The perfect reader for your novel lives among us. If only they could read it.
You’ve wanted to write your novel for a long time, but life has gotten in the way, or at least that’s what you tell yourself.
In reality, your life is the way.
You’ve been accumulating the experience that’ll make your work impactful.
Better yet, you’ve lucked out by waiting. Thanks to modern tools for:
…there’s never been a better time to write your novel. You may be asking if you have the qualifications to write.
Well, there’s really only one prerequisite to start writing…
You have stories to tell.
Your intersection of experiences, insights & outlook could change someone else’s life.
Except, no one wants to read your life story. They want to read a good story. You need to combine your knowledge with storytelling skills. Being able to articulate yourself through stories is a superpower.
And it’s 100% learnable.
You’re lucky enough to:
- live in the digital age
- read & write in the world’s most popular language
- have access to the entirety of human knowledge on your phone
No other generation in history has had this chance.
There are infinite excuses to delay. Don’t believe them.
You’ve always wanted to write a novel, but are waiting for the right time.
Unfortunately, the right time never seems to come. Life is a series of responsibilities:
- School
- Career
- Marriage
- Children
When are you supposed to fit in a novel?
The truth is, if you want to find an excuse, one will be there.
Along with your life responsibilities, you also owe something to your ideal reader. They’re out there, in need of your story. You can condemn them to figure things out on their own…
Or you can help them.
‘One day’ is today.
You’ve always said you’ll write a novel one day, but when does one day come?
A lot of the hesitation towards novel writing is doubt about how to monetize it. This is misguided. If you want to make money, do something more lucrative.
It’ll be easier.
Novel writing is about self-growth & getting a valuable story into the hands of your reader. If you happen to make a buck in the process, all the better.
I’m in the same boat as you.
I’ve worked a corporate job, & I’ve realized earning ‘f*** you money’ is out of reach.
I’ll always have to worry about money. But I’m now in the realm of ‘damn you money.’ I need my day job, but I don’t need to spend my free time on a ‘side hustle’ as well. I can spend it doing something I love for its own sake.
So I’m finally writing my novel. You’re invited to write yours too.
Here’s how I’m going to do it:
I’m going to write my novel completely in public.
This isn’t about rushing to a deadline or getting a book deal. It’s for the love of writing, the self-growth it provides, & the potential to change a life with a book.
Here are my golden rules:
Write In Public.
I’m putting my entire workspace online through Obsidian.
Most writers wouldn’t show their first draft to their worst enemy. I’m not in this to show my audience a fake sense of perfection. My audience is as interested in writing a debut novel, as they are in the end result.
Write part-time.
Ali Abdaal had hit a resonance with his Part-Time Youtuber Academy.
People are hungry to make their passions a part of their life, but not their whole life. They have day jobs. They’re not trying to do this full-time, but are willing to put in consistent effort.
Publish along the way.
Ship 30 for 30 distinguishes between traditional writing & digital writing..
I’m not locking myself in a cabin for 2 years & coming out with a masterpiece. I’m posting online along the way. I’m building an audience as I write to create iterative feedback loops.
I want to find the people who need to read my novel as soon as possible.
Modern tools for modern writing.
To embrace the digital writing era, I’m not going to sit down & wrangle a 200-page draft in Microsoft word. Instead, I’m going to:
- Use a Zettelkasten-based approach for research
- Write a non-linear first draft in Obsidian
- Leverage systems to stack the deck in my favour
These tools have helped me in other aspects of my life so why not novel writing?
The journey is the destination.
There is no deadline for my novel.
My goal is to get 1% Better Each Day- either as a writer or in the novel. I can set more defined deadlines once a reader starts banging on my door to read my novel.
And if I stick at this long enough, a reader will come.
Why Learn With Me?
The best person to learn from is someone 2 steps ahead of you.
Experts don’t remember what it was like to write their first sentence of serious prose. Someone who’s just ahead of you has solved your next problem but isn’t too far removed from your mindset.
Write the story the world needs to hear from you. You owe it to the rest of us.
To get more help on your first novel:
Happy writing!
Workflow:
- Pick Theme
- Advice
- Writing
- Storytelling
- Productivity
- Mindset
- Frameworks
- Update
- Research
- Workflow
- Tools
- Outlining
- Digital Garden
- Advice
- Pick from Ideas Note
- Clickable headline
- Skimmable outline
- Rough Draft
- Polished Draft (1:3:1)
- Hemingway Edit
- Review- next day, on mobile, out loud
- Queue on Medium
- Queue on Substack
- Chk for Twitter Notes
- Insert Backlinks for Digital Garden
- Write Pre-CTA
- Write Post-CTA
- Write Tweet
- Write Linkedin
- All scheduled?
Spokes:
Pre-CTA:
It’s time to write the novel you owe the world.
But what do you need to understand to get started?
- You have stories to tell
- There will always be an excuse to delay
- Make your ‘one day’ today.
- Use modern tools for modern novel writing
Tomorrow, I’ll run my subscribers through my process of getting started.
Our future readers are out there… waiting.
If you want to join us, subscribe here: https://ranbirsingh.substack.com
Post-CTA:
Start writing the novel you’ve been pushing off.
There’s help all around you to get started…
On Tuesday, my subscribers learned how I’m getting started writing mine.
Miss the issue?
Grab it below ↓
https://ranbirsingh.substack.com
Tweet:
- Pick creator-focussed sub-point
- Can I add new context?
Junkyards are full of computers with unfinished novels.
But what happens when you apply new tools to an old dream?
New tools:
- Writing in public
- Publish as you write
- Use a second brain
- Leverage automation & systems
Time to find out.
Linkedin:
- Pick business focussed sub-point
- Can it be made spicy?
Imagine trying to learn how to play basketball from Steph Curry.
He’d be the worst guy for the job.
And that’s ok. Here’s why…
Experts don’t remember what it was like to be a rookie.
They can recall the steps to success, but they haven’t retained the mindset & language that would resonate with you. Look to learn from someone only 2 steps ahead of you. That person knows your immediate problems & how to overcome them.
From there, just keep learning from someone 2 steps ahead of you.
Agree? Disagree? Let me know below.
{1st Comment}
I’m writing my 1st novel completely in public. Interested in how to do the same?
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