Has anyone ever tried to write a novel?
 

im in college right now and i have had a great idea for a novel for a while. i've even written a few pages, just jotting some ideas down. but even if i did set out and over a year or two write a full-length manuscript, where do i go from there? i think i have a pretty good idea, but thats just me. who knows if anyone would be interested in buying it anyway? am i just wasting my time or should i really pusue this?

I don't think this should be past tense. I've never been published for any of my work but...
Your local library should have a list of groups that meet in and around your area. Writer's meetings and how to get published seminars are common at my library. Check there. Check the web.
Post a chapter to one of the online writers groups for review and comment.
Tolkein took a long time to write and publish Lord of the Rings...

are there any websites you know of online like a writers group where i can post a chapter?

Buy a current copy of Writer's Market, from Writer's Digest books. It has everything from how to sell your writing and who will buy it to tips from editors and literary agents. Literally thousands of publishers, editors, agents, etc...and their addresses and phone numbers.

I tried to start several... one I only got 100 pages, which is more than anything else I did.

I've written two really bad novels.
they take a lot of time and dedication.
I would say that while I will never sell either one of them it was well worth the effort.
I learned a lot from both of them and I write better.
There are also bits a pieces that were actually good enough to use as short stories which did sell.
My advice is go for it.
Don't think about selling it, just compleating the work.
You can worry about selling it after the second or third rewrite.

write 1-3 pages a day. do this every day for a year. you should then have between 365 and 1095 pages.

edit heavily and viciously. remove 1/3 of what you wrote, leaving only that which, now that you know how it ends, fits both logically and aesthetically.


you now have a novel of somewhere between 220 and 660 pages.

good luck getting it published.

Different strokes for different folks.

I remember one writer suggesting:

Just write and write and write. Don't matter what you write just write. When you can't write anymore read what you read and completely rewrite it.

Other people imagine lots of scenes. Write out all the different scenes till they have what they need, order them and then fill in the bits inbetween.

Or you could be a flowchart writer who has it all planned from start to finish and follows it through to the plan.

Find yer own style and go for it. Personally I think option 1 is the way to go. Albeit time consuming.

All good advice here.

For another view, have a look at what a literary agent say they want from an author. One example can be found at http://www.zackcompany.com/

Good luck.

Have you ever considered dropping them into a PDF file or something and posting it online?

A person tends to be his / her own worst critic. Perhaps they are much better than you thought.

i write poetry and "thoughts" alot and have been interested in writing a novel or play for a while. after college we will see.

I tried but gave up when I could not find a publisher, but now with all the online publishers, it is REALLY easy to get a small run published to help build a little buzz to get signed for the big companys...

Reikes

I started a novella a few years ago, but lost it in the great crash of 2000. I don't think I would have liked it nowadays anyway. I tinker occasionally, writing is something that people tell me I have potential in, but I don't know if I'm ready to sit down and devote enough time to it just yet.

I think you should persue it though, if you enjoy writing it and learn from it , then it's not going to be a waste at all.

Longest I've written is a good 1500+ pages with one of my friends. It is still unfinished and requires massive editing. We might publish it one day, but I doubt it ;) And in case you're wondering how the hell we got so many pages: it took us about two years and a half for it to get that far, and sometimes we would write up to 20 pages a day each. That's 40 pages in a day. I've also written another dozen-odd unfinished stories with this same friend. Now that I think about it... this same dude is my best friend. I really got to know him whilst writing, guess that's why he's my best bud :thumbsup:

I've also written a 140-page, unfinished story, which is the most I've written on my own.

I have two novels in me but I don't know if I could really put them on paper as well as they tell in my head. I have a really good friend that I used to write screen plays with.... we had a good one in the works, a very real and unique horror movie, until I moved away. We still talk and I give him ideas for his new stuff..... I just wish I could write down my own stuff.

If you need impetus or some writing companionship, check out
National Novel Writing Month

it's the easiest impossible thing ever.

you need to forget publishing awhile unless you have m a j o r backup plans and just write.

think it, write it. feel inspired? jot it it down. get angry? write down why.

yadayada

go for it

i am