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several novels finished, in various editorial stages. One has been sent to the publisher, the others are waiting for me to get them reworked. A new one in process even now.
I've also got a lot of fragments that I need to get organized.
To pay my postage bill, I write articles, technical documentation, co-author academic papers (i.e. Ghost-write) and that kind of thing. I also work part time in the career I trained for.
Don't try to "start a novel" - just write anything. To (mis)quote Spider Robinson: "Give us a rough draft; then we'll have something to edit." Don't worry about writing out of order that the book will eventually live in, that's how most of us do it. Alternately, don't worry if you're like me and have to write from beginning to end and can't skip around on the first draft. Trying to start a novel is like trying to force childbirth - without strong drugs and very specialized assistance, it's never going to work. Novels come in their own time, just like babies. (I've also heard from many people that most first novels take about 10 months to really gestate...)
You can't rework (and you do have to) until you have a first draft. So get words on paper/into electrons/carved into tablets.
Forward Motion writers forum is not a bad place for the beginner, but it is a writers' enclave. Don't expect DU and do expect a diverse population that includes some R types.
Set a work goal (I will write a scene a day; I will write a description of a place or event or person a day; I will write 100 years of my fictional world's history a week; I will write 2000 words every day) and STICK TO IT. When you've met the goal for X number of days, reward yourself. Even if you're just writing journal entries, building the habit of writing is really essential to the process.
Finally, Reality Break: Don't expect to get rich, or even published on the first go. That almost never happens, and the *average* writer makes $7K a year from writing. There's a lot of zeros bringing the Grishams' and Kings' averages down. When you DO get published, do expect a catty, difficult business where you'll be lucky to get a royalty check, overjoyed to get a second contract, and you'll make an accountant happy. Do expect to send half to 3/4ths of every check you get directly to Unka Sam for taxes, SS, and etc. Realize that books are becoming less a necessary commodity and that the readers' market is shrinking every year. Realize that most publishers are scheduled 2-3 years in advance, and will plead poverty at every opportunity, while making record profits. And those are the good ones.
Really, I'm not trying to run you off - that last is just the reality of the life. Most of us have day jobs; I know that if I worked an hour at McDs for minimum wage instead of every hour that I work on writing, I would actually make almost $30K a year. Instead, from my writing, I make less than $12,000 a year from my writing, and I'm well paid for the industry. Most paid writers make less than $1 an hour off of their labor.
Good luck - a novel is like a marathon. If you finish, you're ahead of the game.
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