Exploding Myths - The Easy Way to Write a Novel Write

I’m going to teach you to fly. To write on autopilot.

In order to do that successfully, there’s some ground to cover first.

There’s a lot of what I call wrong thinking that needs to be undone.

You may have written novels before that have taken you a year or two to complete. This is most probably because you, too, have been a victim of this wrong thinking. There are myths about writing we all in some way like to perpetuate, perhaps because it makes us feel better about being so unproductive!

The truth is there are far too many myths attached to the business of writing that do absolutely nothing to enhance creativity.

Especially if you believe them.

Before you begin your novel, or next novel, I believe you need to get some of these limiting beliefs out of your mind.

I’m going to spend a little time now trying to dismantle some of these myths for you. Bear with me. As I mentioned in the introduction, you may not agree with everything I say here. But if, at the very least, you acknowledge that I might be right about a few of these things, I think you’ll find your writing becomes a whole lot easier.

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Ego

Contrary to what your parents might have told you, your ego is your best friend.

I’ll tell you why.

Your ego is the motivating force behind your desire to write. It is what makes you want to complete things well, to show them off and be respected for your efforts.

Cherish it.

I bet that most of your life you’ve been taught to suppress your ego.

Am I right? It’s seen as a raucous child, an inappropriate thing, embarrassing almost. While suppressing a child’s ego might make a parent’s life easier, it is not necessarily a good thing to suppress in a writer.

The ego is fragile. It should be nurtured like a delicate plant that you must water, protect and treat with respect.

But here’s the trick.

Don’t share it. Direct it inward.

Imagine it growing inside you, expanding, filling you with pride and the belief that you can do anything. The ego is not logical. It has no sense of the impossible.

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Whenever you catch yourself filling with pride or beginning to feel that anything and everything is possible – go with it, push the feeling to the limit. Imagine that you really are the most talented and best, cleverest, superb writer you know.

Even if it seems absurd, keep telling yourself you’re the best. Make yourself laugh with the absurdity of it.

Why?

Because your subconscious will start to believe it. The subconscious is stupid – it believes whatever you tell it. If that is case, surely you have a responsibility to tell it only positive things.

For complex reasons, the subconscious remembers things even better when they’re attached to emotion. A burst of ego-driven thoughts and the associated rush of adrenaline are like radiation burns to the subconscious – permanently imprinting good, helpful news on your inner being. Within a short time, your self-worth will start to soar as your subconscious begins to believe in the endless possibilities that your ego is capable of imagining. Go with it. Enjoy it.

Okay, I know you’re thinking this is all self-delusion. How is this helping my writing?

So, for those that haven’t got the central message of this book, I’ll state it again:

You can write a brilliant novel, simply if you believe you can.

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And it will be as easy as you want it to be because you decide that it will be.

Keep it to Yourself

One of the ways of sustaining this new level of confidence in yourself is not to share your newfound feelings with anyone.

There are other reasons for this that I will explain later. For the moment we’ll just deal with some home truths.

People love to criticize. It’s part of human nature.

Walk into a room and tell someone you’re happy and the natural instinct is for the other person to tell you why you shouldn’t be.

People will always try to undermine your confidence – especially if it’s seen to be ego driven. People think that if your ego is telling you something, you are being fed false information and should be brought down to earth immediately.

Why is that?

Doers, especially creative doers, intimidate people. Let’s face it; non-doers are intimidated because they’re jealous. It’s not worth talking to these people. Rather than waste your energy telling people how good you feel, don’t bother. Because their next question will always be, Why? Or, What makes you so special?

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To which your answer will be, naturally, Because I’m such a great writer!

I’ll leave it to you to imagine the response you’ll get from that one.

The lesson is that the ego is a private thing.

Don’t tell anyone else about your opinion about yourself – however short-lived - because others will always try to undermine your confidence. It’s human nature.

To recap, your ego is good because it’s your motivating force.

