I’m hard at work on Fossil, and I hope to get it out by this month. It’s nearly complete. I only have a couple more editing passes to do, then it should be good to go.

This is going to be the first novel of a larger series that I am very excited to present to you guys. I think the direction of the series is very interesting, and I can’t wait to write it. There’s going to be a lot of fun stuff and a lot of tense action, and I hope you guys are excited for it.

I also have some other things I’m working on. Last year, I wrote a story called The Metal Gunslinger. I enjoyed writing the character so much that I decided to give him his own series of novels. He’s going to be a series character like John Carter or Flash Gordon. Each novel is going to be a new adventure, but they’re all going to be in the same, interconnected universe. That means some characters from previous books will appear in future installments, and some story elements will crossover into other novels. Some stories might even have direct sequels. Who knows where the series will lead?

I’m hard at work on the first draft of the first Metal Gunslinger novel, and I am loving the direction it’s taking. I’m having a blast with the characters. The story is small, but tense. The stakes are high, and the characters must find a way to work together and survive before it’s too late.

One thing I enjoyed about writing the original short story is the style. I wanted to make it seem like a report that H4-NK was giving to his superiors, and I brought that over into this first novel. I’m looking forward to finishing it, and I think you guys are really going to enjoy it.

I’m also working on some other stories, like the second Eorum Chronicles novella and another fantasy novel, but I’m still planning those out and haven’t begun drafting yet. I’m planning on writing Eorum Chronicles after Metal Gunslinger, so it is coming very soon.

Other news

Aside from the books I’m working on, I wanted to tell you about another project I’ve been undertaking the last couple of weeks. I’m working on starting a YouTube channel. This is going to be a place where I talk about books, movies, shows, and highlight the storytelling techniques they use. I’ll give some writing lessons as well, teaching you guys what I’ve learning in my journey as an author.

I’ve finished a few scripts and even recorded a few of them. I want to have a voice over with an animated avatar on screen rather than filming the videos. I’m doing this because I also love animating, but it’s hard to find the time since I’m busy writing as well. This will help give myself a balance between writing and animating, because they’ll both be supporting one another. It’ll be a lot of hard work, but I think it’ll be worth it in the end.

Right now, I’m struggling with audio quality. I have a new microphone, but I’m having a hard time finding a place to record where I don’t pick up other, unwanted noises. I’m sure I’ll figure something out, but that’s been a struggle right now.

I’m also very self-conscious about my voice. I understand that everyone hates how they sound in recordings, but knowing that doesn’t make it any easier. I feel embarrassed listening to myself after recording a script. I’m still going to try to be brave and upload my recordings anyway. I’ll just have to push through listening to my own voice over and over while animating my avatar.

That’s the plan for the channel right now. I might end up switching to filming the videos anyway, but I think it’s more likely that I will animate them.

Anyway, that’s all the news for right now.

Thanks for reading! Have a fantastic day.

The post Fossil, Future Projects, and New Stuff appeared first on Elliot Kessler.

But despite this joy I find in storytelling, I’ve found myself stressing every time I sit at my desk to work on my books. I feel a headache start to come on, and I find it difficult to get words down on the page.

Why is this? What happened to my passion and joy?

Well, it turns out there’s a lot more to the business of creative writing than I thought there was. I’ve been writing these stories recently because I feel like I have to. I have found myself getting overwhelmed. There’s so much I need to do to turn my writing into a profitable business. I started everything all wrong. There is a lot that needs to be done with marketing that I don’t understand.

Point is, I have absolutely no idea what I’m doing, and it’s starting to freak me out. I’ve begun looking at stories as content and assets instead of fun adventures through new worlds. My writing has become dry. I’ve found a lot of things wrong with it. I’m scared people won’t like it. I get angry when my stories aren’t perfect.

So, yeah. I’m a little stressed.

Because of this, I’m going to take a step back from my current projects and work on something else for a little while, which is convenient, because National Novel Writing Month is only a few weeks away!

What does the near future look like for my writing now?

I’m going back to my roots. I’m re-examining why I write so I can begin to understand the how better. I’m going to write short stories, work on finding inspiration, and putting the joy back into my storytelling.

The two projects I have in progress right now, which are a novel (the first of a trilogy) and the sequel to my Eorum novella, are stories that, I think, take themselves too seriously. I’ve forgotten how to have fun, and that’s going to change.

Henceforth, I shall go back to what I did with my short stories and Liar’s Legacy and reintroduce the silliness and witty humor, potentially to a higher degree!

