and felt like I could revive the idea and get back to it. I think it’s the most excited I’d been about anything in a long time. And for some time it felt like my entire purpose on life was to finish this series that had been sitting in my head for so long. But, I didn’t really commit to a good application and my unseriousness got the better of me.
Now, fast forward to two years later.
I got invited to a world building workshop in Abu Dhabi by Alwyn Hamilton, the author of Rebel of the Sands series. The email, and its timing felt divine— it spoke to me. So, I signed up, and decided to trek to Abu Dhabi and attend this workshop.
Three great things came out of this workshop
I got to write a full fledged chapter beginning, and got the basic structure for building a world in the entirety of the workshop. I’d say this was easily one of my best decisions of this year, and ever.
I ran into an acquaintance and in catching up, we decided to meet for an accountability writing session. She’s working on a novel too, so this worked out fabulously.
I came to the realization that I might need an in-person structured novel writing program to finish my book. Now, all these are great realizations, but you’ve also got to realize I’m an entrepreneur, and I do have day (or night work thanks to multiple timezones) so my schedule and work schedules shift up depending on the week. Add in personal life (and shit I have no intention of writing about), a fierce commitment to fitness (which I’ll write more about another time), and travels (that often seem to disrupt my flow just when I get into one) — enrolling in a program and writing feels a bit more complicated than I’d like.
I started researching the best novel writing programs, and one in particular, the Gotham Writers Workshop caught my eye — it was one that the fellowship program I’d applied to, had been inspired by/worked in conjunction with as well. So, I started searching for programs that would fit my bill. I found a few great ones next month, and the month after. It’s not the most ideal of timings for me, but I figure, if it means so much to me, I will commit to seeing this through.
The conundrum of all this is how I stumbled onto Brandon Sanderson’s program, which he has angelically uploaded online — all of it —- for free, on Youtube. Thank God for glorious internet and good Samaritans in the world. So here’s the deal — I’m going to stick to writing accountability, and watch this program.
And, if I’ve made progress, I’ll consider the IRL one. Dangling a carrot in front of my own damn self damnit. When you want shit to work, you do what you got to do. Amirite?
So to sum up:
If you want to write seriously, write seriously. That means committing to 4 hours a day. Less hours will mean it takes you longer to finish a novel. Being serious and committed does take discipline and habit building.
You’ve got to figure out what format you thrive in. For me, that’s a structured in-person program format. For others, it could be variations of this. Figure yourself out.
Make time for what’s important. If you want to, you will.
Take social media breaks every now and then. They do wonders for your mind.
And before I end this note, thank you to all you lovely people who reached out and have messaged me asking how I am, and why I haven’t shared/written anything. It meant the world to me, at a time when there was absolute chaos and waterfall in my head. Your messages reminded me of how my words are read, and they matter (even though in the grand scheme of things what even matters, or what doesn’t matter, but let’s not end this on a morbid existential note).
If you feel low, I highly recommend watching bunny and cat videos, and this page is one of my favorites. Nature is Amazing.
Love and good vibes x
Mashal
Writers write :)