Think about what your ego thrives on:

* Attention

* Recognition

* Praise

* Flattery – no matter how empty!

All of the things that will make you feel better about yourself and your writing.

Of course the ego is shallow, capricious and child-like. That’s a given - accepted. But its energy knows no bounds. It is blindly convinced it can do anything. Therefore it is powerful. It’s up to you to harness the energy it thrives on and make it work for you.

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The rational, and the logical, conscious mind must be forced back to let the subconscious come forward. The subconscious will then be able to take over and do all the hard work for you.

The hardest part is simply to trust it and not feel you’re deluding yourself. You’re not. You’re simply bolstering your confidence to powerful, super creative levels.

Don’t fear your ego. Promote it, protect it and make it grow!

Naysayers

Many people will tell you that this kind of ego bolstering is a bad thing. These people are usually small minded, cynical and depressed, but you might be tempted to listen to them anyway. It’s hard not to – they’re everywhere!

They’ll say you shouldn’t elevate your opinion of yourself to impossible heights, that it’s not logical or realistic.

That’s because people associate egos with arrogance and unpleasantness. They imagine prima donnas who stamp their feet and scream if they don’t get their own way. True, the ego can make you behave like that –but it doesn’t have to.

There is another way. An ego that shows itself through quiet confidence, an easy, giving manner.

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Look at actors or athletes. Just after a good performance, they are filled with their own egos, brimming with confidence, happy. But also note there is rarely any bitterness or anger. There is serenity, surety and confidence.

This is how you must think of ego.

Because ego is a pre-requisite to creativity.

Think about it. Without ego, there would be no urge for humans to do anything beyond survive. The ego is what makes us human, what makes us scale new heights. It is what takes us out of ourselves, gives us the courage to travel the world, or the strength to rebel against our enemies – the need to prove something ourselves, to stand tall and say – I did that!

Some might say: what about altruism? What about the desire to give and do good just because it’s the right think to do. Pah! There’s no such thing as altruism. People give because it feels good – to them.

Altruism is ego in another form.

Don’t fear your ego, and don’t let anyone take it away from you.

It’s who you are, and who you can become.

Motivation

So now you’ve got a motivating force – your ego, what are you going to do with it?

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Let’s ask some basic questions. It might help at this stage.

* Why do you want to write?

* In particular, why do you want to write a novel?

Answer in less than 25 words – the fewer the better.

Answering this question is important. It may well define how you go about the rest of this book, and how much you will derive from it.

Most professionals will answer in two or three words.

* I can’t help it.

* I’ve got this great story.

* I have a deadline.

These are the answers of well-motivated people, and even their answers sound woolly.

Think for a moment. There is absolutely no reason in the world for the average person to write a novel. What’s the point? A lot of effort for what? A whole bunch of words that, tragically, only a few people will ever read.

Put like that, it doesn’t seem worth the effort, does it?

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The great Dorothea Brande once said, “Writers create their own sense of emergency.” She’s right.

It’s weird. For some reason writers decide that it is critical that they write.

Why? Who knows? Why does it seem so important for a writer that he writes?

I guess it’s about creativity. Once you’ve felt the satisfaction that comes with creating something – especially when you receive positive feedback - it quickly becomes as addictive as a drug. This is an ego related thing, obviously. Writing is all about creating. Words, pictures, scenes, worlds, whatever.

Perhaps there’s even something a little God-like about being able to create things, to fashion raw, chaotic nature into something beautiful and meaningful.

What about your reasons to write?

If you are not a professional you will probably have much more practical reasons for writing a novel. For instance:

* To record a family history.

* To relate a dramatic event in your life?

* To get that plot that’s been bugging you for years down on paper?

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* To prove that you can do it.

All good solid reasons. The fact is, any and all reasons to write a novel are valid, as long as they achieve the desired end-result.

For now, I want you write down the reasons why you want to write a novel, or novels. Do it now. It’s kind of a test.