Some of my favorite stories are the ones that don’t take themselves too seriously. That doesn’t mean serious stories are bad. I love authors like Philip K. Dick, Orson Scott Card, and Frank Herbert. But I also love Douglas Adams, and even J. R. R. Tolkien added plenty of humor to The Hobbit.

Stories are supposed to be fun, and I think I’m better at writing those stories than I am at the more serious ones.

What does this mean for my future books?

It means to prepare yourself for fast-paced action, fun characters, and terrible jokes!

As I said, I’m taking a step back from my current projects, and I’m going to work on something new for National Novel Writing Month. (Yes, I’m challenging myself to write a novel in one month as a stress reliever. Probably not the best plan, but that’s okay.)

I’m excited for this project. I’m not going to reveal anything here, but it’s the kind of story I’ve been wanting to write for a long time, but I couldn’t find the right idea. Now I have, and I’m about to blow your mind!

Thanks for reading! Have a fantastic day.

The post Writing is Stressful Apparently appeared first on Elliot Kessler.

Lately, I’ve been in the midst of another challenge I face as an author. I’m trying to remember why I write stories.

That might sound like a simple problem, but it isn’t. Well, at least it isn’t that simple to me. I’ve been conflicted lately. Before, I struggled writing stories because I wanted to write the most profound, thoughtful masterpiece with every story. Now, I’m having a hard time writing because I want results. I’m becoming impatient. I want to get stories out there as fast as possible to get people to read them. I’m tired of writing and working on projects for so long that people can’t read because they’re not ready yet. Even more irritating is writing and putting a story on the internet for no one to see.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m grateful to every person who reads my stories. It’s the most encouraging thing in the world. Lately, I’ve just been getting impatient. I want this author thing to happen now. I want to have tons of books that millions of people read all over the world.

That might very well happen in the future. But I keep expecting it to happen any day now, but it won’t. I need to be patient and understand that this author thing takes a lot of time. I could write ten novels throughout the next decade and still not make enough from my books to become a full-time author. I want to be a full-time author now, but I need to be ok with waiting. I need to be patient.

Writing isn’t about making money and getting rich. It’s not about becoming famous and having millions of fans. It’s about telling stories that make readers think. It’s about entertaining and moving an audience. Above all, stories are fun. It’s something that I continuously forget. Stories are supposed to be fun. I keep taking all of the things I’m working on too seriously. I focus on how well it will do rather than how much joy I get from creating a new story. Writing is fun, and it’s time I acted like it.

Thanks for reading! Have a fantastic day.

The post Writing is Fun appeared first on Elliot Kessler.

I’ve seen many articles and posts circling the internet about a trend on TikTok called BookTok, where teens and young adults share their favorite books, what they like about them, and why others should read the book too. It’s also where young authors can promote their work and market it to a young audience. This fantastic concept would have worked great if it weren’t for one annoying but popular word among this group of readers: tropes.

Tropes have existed since the dawn of storytelling, yes. But what makes stories fun is how they play off different tropes, using them to their advantage and giving them unique twists.

For those that don’t know, a trope is almost like a cliche. It’s something that happens in a specific genre or is in most general fiction that audiences come to know and expect. For instance, the strong, beautiful, fearless, leader-like woman in space operas (Princess Leia, Gamora, Ripley, and even my character, Tromita) and the wise, old wizard in fantasies.

These tropes are generally harmless, but the BookTok community has found a way to weaponize these tropes against originality unknowingly. Many of the books recommended on BookTok are recommended based solely on the tropes the story has. People often look for stories with specific tropes instead of something new.

This can significantly damage authors. I, for one, am trying to write fresh, original, and unique stories and not create a book filled with trending tropes or popular character stereotypes. A computer could be programmed to do that.

What a computer can’t do is write a story filled with soul and passion. It can’t create any new ideas. It can only use ideas already created (which describes most of recent Hollywood, now that I think about it). When I’m looking for a new read, I don’t go to Google and search for “Books with a chosen one” or “Books with friends to lovers.” I look through articles and lists of books that are praised for being unique and original, such as “Jurassic Park,” “And Then There Were None,” and “The Martian Chronicles.” I don’t want to find tropes that I can find in a million other different stories. It was something that I’d never seen before. Because of this, I typically end up resorting to classic books by authors who are long gone.

