What is this novel about?
My husband asked me the other day if I’d started writing my novel yet. I answered yes, and incidentally, this is true – I’ve taken a couple of opportunities lately in waiting rooms or on the bus to write. Of course, the next question was: “What’s it about?” And it’s a good question.
I knew the answer, but would I tell him? I’d already thought about this a bit, since posting the progress of my novel on this blog has made me think about whether I’d post any excerpts from the writing along the way: and I’d decided the answer to that was no. I’d rather people could read it fresh, without any expectations. And, I’m scared, too, of getting strange reactions along the way, of people knowing what’s going on in the deepest parts of my mind.
“No problem, I understand,” was my husband’s reaction. And he did. He’s an artist (when he’s not an engineer) – our walls are full of his magnificent oil paintings – and he understands that creativity sometimes needs to remain private. It’s nice to feel that support without feeling I have to show him any evidence of what I’m doing – until it’s in the bookshops, of course!
A point of view I heard from one writer was that if he told others about the story he was writing before he’d finished, he would lose the urge to finish it — as if he had to get the story out somehow, but if he spoke about it first he would no longer need to write it down.
Another point against telling:
Once you’ve told someone what you’re going to write about, it may (perhaps subconciously) dissuade you from changing your story, even though a change might improve it.
And, annoyingly, a possible point in favour of telling:
Telling someone about it is like promising it to them. You may then feel more obliged to produce the finished story, which may inspire you to keep writing through the more difficult times.
i guess it all depends on how your mind works…
[...] want to remember the idea. It harks back a bit to my musings on whether or not I should tell people what my novel is about before it becomes a serious, readable affair. Food for thought, at least. Fiction Writing [...]
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