The Fuzzy Secrets to Writing a Decent Novel
By Yuvi Zalkow | August 13, 2022 |
As I dig back into writing another novel, and as I wonder (again) if I can pull off this project that I’ve been trying to complete for… a long time, I wanted to document what I think it takes to write a decent novel. I’m not specifically talking about the craft of writing a novel (even though that’s plenty important), but more about the general traits that allow me to complete any big crazy project like a novel.
I came up with three specific things that are necessary (for me) to write and complete a book.
For good or for bad, these are fuzzy things, definitely not in the realm of WRITE 7.25 MILLION WORDS A DAY! or WRITE EVERY DAY AT 4:15AM! or FOLLOW THE HERO’S JOURNEY PERFECTLY OR ELSE!
Rather than spoil it, I’ll let the video speak for itself, because I think it works better if you see how I approached this exercise, rather than list those items here.
If you were to come up with your own fuzzy secrets (or skills or traits or qualities or whatever!) to write and finish a book, what would be on your list?
Yuvi Zalkow is the author of the novel I Only Cry with Emoticons (Red Hen, 2022) as well as A Brilliant Novel in the Works. His stories and essays have been published in Catapult, Narrative Magazine, Carve Magazine, Rosebud, The Los Angeles Review, and others. Yuvi received an MFA from Antioch University. He uses his poor drawing skills to make YouTube videos and mobile apps that ooze with his worries and anxiety.
Hey Yuvi — I’m not trying to be warm and fuzzy when I say I love this one. I’m going to keep saying it till it becomes a catchphrase: Humility is the new confidence. (Also, when and where can we see the furry video? Asking for my dog.)
Thanks for all you do!
Thanks, Vaughn!… Yeah, the furry secrets video might take a little bit longer. I have a complicated relationship with my cats and so far they aren’t revealing their secrets. Plus, my furry costumes are all at the dry cleaners. Apparently they take a while to dry. 😜
Can gold be fuzzy? Fantastic post, Yuvi. Couldn’t agree more with your secrets.
Thanks so much, Therese! I love the concept of fuzzy gold… 😜
Hi Yuvi,
I’ll add my fuzzy secret. Take your time writing that novel, but don’t take too long.
There’s a certain amount of time I need to understand the characters well enough that the plot organically grows. I try not to rush that. But it’s too much time if the world has changed. A good clue it’s too much time is technology mentioned is now vintage-cute (answering machines, beepers, flip phones). Or the concept of a worldwide virus, instead of feeling shocking, is now too familiar.
I agree with you about taking time to think about feedback before rejecting. I journal it out to myself if I’m conflicted about it. Then, if I decide not to take the advice, I understand clearly why I’m not. But many times I’ll be able to see that yeah, the feedback is pointing to something that needs a change, if not the exact change the reader suggested.
Thanks for the post!
P.S.
I so enjoyed your latest novel, Yuvi. I couldn’t stop laughing out loud with some of those scenes. You have such a strong voice. Best of luck with your new WIP. I look forward to reading it.
Thanks so much for checking out my book, Ada! And I love your additional insights about the process. Yes!… That “journal it out” concept is so valuable… I didn’t explore it too much in this video but it’s totally worth discussing — figuring out if and how to take in feedback. Hope the writing is going well for you…
Thanks, Yuvi, for a terrific post!
I’m slowly getting better at the irritatingly fuzzy skill of reflection as I stare at my current MS — having taken in feedback, knowing I don’t have it all figured out, seeing the story through the sensibilities of people I trust — but it seems to me at this particular moment, having watched your perfectly-timed video, that reflection is critical to assimilating feedback into a working perspective on revising the story. And, yeah — there’s another steaming ton of work waiting for me now… so thanks.
Thanks, Lloyd! Good luck on the steaming ton of work! 😜… Yeah, I probably over-simplified Reflection in the video, just because it’s a bit… fuzzy to nail down. It isn’t trivial knowing how to effectively reflect on the work. Wish you the best with your writing!
Thanks so much, Yuvi. Wonderful clutch of precepts here!