This brings me to my next point. At this point, I don’t even read modern authors. I’ve read some like Ted Chiang, Timothy Zahn, and James Patterson. But most of the books I read are older. They’re classics. They’ve proven their worth and have survived the test of time, so I expect most of them to be good, and generally, they are. They aren’t formulaic because there was no formula. They aren’t color-by-number because there were no numbers to color. They aren’t filled with popular tropes because tropes weren’t really defined until later. They’re simply pure, original stories that are told well.

So, dear readers, please don’t search for books based on tropes. You’re only asking for more generic, formulaic, soulless stories that computers will write within the next decade. Take a leap of faith. Try something new. Go to a bookstore and grab a book that sounds entertaining. Find a book that sounds new and exciting. If you stick to your comfy little bubble of stories, you already know the ending. You might never find the stories you love.

Now, dear authors, don’t stress about filling your next novel with a million tropes people enjoy. Don’t worry about writing the next bestseller. Write what you want to write. Write whatever story brings passion to your soul, whatever story that’s begging to be let out. If you have a story in your mind that you must write or fear you might burst, put it on the page. It doesn’t matter how weird or stupid the story sounds. It will find its audience if you are passionate about it (typically through a lot of marketing, but you get what I mean).

Stories are about entertaining, yes. But they’re also about our unique voices and how we perceive the world. It’s about seeing things through a new lens and experiencing life as someone else sees it. Stories aren’t beautiful only because they’re fun but also because they are art.

Thanks for reading! Have a fantastic day.

The post The Curse of BookTok appeared first on Elliot Kessler.

My novel has been on my mind almost constantly. I’m always thinking about the story, the characters, and what I can change to improve the book.

I’m always wondering what I can do to stand out. How do I develop my concept further? How do I create something unique? What can I learn from other great stories? Can I even turn this idea into something worth reading?

That is my biggest fear so far. I’m worried that I’ll ruin the initial idea I had. I am very passionate about this concept, these characters, and this story. It’s original and interesting. I have poured a lot of myself into my work. I have fallen in love with this book that isn’t yet finished, but I’m worried I will squash this idea with so much potential into an amateur, boring book that blends into the background amongst millions of others.

This book is special to me. I’ve put a lot of time and effort into it. I’ve put all of me into it. I don’t want this thing to fail immediately, becoming a novel that no one wants to pick up.

My goal here isn’t to become the greatest author who ever lived. I’m trying to tell a good story that people enjoy. But I’m worried I’m going to mess it up.

But I forget something important. I’m losing sight of why I started writing and telling stories in the first place.

Stories are fun.

I’m not supposed to be worrying about this. I don’t need to be anxious about whether I’m writing a book correctly or not. I keep forgetting that there is no right or wrong way to write a novel. I need to put these troubles aside and have fun with this story I have to tell.

Readers only love stories that authors themselves love. An author’s experience writing a book can be seen in the words they put down on a page. Look no further than my serial novel if you want proof of this. When I started getting bored with my story and wanted to quit, the story itself became dull and lifeless. It became generic because it was easier that way.

If I worry about my book, it will be bad. But if I relax and have fun doing what I’m doing, I might not mess it up.

I don’t need to care if it sells well. I don’t need to care if anyone likes it or publishes it. I need to care about having fun and doing what I love.

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.” Philippians 4:6

On another note, I’m on Medium now! Medium is a lot like YouTube but for bloggers. I’m putting this post there, and I’m slowly but surely transferring many other posts there, too. I’ll also post exclusive articles and short stories there, so be sure to follow me!

https://medium.com/@elliotkesslerauthor

Thanks for reading! Have a fantastic day.

The post Stories Are Fun appeared first on Elliot Kessler.

By taking some time off and only doing this once a week, I let the door open for a little friend who annoys me to death and affects every aspect of my life. His name is Laziness. He’s been bugging me a lot lately, and all I’ve wanted to do is sit on the couch, watch YouTube, play games, and ignore all responsibilities.

So, if you’ve been wondering about my disappearance, that’s what I’ve been doing. I haven’t been away working tirelessly on a secret project. I haven’t quit. I haven’t gone into witness protection. I’ve been doing a whole lot of nothing.

That might make you wonder when the re-edit of “Liar’s Legacy” will release, and I can assure you that I have no idea. Maybe sometime in February. Probably sometime in March. We will see.

If you don’t want to get caught up in a situation like this, I have some tips for you because by not doing anything, I learned a whole lot of somethings. Mostly things about life and effort. With great power comes blah, blah, blah. But much of what I learned applies to writing and anything you want to do. Whether it’s your job, another hobby, or the carrier you want to have, I think this will help.

