So You Want to Write a Novel: Butt In Chair, Hands On Keyboard...

Welcome to my new feature, So You Want to Write a Novel

In this edition, I'm going to eschew the usual information about plot, characters, genre, etc, and focus on something much more fundamental:

Butt In Chair, Hands On Keyboard... aka BICHOK.

Q: So, how do I become a writer?

A: You write.

Q: Haha, no, seriously, I really want to write a novel. How do I do it?

A: Write.

Q: Yes, but, what are the tricks to writing a publishable book?

A: Write. Every day. That's tricky enough to start off with, believe me.

If you, Gentle Reader, want to become a novelist - published or unpublished - there is no better tip than this simple advice above. After all, you will never hold your finished manuscript in your hands if you don't write it. (Once you have your first draft completed, then you can worry about silly little things like a coherent plot and believable characters. we'll cover this all later.)

The problem is that the simplest advice is often the hardest to follow: stop biting your nails. Eat better. Exercise more. Life gets in the way - and when it comes to writing, that is no different for published, career authors than it is for the first time novelist.

So how does a writer get around to it?