Probably my fuzziest “secret” can be summed up as time: striking the right balance of time to write, time to not-write, time to think about writing, and time to think about everything else. We all have to Live Life, of course, meaning to make room in the day for other things, and everything can’t be equally important at all moments of the day. But managing the balance, and sustaining the overall balance over the course of weeks, months, years — that’s in general both the hardest and the most important thing for me.
Thanks again for getting us to think hard about all this!
Hi JES — Yeah, I hear you. Finding the right way to use time is huge and I like how you included time to “think about writing”… That isn’t discussed enough, how important that is. Wish you the best with the writing!
All fuzzies are created equal, but they aren’t all the same. Cats know this, of course, but trying to extract the information meets with non-fuzzy claws. Learning it yourself, which takes time, leads to those same cats retracting those claws and purring. Everyone has a process that includes all the same basic elements as everyone else, but it’s reflection and hard work that makes your process unique. How much hard work? That’s fuzzy. 7.25 million words is absurd. Maybe 7 million. Looking at in a non-fuzzy way, the tools needed are external, but how to utilize them is internal and unique.
*Always remember, that if you work on the floor you can’t cry beneath your desk.
Thanks for your fabulous fuzzy words, Christina. Plus, I always appreciate comments that suggest you watched the ending credits… 😜
Yuvi, I have never known what’s going on, so I am leagues ahead in this writing game. Community, like the sterling one here at WU, is candles on the cake. Reflection is getting your hands in the fibers of stories (and much better than rumination, which is eating those fibers, without water).
But I think you should add a literal fuzzy component to your writing, like keeping a friendly but docile rodent, like a guinea pig or hamster, on your lap at all writing times, so you can stroke its fur, it admires you, and you and it feel that full life connection.
Oh, and keep a napkin under it for those times too. Thanks for another fun, charming and helpful post.
Hi Tom! Thanks for the comment. You have some fabulous metaphors in your comment too. 😜 As for the rodent… I’ll need to build it up to that… 😜
Yuvi, You are brilliant about writing, in a way that I am only sitting in my chair, writing, rewriting, and adding. My novel has shrunken and then grown again. It as changed and become better. The entire book has been read by two persons. Still, I see it growing and becoming a damn good piece of work. I am proud of it, like I am of my children. So what is the scary part? Querying….oh and there was this ASK from a group I belong to–send so many pages and an editor will pick the best and comment. She picked me….but.the editor had wanted the first pages. I had sent a section when the kidnapping has occurred and the mother is trying to breathe….the editor had not been specific. She wrote nasty things. So….I’m sitting here writing. One day at a time. Thanks
Thanks so much, Elizabeth! Oof. Yeah, that’s really hard when someone says something not nice, and ALSO not specific. That’s the hardest, for me, because it affects my creative state of mind for a while… until I get back into the chair and get back to it. Sending warm vibes. Take care!
Yuvi, your turtle tee is my secret :) And yeah, we’re all winging it. Thanks so much for your fuzzy secrets. They resonate.
Thanks again, Vijaya! Hope you’re doing well. Yeah, I actually have two of those turtle tees, just in case… 😜
Really appreciate this exploration of “the fuzzies,” especially reflection, which I find myself doing a lot (as in, “What am I doing/going to do” here – and here …). The leg of the fuzzy stool I need to develop is community. At what point do you share – early? Often? Only when a draft feels “ready”? I’m waiting until ai have a solid second draft, but appreciate that might be too much to ask someone to read and comment. A puzzler. And a “shit ton of work” for sure!
Thanks for sharing, Debbie. Yeah, knowing when and how to share your work is a really tricky thing! I find that I like to share my stuff early and often, but I don’t always share the entire thing, and I only share with a few people who know how to give me the appropriate feedback given where I’m at in the process. It’s tricky, though! Sometimes I don’t have the luxury of having the right readers, and sometimes I miscalculate and give it to someone who doesn’t give me the right kind of feedback and I’m left feeling bummed… But when it goes right, I love getting early reactions… 😜 Wish you the best!
The bravery you demonstrate in showing the world anything at all, really, astounds me. I have wanted to write a memoir for decades and instead keep going to therapy. Thank you for not saying “the struggle is real.” That phrase makes me urp. I love your work, have enjoyed both your novels, and am glad our paths crossed long enough to make a fan out of me. And thanks for these post-ettes, which I always look forward to reading/viewing.