Novel

Have you ever written a novel? I haven't. My friend Joe, the publisher, is trying to get me to write one. But there’s a tiny detail: I have no idea what to write. The strange thing is that I am a published author, but I write non-fiction. To be more exact, I write those big, scary computer books you see in the bookstore. (Bet you didn't know that about me, did you Ali?) Believe it or not, I have cranked out a 400+ book in 6 weeks before. I’ve written 4 books and have contributed to 7 others. I'm even published in multiple languages. But ask me to write fiction and I can't get past a page or two. It seems, as far as the world of fiction goes, I only have small ideas. I envy those people who can write fiction, particularly the ones that can come up with story after story. And then there's me, looking for just one story to make my own.

I'm fascinated by the process people use to write fiction. In school, I thought that people just sat down and wrote. And some people do. But the ones who I am endless captivated with are the ones that have a system. They research, build, create and generate. They have note cards, notebooks and bulletin boards full of information. Bill Diehl use to live down the street from me and I got a glimpse into his writing process. He did copious amounts of research and had an elaborate card system for keep the locations, scenarios and characters consistent. If I wrote a novel, this is the approach I would use. This is because to me the storytelling is in the details.

Hopefully, one day, a story idea will hit me over the head and I'll run with it. Until then I'll just plug along in my blog!