Good writing generally evolves from three sources: a knowledge of the elements of craft (something I covered in my first writing book, called Write Away), the extensive reading of the works of well-respected writers from various genres, and an enormous amount of practice. If creating a novel were easy, everyone would be doing it. The fact that it’s not easy, the fact that it requires talent, knowledge, perseverance, discipline, and passion, gives most people pause, especially if their interest is based on having written a book rather than on actually writing a book. Sometimes a would-be writer discovers that she really is only interested in seeing her work in print, between hard covers, with her photo on the back flap. This is a tough position from which to begin, since most people who attempt to write don’t become published writers at all. But for those for whom writing is a psychological and emotional necessity as well as a way of life, the more they know about the craft itself, the more they practice, and the more they work to develop a process that benefits them, the better the chances of finding someone willing to take a chance on them in the world of publishing.
So I encourage you to develop a process. I hope you see that novels don’t just come out of nowhere, springing fully formed onto the page. Every writer has some sort of way of getting to the finish line, and that way is that particular writer’s process.
Elizabeth George
Seattle, Washington