The Three Keys

That there are three simple keys to writing a novel quickly and easily.

They have nothing to do with anything you might have learnt at school.

They’ve got nothing to do with grammar, spelling, composition, knowing the rules – these are all to do with the craft of writing – and the subject of the second half of the book. Easy stuff, you can learn in a day.

I’m talking about the art of writing a novel.

Here are the three keys:

* Attitude

* Mindset

* Courage

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That’s it. With these keys, you can unlock the doors to endless creativity, boundless motivation and effortless work.

Hopefully by now, you’ll be getting a clearer idea of how to create a positive attitude in yourself – and how to use your ego to help you unleash the power of it.

Next chapter we’ll be dealing with mindset in detail – and how changing your views on things can help you to break out of the limiting belief systems that prevent writers from writing quickly and easily.

Courage is important too, because in the final stretch, you’ll need to take a leap of faith. A whole novel might seem like an awesome prospect – even at the end of this book. However, it is my sincere desire that by the time you finish reading – and probably a long time before that – if you follow the rules and techniques I’m teaching you, you’ll be so desperate to get started, you’ll wonder what ever held you back!

Part of the process is demystifying the business of creative writing.

The fact is, too many people don’t write, or don’t even try, because they think it’s too hard. And the worse thing? Writers perpetuate the myth!

Of course they do!

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Think about it – they have to. How much respect would the ordinary person have for writers if they thought writing was easy?

For that matter, how much respect would writers have for themselves?

Everyone loves the image of the struggling artist in his garret, where he sits wrapped in his old coat and scarf against the cold. Where each word is wrenched from his heart and spilt on to the page like blood.

He’s alone, frustrated, a misunderstood genius. The whole image is romantic. It’s noble. It’s…

It’s garbage!

To my mind, anyone who struggles to write simply isn’t doing it right!

I’ve seen writers struggle for years over all kinds of things:

* They’re waiting for Inspiration

* They’re wracked with doubt

* They’ve avoiding confronting their work (or themselves!)

* They whine about lack of time

The list goes on.

The interesting part is that, when writers become fully engrossed in their novel, all of these concerns evaporate.

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Suddenly inspiration is there, banging on the door, begging to be heard. Doubt disappears and they just seem to be able to make the time they never had before.

It’s looking at this seemingly contradictory behavior, and trying to make sense of it that, in large part, has led to this book.

There’s no big secret to writing a novel.

Rather it’s a sequence of events. Not just physical events but also moments of decision that a writer must go through to reach the endpoint of “novelist”. Some writers take years to learn the knack of it.

The object of this book it to help you through those events and moments of decision in the shortest time possible.

They say there’s a book in everyone. Simply put, I want to bring it out of you.

Why? Because I’ve always loved helping people. Especially helping people to become creative, helping them find that spark of creativity that sets us apart from the rest of Nature.

I love seeing the sense of pride and well being that shines from people that are creative and loving it. It’s awesome and inspiring.

At moments, the satisfaction that creativity can bring you is overwhelming. It’s almost like being a god. Indeed, if you think about it, that’s exactly what you are when you’re creating…a kind of mini-god.

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Birth of an Idea

Writing a novel is like having a baby.

It’s great fun to conceive. It’s exciting when you know it’s on the way.

Its actual birth may be beautiful or it may be traumatic, it may be quick and painless or long drawn out and stressful. But when it’s arrived, it’s so wonderful it fills you with aching pride – but with it comes responsibility.

Writing a book makes you feel special. I guarantee that when you’ve finished your master opus, you’ll feel much better about yourself – not only because you’ll be an author but also because you’ll know you can finish things. You’ll know that anything is possible and that any of your lifelong ambitions can be fulfilled.

But first, we need to look at your thinking and perhaps change a few of your long held beliefs…

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CHAPTER FOUR

In document The Easy Way to Write a Novel Write (Page 49-63)