I wasn't sure I could go on

George Orwell once said:

'Writing a book is a horrible, exhausting struggle, like a long bout with some painful illness.'

Having written patches of fiction and only now taking on a full novel, I can say I have the utmost respect for anyone who has completed a novel.

There are about 127 really, really excellent reasons not to write a novel.

There are so many things to hold in your mind, like character arcs, and whether the chapters align, and whether you're revealing too much in explanation instead of just showing it through character action.

And much, much more.

After all this, there's no guarantee that the book will be read by more than four people.

Certainly, there is no guarantee that you will make any money from it.

And now, with all the AI slop books coming out, you're competing with about 3 million 'authors' instead of 700,000 (made-up numbers, but you get the point).

And this is why I chose to write novels.

Well, not really, actually. I chose to write because I really wanted to write a fiction book.

To me, writing fiction gives me one of the deepest and broadest ways to express myself creatively.

That's what I'm looking for. It can be extremely satisfying.

And not completing a novel is something I don't think I could forgive myself at the end of my days.

I probably would have quit a long time ago had I not used modern tools to help me organise my book. AI tools don't write my books, but they make it far less likely that I'd lose my mind writing it.

It's still taking months. It's still not easy.

But I can see the finish line, and I absolutely did not expect it to be easy.

If I could just make one, clear point in all this:

Expecting it to be easy will be the death of your book.

Alex

P.S. My tiny stories are at Story Cabin