I’m re-blogging this because we’re almost halfway through November and I haven’t even started the chapter I wanted to get done this month – not even the whole novel, I had resigned myself to just a chapter. I’ve decided to trade in my Starving Artiste brand for hunkering down at the new job I started this month and cleaning the entire apartment. I’ve sold my creative soul for a salary and a dust free bedroom.
In January, everyone should try and choreograph a ballet. In March we should all write an opera, and in June everyone should paint a fresco. Sounds ludicrous, doesn’t it? And yet the idea that everyone could write a novel in November gets a good deal more acceptance. Why do we assume that, while these other forms would require skills, knowledge and practice beyond most people’s experience, anyone can write a book? It drives me round the bend.
Getting people to explore their creativity is something I’ve always considered important, but I think that should begin with a respect for whatever form you are working in. To start by assuming the form is easy, requires no study, research or insight, is to set yourself up to fail. I don’t think that benefits anyone. So, here are a few counterarguments.
Fifty thousand words is not really a book; that’s rather short. Seventy…
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