10 Habits Every Aspiring Novelist Should Embrace
I don’t love the idea of traditional New Year’s resolutions, but I always feel inspired by that New Year energy, and I try to look at my upcoming year with fresh eyes. If you’re reading this, I’m guessing you do too and you’re specifically thinking about your writing goals for this year. Maybe those goals look like “write 5000 words every week” or “finally finish the first draft of that novel you started years ago” or even “land a literary agent,” and you’re looking for the mechanics to make that happen. This is not that post.
This is to address the other things you should be doing on your journey to becoming a novelist. It’s less checklist and more a reminder that there are many habits we can practice to grow as a writer and make real progress toward your novel-writing dreams.
I talk to a lot of aspiring novelists who have thought about writing a book for years, dreamed about writing a book for years, and maybe even played around with writing a book—you know where I’m going—for years. But they haven’t gotten very far, and it’s often because they don’t take themselves seriously as a writer. But the more we do something, say something, practice something, the more it becomes ingrained in us. And these habits can be incredibly helpful to shifting the way you think not only about writing but also the way you think about yourself as a writer.
GATHER INSPIRATION AND KNOWLEDGE
In Julia Cameron’s iconic The Artist’s Way, she instructs readers to make weekly “artist dates” with themselves because it helps to have input before we can output. We need to be inspired by the world around us when we want to create.
Read widely but especially in your genre. You need to read widely to both learn about your genre and understand where your book will fit into the marketplace. I’m often surprised by the number of aspiring writers who confess they don’t do this. A few books I’d recommend to women’s fic, upmarket, and book club writers this year: The Wedding People by Alison Espach, The Lost Baker of Vienna by Sharon Kurtzman, What Kind of Paradise by Janelle Brown, Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid, I Hope This Finds You Well by Natalie Sue, and It’s a Love Story by Annabel Monaghan.
But read like a writer and editor. My books are filled with annotations. I’m constantly taking note of what writers are doing, especially fresh takes on a story element. I use post-it tabs and underline and make notes about examples I want to share with writers. Here’s a peek at some thoughts I’ve drawn from my own annotations that I’ve shared previously: on interiority, on prologues, on character chemistry.
Read craft books especially classics. I’ve been reading books on the craft and analysis of writing since I was a lit undergrad in the ‘90s…my learning never stops. I have favorites I return to again and again and frequently recommend to writers: Wired for Story by Lisa Cron, The Emotional Craft of Fiction by Donald Maas, The Making of a Story by Alice LaPlante, How to Grow a Novel by Sol Stein and (of course!), Blueprint for a Novel by Jennie Nash.
Use free expert resources to build your writing and industry knowledge. There’s a plethora of Substacks and podcasts with incredibly helpful info. You can also follow industry experts on social media, including literary agents, editors, publicists, publishers, and other experts. (See here for lit agents on Substack, or here and here for more industry experts.) If you’re serious about writing a book, you need to learn about the industry.
Make time to hear yourself think regularly. It’s good to have lots of input, but we also need to make intentional time to synthesize that info, and to see where own inspiration leads us. If you’re constantly watching shows or listening to podcasts or music, or—yes, even reading books(!)—then you’re not making time for your own thoughts to coalesce. Making a regular practice of journaling or walking is a great way to encourage this.
SHIFT YOUR MINDSET
One of the things I see frequently with my writing clients is how much mindset impacts our ability to get started, sustain momentum, or even just believe you have the right to give this book-writing thing a shot. The publishing industry is a famously competitive business, and most successful authors did it on an incredibly long timeline. This requires not only a beautifully crafted story, but also a mindset that includes determination and belief in yourself and your abilities. (I actually have a lot more to say about mindset, so prepare yourself for more upcoming posts on the topic!)
