stop writing novels

Stop writing novels.

You read that right.

And I know that if you’re a novelist, with the dream of writing an actual novel, that sounds extremely counter-intuitive. But hear me out.

One of the biggest reasons why aspiring authors today struggle with finishing their books, improving in their writing, and learning the craft is because they’re starting with 80k-word novels.

If the first thing you write is a fantasy epic with complex sociopolitical themes or an intensively-researched historical saga, chances are you’ll never make it to The End. You’ll be too busy worldbuilding to figure out grammar, or too concerned with formatting and punctuation to ever plot your story.

I made the mistake of trying to write novels as a novice writer. Instead of taking the time to actually figure out what I was doing, I dove headfirst into a novel. And when I got stuck a couple chapters in, I moved on to another novel. And another. And another. And another. Until I finally finished one (and it didn’t even turn out to be the proper length for a novel), and once I’d taken a step back from it, I realized I needed to scrap it and rewrite it completely.

Once I finally had written a novel I was satisfied with, I went full steam ahead to publish it and write and publish a sequel and threequel. After that third novel, I was exhausted. I wanted to write, but I didn’t know where to start or what to do. My writing felt dry and lifeless without the deep first-person POV I’d written those previous books in. My days were getting busier, and writing time was slowly dwindling. But I didn’t want to give up on it altogether…

So I wrote a couple flash fiction pieces. And let me tell you, getting the structure of a flash fiction piece down was a struggle! Somehow, 1,000 words was infinitely harder than 100,000.

Then I wrote a short story or two. Then a novella. Then a couple more short stories. Then another novella.

Those 2-3 years felt like floundering. But you know what? In that time, between those short and simple stories for fun and the more structured and tight novellas, my writing improved more than it had in the previous 5 years of writing novels. I actually found my own personal style and voice; I learned more about the craft than I ever had before; and I discovered a lot of my preconceived notions were wrong.

And I realized something. If I had started my writing journey with the flash fiction, the short stories, and the novellas…if I had begun by working on projects that required me to be really creative and conscious of what I was writing…if I had implemented strict guidelines (like word limits) and gotten feedback as I went—I would have been where I am now 5 years earlier. And instead of unpublishing and rewriting my novels, I would have been able to write them for the first time with all the knowledge and skills I have now.

Now, I don’t regret the process I went through, the mistakes I made, and the lessons I learned. But I don’t think everyone else should have to do what I did.

So, if you want to write a novel, don’t.

You’ve got to start small.

Before you ever begin Chapter 1 of your great American (or respective country) novel, write a few flash fiction pieces. Write a couple short stories. Write a novella. Take the necessary time to learn how to write. To find your style and niche. To develop your voice and techniques. To actually finish a project.

And go outside your comfort zone a little bit. Try writing stories for contests and anthologies. Write nonfiction articles, devotions, or poetry. Read some short stories and essays. Get other writers, readers, and editors to look over your work and give you feedback. Experiment on smaller scales before you attempt your magnum opus, so that when the time comes, you’ll be ready.

Writing shorter pieces is not going to stunt you or prevent you from ever writing a novel. Just the opposite; it’ll equip you for writing longer works than anything else could.

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