Why it took 8 years to write my novel

This could be a cautionary tale. Or a source of inspiration. Your choice.

The long version

I didn’t know what I was doing; I kept changing my mind about whether to write in the first, second or third person; I was writing about far away places and had to do a lot of research; for a long time I had two narrators, one of whose story covered a thousand years; I developed a repetitive stress injury from trying to work full time in the software industry while writing a book on the side; I attempted to use voice recognition software to write a novel with a lot of Icelandic words (don’t try this at home); I had surgery on my arm; my lover of six years left me out of the blue; my mother – who inspired the novel, without whom I would never have even started the novel – died out of the blue; I fell in love with someone new… I’ll stop there, on a good note, a rhyme even.

The short version

Life got in the way.

An advantage of sticking it out with that tricky first novel

A lot of people flounder around for a couple of years with a first novel, then tuck it away in a drawer and start anew using everything they’ve learned and write a really strong second book that gets published and is called their first novel. It’s a perfectly reasonable and practical approach, but it was never an option for me. There was no way I could abandon Freya. I was like a dog with a bone, nothing in the world could have pried that messy novel-to-be out of my hands or mind or heart.

Instead I took everything I figured out in the early years, about point of view and story and how to keep writing no matter what, and plowed it all back into the same book.

A disadvantage of sticking it out with that tricky first novel

Everyone keeps asking if you’re finished yet.

A plea for perseverance

Of course if I’d known at the outset that it was definitely going to take eight years, I probably never would have started. Luckily we can’t cheat life by peeking into our futures.

But if you’re thinking about giving up (on your novel or any other life dream) – please, consider persevering.

Comments

[Bill]

I love your book so far. I can't put it down. I love writing and have had sucess writing short stories but also have repetitive stress injuries from my work in arms, wrist, and hand. I don't think I could ever use voice recognition software.

I had a few false starts with novels but still dream of writng one.

[Christina]

Bill, thank you so so much for the feedback about my book.

Your experience sounds so similar to mine: success writing short stories, but dreaming of writing a novel (I'm going to do a post on that soon).

And the repetitive stress injuries. Mine are flaring up for the first time in years, because I am on the computer around the clock now, between my full time job and things related to the book launch.

Voice recognition software has improved hugely since I first tried it - if you're interested, email me at info at christinasunley dot com.

Do keep posting and let me know when you finish The Tricking of Freya...

Christina

[Bill]

Hi Christine,

I love that name. (Same as my daughters) Still loving the book! Did you have any exceptional sucess writing short stories that gave you the confidence to write the novel. I have acceptances in really good journals. Some as recent as a few week's ago but still lack confidence. I keep thinking if I won a reward or had a major acceptance that would help so much. The rejections set me back further then the acceptances push me forward.
Thank you, Bill

[Meredith]

Christina,

Thanks for being such an inspiration to all of us out there who dream of some day completing that ever elusive first novel.

much love,
Mere