Teens Writing For Teens

The Value of Your Novel.

If you’re writing a novel, then you know that it is a hard, long process of drafting, editing, redrafting, etc. I think that is what makes it worth while. That you must work so insanely hard to make your novel good enough to get published. That’s the value of your novel.

When you start out writing a novel, most people have the word ‘publish’ or ‘bestseller’ on their mind. I do it. I’m not afraid to admit it. But the word(s) that really should be in mind is ‘effort’ or ‘masterpiece’. Because it is YOUR novel, and in the end, you decide if it is good or not. If you really want it to be good, then just put effort into it. No one else can make you try hard to write a good novel. Only you can do that. And, on those rare occasions, you can put effort into your novel. Make it a masterpiece. Yeah, get published. Make a few bucks. But what makes it all worth while to me is that feeling when you finish a novel, and think ‘man, I’ve done it. I’ve created a delicate work of art’. That feeling of pure joy will remain with me forever. If you ever come to a point when you’re having trouble and want to quit, think about the great feeling you’ll have when you finish it. Think of when you’re famous and you can sell this manuscript on EBAY for however many dollars even if it doesn’t get published. What really matters if you’re proud of writing this. When it all comes down to it, that is the only thing that matters…

-andrew