The first thing you need to write a
novel is… Time.
The second thing you need to write a
novel is… More Time.
And the third thing you need to write a
novel is… Even More Time.
This perhaps seems a bit obvious. But
let me explain.
Time, More Time and Even More Time are
all necessary.
I’ve divided Time up into three because
you need Time for different things.
The first lot of Time is, as I’m sure
you’ve guessed, Time to write. Time to sit at the desk with words coming out of
you.
The second lot of time, More Time, is… Time not to write. Time
to do stuff which doesn’t seem to be writing but which, in the end, turns out
to have been writing all along. To the uninitiated, this may appear to be
window shopping or people-watching, taking a nice long nap, or tracking down
YouTube clips of something you once saw on TV—but, actually, it is when the
writing bit of the brain does its hardest work. Believe me.
The third lot of time, Even More Time, is Time to rewrite, and
rewrite and rewrite. But we’re not going to worry about that now. That’s for
later drafts. For the moment, we’re thinking about the first draft.
As I’m sure you know, Time is never a
neutral, abstract thing. Nor merely a clock-ticking-on-the-mantlepiece thing.
Time for writing your novel is time not
for other occupations, not for
other people. It’s time stolen from your loved ones; time they will probably
resent you not devoting to them. Time is closing the door behind you and not
answering when people knock—not unless they knock very hard, and shout words
like ‘Fire’ and ‘Bastard’ and ‘I’m leaving—I really am’. (view the original post here)
—by Toby Litt
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| Image courtesy of Mary Bracht |