Back in the Saddle Again: What's it like to write a novel?

Hey there, Foreverers (making up words is fun!),

I've received some great feedback so far on Forever-Flash, and it's been good to hear about things that work, as well as things that don't work. You see, creating a fiction world is a huge task, once I believe is beyond one person's mind - it often needs inspiration, suggestions, and support from others. Would the Empire from Star Wars be as imposing without the Nazi-inspired uniforms? Would the opening scroll of those movies exist if Flash Gordon didn't do it first? You get the idea.

With the input I've received this far, I went back and made edits to the first chapter, and to a later chapter that's not in the excerpt. In the process, due to the fact that the entire book manuscript file is over 1MB, MSWord has decided to slack off on spellcheck. Zoinks!

Ah well...I'm not concerned about typos as much as I am about whether or not people can understand the story, and that's why I pulled up the sleeves and dove back into "Rewrite Mode"...

What is writing a novel like? Depends on your attitude of it. Someone said once that writing a novel is easy - it just takes work and commitment. That's the sticking point though, isn't it? If we don't care much about something, we're not very likely to devote blood, sweat, and tears (the substances, not the band) toward it. It would be like emailing, blogging, and calling all your friends to encourage them to go see the worst movie you've ever seen.

In order for a novel, short story, poem, etc., to be written, the writer has to believe in what they're writing. That doesn't mean JK Rowling believes in magic, or that Tolkien believed in hobbits; it means that the themes and overall "moral" of a story is worth telling to the point of devoting yourself to it. For Frodo and Sam to make it to Mordor, two unlikely heroes from the least of the races on Middle Earth, and to sacrifice themselves to save their lands and friends from evil, is a singular goal that many people can get behind.

In the end, fictional conventions like non-human races, mythical places, advanced technology, among others, are merely a vehicle by which we ride in to reach truths that we can get behind. So whether we're a pop culture fanboy cheering on the little guy like Frodo (literally), or a woman who appreciates that Anita Blake hunts vampires even while she sleeps with them, fiction is a raw form of dreaming that captures our imaginations and can, at its best, bring us to better understanding of ourselves.

As much as I love giant robots, there's a reason I chose writing a book, as opposed to an action-packed movie script: it's the human characters in The Forever Saga that are the most extraordinary. Brian Renney's redemption is an extension of both our failures, and our hopes for succeeding where we've previously stumbled. The love story between Jason and Alessa is one that endures heartache, separation, traumatic experiences, and fears, in order to grow into a bond that we wish our dating relationships/marriages had.

Coming soon, I want to explore some backstory for the characters, as well as try an idea that my buddy Seth had - writing short stories with The Forever Saga's characters, in order to flesh them out and get even more buzz for getting Forever-Flash published. It just goes to show, that when a story is worth telling, it's not merely the author that shapes it - but the ideas of the readers. I'm aiming for a living, breathing world of fiction, and with the help I've been getting, it certainly will be.

Become a fan of my books at: The Forever Saga Facebook Page

Read part of the first book at: 7-Chapter Excerpt of Forever-Flash

Stay up-to-date on my experience as an aspiring author at: ForeverBlog

Watch me tell Jimmy Fallon what games to buy for his Nintendo DS at: Forever on Twitter

See how I'm taking on the business world at: Forever on LinkedIn