Ever since I was a young girl, I have loved making up stories. After I wrote my first 30,000 word novel in 8th grade, I was hooked on writing and never looked back. If you're a novelist or any kind of writer at all, these following situations may be ones you have found yourself in before.
1. You spend hours working on your characters and sculpting them into real people.
So that means you need to decide what your characters’ favorite kind of cheese is. You never know when these interesting and random details about your characters will be useful.
2. Sometimes you zone out thinking about your novel.
Some people may ask, “Are you okay?” Yes, I’m fine, don’t worry. Just thinking.
3. You sometimes catch yourself narrating your life in your head.
For example: Julia walked into the kitchen, searching for food. Pita bread. Delicious. She eagerly put it into the microwave and waited ten seconds. Whether you're a novelist or not, everyone should try narrating their lives from time to time. It can make seemingly boring tasks more fun.
4. You make your characters suffer.
Don’t ask me why writers do this, but they seem to enjoy torturing their characters, especially the ones they love the most. Honestly, it is kind of fun. So kill off that character. Bring on the reader backlash.
5. You know you're falling in love with your novel when you go beyond just writing it.
You make song playlists, Pinterest boards and drawings related to your book, either for inspiration or just for fun.
6. At one point, you have decided which actors/actresses are going to play your novel characters, just in case your book is turned into a movie or television show.
7. As a novelist, you may find yourself asking Google some odd or potentially disturbing questions.
Sometimes you just have to know how long it takes for someone to die from blood loss, an arrow wound, or a snake bite. It's reminiscent of the movie Adaptation, when Donald says, “I need a cool way to kill people.” When met with shock, he says, “Don’t worry! For my script!”
8. You get annoyed by grammar mistakes, typos, and just bad writing in general.
Maybe this isn’t every novelist, but I can’t help but complain about typos when I see them, especially in professionally published books. When I see a published book with errors, it confuses me. This book was edited by a professional editor supposedly. Why isn’t it better? Of course, my own writing is not perfect, and I am always focusing on improving my work. However, years of writing, reading and editing have turned me into a critic. This can be a good and a bad thing.9. Sometimes you have days where you're not sure what to write, but you have a great reward system.
10. You dream of meeting your favorite authors so you can talk to them about their wonderful books and ask for advice.
I only hope that one day I will be able to meet my favorite author, Maggie Stiefvater!
11. A rainy day of sitting at the computer and writing is a day well spent.
An afternoon alone with your novel is sometimes just what you need. You always cherish your writing time!