Identify as a writer. In Atomic Habits, author James Clear talks about how claiming an identity helps you to take action. If you identify as a runner, you don’t ask yourself if you’re going to go for a run. You go for a run because you’re a runner. It’s what runners do. And if you’re a writer, then you make time to write. There’s not a question. But, many new writers and aspiring novelists struggle, understandably, with claiming this identity before they feel “legitimized” by a book deal, an agent, or holding their book in their hands. That leaves a long time to be working on writing, but too afraid to claim yourself as a writer, which can weaken your mindset. If this is you and you’re still hesitant to call yourself a writer, I offer you a bridge mantra: I’m learning to be a writer.
Build your writing network to surround yourself with like-minded peers. You need to be able to talk writing with someone and, unless your spouse, significant other or roommate is also a writer, you probably need to look outside your house. It’s not that your loved one won’t try to be supportive, but if they don’t really get why this is so meaningful to you, you might start to doubt yourself and that’s not good for your mindset. You need people who are as excited about writing as you are. So join a writing group. Seek out other writers online. Women’s Fiction Writers Association and local writing organizations and classes are excellent places to find writing BFFs.
Be a good literary citizen. Support the successes of those new writing friends. Patronize your local indie bookstore. Recommend a debut author’s book. This is not only about karma and building goodwill (although personally I believe those matter too!) but it’s also a good way to reinforce your identity of someone who belongs in this world, and remind yourself that this matters to you.
Be careful of and discerning about crit groups, or other feedback meant to be constructive. Carefully consider who you accept feedback from, and if they really know what they’re talking about. I wrote a post earlier this year that delves into how to accept editorial feedback, and how to determine when you shouldn’t. Keep in mind there are plenty of writers (aspiring and published) who are not yet well versed on being a good literary citizen, and just might take that out on your manuscript. But they also might have good intentions, yet not know how to deliver editorial feedback. And, yes, this can be true even if they are a successfully published author.
JUST WRITE
I am not minimizing the fact that there are obviously A LOT of steps built into this. But a huge stumbling block I see for new writers is coming up with all of the reasons they can’t start writing right now because of all of the things they need to do first. But the most important thing is to just take that first step and start. Depending on where you are in your writing journey that may mean your very first word on your very first page of your very first story, or it may mean starting again after you’ve been procrastinating for some time. But just…
Write. I know. How can one little word be packed with so much complication? But I promise you the more you show up and start writing, the more you’ll learn about how to write. Claim time in your schedule to write regularly. Guard that time fiercely. Don’t let the fact that you don’t know how to start your story paralyze you. Just put words onto the page. Maybe no one will ever read them but you. Maybe you’ll delete every one of those words. Your words don’t have to be good to get started. That’s not the point. The point is to become a writer, you actually have to write. All of the learning happens in the process.
The process is messy and sometimes hard and sometimes exhilarating, but you’ll never get to experience any of that if you hide behind too much learning before you start doing. You’ll never know where you need to improve or where your strengths are.
And to clarify I’m ABSOLUTELY NOT advising against story planning. I’m a HUGE believer in story planning. BUT story planning is part of the writing process and, in fact, actually involves writing, so that counts! And you have to write to discover and explore the story even during the story-planning stage.
There are so many things out of your control in the world of publishing, but the actions you take, the thoughts you believe, and how you grow as a writer are all absolutely within your power. But, you can’t tackle all 10 habits at once…that never works.
Here’s what I’d love for you to take away from this: Pick 2 habits to start today and try them out for a month. The first could be either an inspirational habit (#1-5) or a mind shift habit (#6-9), and the second, of course, is to be sure you’re showing up to write (#10). When you get to the end of the month, evaluate how that’s going. Maybe consider adding an additional habit. And come back and let me know what’s working for you!
Psst…you may also want to check out the insidious beliefs that may be stifling your writing voice and the first story-planning exercise I use with writers and what real-life book coaches actually advise their writers.
Love the part about identifying as a writer. Sometimes it feels presumptuous, but people who write are writers.
Thank you for this! Such great resources and reminders as we all put a ridiculous amount of pressure on ourselves for a new year. I especially love the part about giving yourself the space to think!