Why I Write Novels

Over this past week, I have been fortunate to be offered a couple of writing jobs. Getting paid to do what I most love to do has inspired me to spend some time searching out ways to make more cash doing the same. Today, I signed up for an online tutorial on writing guest posts. Her seminar didn’t do much for me. She spoke – as infomercials so often do – over and over about the business value of contributing guest posts, but said nothing about how to make that happen.

I turned her off, and I sat in my office chair trying to think about topics I am ‘expert’ enough to legitimately write articles about. The obvious topic which came to mind was writing itself. That topic wasn’t exactly the kind of thing this woman was referring to. No, she was looking for emotional, self-help type ideas.

I sat at my desk and thought, I know a lot about horses – but others know so much more. I know a lot about child rearing – but my kids are now grown and I’ve no idea where to sell knowledge about raising teens. I know a lot about leadership in business, but do I honestly have the credentials to teach others about how to lead a team at work? Well, I do, actually, but do I want to write about that? Maybe not tonight.

I was at a loss. I know about dogs, dog grooming, photography, tennis, cooking everything-in-the-pot meals. I know about editing and setting people up with social media and song writing and recording and performing. I just… don’t know what I could write that hasn’t been written before.

It amused me, in an exasperating kind of way, that I do not really feel qualified to write a one thousand word magazine article, but I have no qualms about my abilities when it comes to writing an eighty thousand word novel.

Why is that? I asked myself.

But I already knew the answer. Because, a novel is about the story. It is about telling the character’s journey from point a to point b, with all the emotions and challenges that character meets along the way. It is not, however, a detailed explanation of how a technical situation or item works. That information is all backdrop. The character’s quest is what is essential.

In an article, detailed knowledge is the thing. That is the substance. Who cares about how Sophia fell hard for the guy on the other end of the cell phone? What we want to know is how that phone performs.

There are aspects of life which I have enough knowledge about that I could write those kinds of articles. I’m just better at showing you how it feels to be the heroine who gets the guy with the phone rather than telling you the specs on said phone.

Also, like so many other creative people, for me there is a definite time factor when it comes to writing. Right now, for example, it is 11:30 pm. That is pretty much how I roll when it comes to writing. Most of my daylight hours are spent at my company job, and I write into the wee hours of the morning. Some day I'd love to invert this time frame -- make writing the day job and simply supplement that income when needed with a 'real' job.

That desire is always what brings me full circle to the idea of writing magazine articles. No one can deny that they do tend to be more lucrative than the self-published indie novels which make my heart beat to the speed of my typing fingers.

Since time is finite, I don't really want to write on spec. If I am going to submit to a magazine, I want a strong chance of acceptance before I invest the time. Like any other business, though, there are dues to be paid. I don't fully have the time to pay them.

In the final analysis, what I write comes down to informed choice. I have to consider my ability to adequately discuss a topic, to sell what I have written, and to effectively utilize the time I have at my disposal to do all these things. It also comes down to personality, to character.

Some days you want to deposit a paycheck, other days you want to play the lottery. If I put in the hard slog, that paycheck, such as it is, is guaranteed. So are the sore feet and the tired mind, the lonely dog and the family which is outsourcing me rapidly.

The lottery, on the other hand, was always going to be a long shot. But you can't win unless you play, and holding that potentially-winning ticket sure is fun.

So, I build worlds where the technical details are filled in only peripherally by myself. Gaps are shaded by the characters themselves. And for now, at least, I'll leave the technical writing to others who know want just a little bit more structure on their pages.