Posted on October 10, 2009 by Sarah Drake

So you have decided that what you really want to do is to start the Great American Novel. And that is where you have gotten stuck, is it not? What problem are you having? Don’t you know what you want to write about? Or maybe you have a plot line but no characters? How can you fix that? The easiest way to do that is to just sit down and write. Doesn’t matter what you write about…doesn’t even have to be anything related to whatever you have decided your Great American Novel is going to be about. You just need to start getting in the habit of sitting down and writing. It may not be easy at first, but, eventually, you’ll get the hang of it and you’ll be glad you started somewhere. Coming up soon is National Novel Writing Month, which is the month of November. There’s a challenge to hit fifty thousand words by the end of the month. This could be a great way for you to start your writing career. There are no prizes given, and it is only in good fun. Otherwise, just sit down and start. What do you have to lose? A few hours may net you several pages. And who knows? Maybe you’ll hit your stride at some point and write the next bestseller?