Can I Make a Living as a Novelist?

by Marilyn Henderson

If you ask yourself that question, you probably have written, are writing or want to write a novel. Good for you. Novelist is definitely high on the list of "Fab" careers, but like any other major decision in your life, there are some important things to consider before you compose that resignation letter to your current employer.

Writing a novel is 5% talent and 95% hard work. The fact that you are writing a novel is a pretty good indication that you have the talent that can be developed for a successful career. A stronger indication is having finished and sold the novel you began. The best and safest indication is having written and sold several novels.

A first sale is thrilling, but unless you can continue selling, you don't have a career. Agents and editors want writers who produce books regularly. Agents and editors will help build your career, but it's up to you to keep them supplied with the building blocks.

There are thousands of unfinished and unsold novels in computers and desks around the world. They wind up there because beginning writers often neglect or skim over the most important first step in the 95% hard work.

Step 1

Like any career, becoming a novelist requires mastering the skills you need to do the job well. Recognizing an idea that will sell, writing the story so it hooks the reader, and keeps him hooked all the way through, then drawing it all to a satisfying finale, are skills that take time and practice to master.

Many writers get what seem like great ideas and rush to their computers to begin chapter one. That can be a fatal mistake. Few, if any, great ideas come developed ready to sustain a novel that will grab an editor's interest and make her eager to read your manuscript. Your idea will only accomplish that if it creates an emotional reaction when the editor reads your description, query, or sample pages. Agents and editors know that emotional buttons sell books. It's up to you to create them throughout your work.

Creating an emotional button means choosing words for your description or plot statement, as well as in the pages of your novel, that make the reader form a mental picture from his own experience or imagination so he reacts emotionally. You create the mood you want him to feel, be it suspenseful, romantic, sympathetic light-hearted, or terrifying.

Another important thing to keep in mind is that editors and agents are always looking for something new and different. They reject most manuscripts because they aren't different enough from the hundreds of others they receive.

As you build a career, your creativity must grow with it. The unwary writer often gets caught up in writing the novel, and doesn't give much thought to marketing until the book is completed. The career novelist knows marketability begins with the idea, and is planned and written into every page of the book. Marketability is measured by emotional impact.

The publisher's marketing ideas and plans evolve from the content of the story, and how the author presents it. If you don't write your novel so an editor sees its market potential the first time she reads it, she won't recommend that the company buy it. Marketability must be written into your novel--it can't be added later.

Step 2

Every novel, be it mainstream or any genre, must generate suspense and dramatic tension to hold the readers' interest, and stir an emotional response. The elements that build and escalate suspense and dramatic tension should be planned before you start writing. Suspense doesn't happen by accident, or grow by itself. As the writer, you need to master how to create and build it.

Suspense must begin on page one and build steadily from there to the climax. Suspense keeps the reader reading. Planning ahead also keeps your story from ending with a fizzle. Identifying the dramatic or tension-building elements before you write lets you save the biggest emotional button for the final scene. Each suspense element should be able to support a scene that moves the story forward. And, each must create more dramatic tension or suspense as the story progresses.

Whether you outline or use some other method, planning your book before you begin Chapter one also helps you determine whether or not you have enough scenes and action to fill an entire novel. Running out of story when the book needs 100 more pages can leave you floundering. And, more than likely, you'll have a hard time coming up with scenes that continue building the suspense you need.

Many writers abandon their novels half way through because they don't know where the story should go next. If a story is worth writing, it's worth planning.

Step 3

Like any other career, writing demands your best effort and attention. This doesn't necessarily mean you need to work eight hours a day, five days a week, but you must set aside a definite amount of time on a regular schedule for actual writing. This isn't thinking time, it's writing time. You can think about the book while you do the laundry, walk the dog, or ride the bus to work.

No matter how long it took you to write your first book, once it is accepted, you will be required to adhere to a time frame set out in your contracts. Agents and editors want writers who have a new book ready in 12 to 18 months after acceptance of the first one. Publishing schedules are planned that far in advance. If you don't meet your schedule, your "slot" will go to another writer. If you don't publish a new book every year, you may also lose your audience. Readers who purchased your first novel may forget you and move on to other authors.

Step 4

There are several questions you should also ask yourself if you are considering a career as a novelist. If you answer "yes" to all of them, you will probably have a good chance of success.

1. Are you a self-starter who can work well alone for long periods of time? Do you stick to a writing schedule?
   
   
2. Can you accept criticism and use it constructively? Not all criticism is valid. Can you tell the difference between valid criticism and reader reaction?
   
   
3. Do you have good skills in grammar, spelling, and punctuation? If not, are you steadily acquiring them?
   
   
4. Have you learned to self-edit your writing? Can you spot scenes that don't move your story forward, or holes where you left something out, or didn't develop it fully? Can you recognize unnecessary words that don't add to the meaning or flow of the scene?
   
   
5. Are you willing to work your way up the career ladder with respect to income and name recognition? Novelists rarely hit the big time on their first sales.
   
   
6. Are you financially able to sustain yourself until your writing career can support you? Do a reality check by investigating how much starting writers get for novels at the houses where you plan to send your work.

Last but far from least, consider this advice from singer Tony Bennett in an interview on his 80th birthday about his long career: "If you're going to do something all your life, make sure you like it."

So the answer to the question, "Can I make a living as a novelist?" is yes. You can do it, but it isn't easy. Nor will you get rich and famous quickly, if at all. How far you go depends completely on you.

Being a successful writer takes determination, self-discipline, persistence, and the ability to handle disappointments as well as successes.

Being a novelist is a lifetime learning process. It is also a richly rewarding career where you determine your own level of success or failure. It's a tough journey, but worth every step.

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