Opening the Door

My family has been listening to a book called “Don’t Give the Enemy a Seat at Your Table” by Louie Giglio. In the book, Giglio explains how to keep the enemy out of your life so you can do what is right and not be tempted to do what is wrong.

I will be talking about a similar concept, but I’m not talking about morality, and I’m certainly not writing a book. I’m talking about letting laziness creep into your life and what you can do to prevent it.

As P. T. Barnum said in “The Greatest Showman,” comfort is the enemy of success. I didn’t like writing every single day. It was hard, and I didn’t have time to watch TV or play games. I couldn’t do anything fun (aside from writing, of course). I was stuck sitting at my laptop, clicking keys, until an article appeared every day. That’s a lot of writing, and it started getting to me. I also didn’t have time to do the thing I started this blog for: write books.

This blog is important, but I didn’t start the blog to become a blogger. I started the blog to become an author. That is still the goal, and I haven’t lost sight of it. But I did realize that the blog was becoming more important than writing books, and I wasn’t doing what I set out to do.

A while back, I decided only to write one article every week rather than every day. I thought it would be a perfect way to write articles that were better quality and give myself time to write books, as well as something else I wanted to try out, but we’ll get to that later.

This gap that I created between articles was good. It gave me time to work on my novels, work on school, and study creative writing. The problem is that I didn’t do these things.

This isn’t to say I literally didn’t do anything for the last few weeks. I did work on some projects. I wrote a short story. I worked on school, and I studied my craft. But I didn’t fill the time that I had with these things. I only did them whenever I felt like it. There was a void in my time, and I didn’t fill it with what I needed to do. I filled it with leisure and recreation. In other words, I was lazy.

Filling the Void

If you don’t want to fall into this trap, you must fill your time with productivity. This doesn’t mean you can’t have fun or take breaks. But if you give yourself time to work on your projects, then work on your projects. Don’t sit around promising to get started again tomorrow like I have been doing. Get the work done now. In the words of the wise master Sensei Wu from Lego Ninjago, “never put off tomorrow what can be done today.”

Get the work done before watching YouTube. Write the article before playing games. Finish the outline before hanging out with friends. Get the stuff you said you would get done before falling into the same trap I did.

Conclusion

I wanted to write this article to warn against laziness and explain the lack of content lately. I apologize for not fulfilling my promises to you, and I will do better moving forward.

I appreciate the support you guys have shown, even though I haven’t been doing much. You guys rock, and I wouldn’t be where I am without you.

As for the thing I’ve been working on that I alluded to earlier, there has been a project in the works that I’m hoping to share with you guys soon. No, it’s not three brand-new novels. I’m not Brandon Sanderson. I filmed a couple of vlogs over the last couple of weeks and hope to repurpose my YouTube channel.

Instead of making fun animations like I used to, I’m going to start talking about writing and storytelling. I’ll have vlogs, video essays, and updates. It will be similar to what I post on this blog, but I’ll speak to your face instead of making you read what I have to say.

If you were there when I made those animations on YouTube, rest assured that they will be there, and I will not delete them (as though it matters to anyone but me). I’m simply changing the channel’s banner, icon, name, and content style. So, I’m changing everything.

I’ve been having a lot of fun making the videos so far, and I hope you have fun watching them and learning something about storytelling. Maybe you guys can teach me some things too! Who knows? I still have a lot to learn.

Thanks for reading! Have a fantastic day.

The post Taking Breaks (And Letting Those Breaks Turn Into Weeks of Not Doing Anything) appeared first on Elliot Kessler.

Yes, you are right. Anyone can do that. But it is a lot harder to do it right. I spend a lot of time and focus on writing with a purpose. I don’t want to write a blog post to have a blog post. This is partly why I have missed some days recently (that and school). I want to write with intent. I want to write for a purpose. But I haven’t had much to say lately because my mind was focused on other aspects of my life. I couldn’t think of anything to talk about when it came to writing.

Next week, I will be studying a lot more writing. I will read more fiction and non-fiction books to learn more about writing and storytelling. I also want to put focus on Instagram posts because I have realized that all of my recent posts have only been about this blog.

This post doesn’t have much to say. It’s more of an update, if anything. I want to let you guys know that I will take a short break next week. I will write at least one blog post, but I will not write every day next week. There will be Instagram posts, so look out for those. If I write more than one blog post next week, the extra posts will likely be pretty short. Hopefully, after next week, I will have learned a lot more about storytelling, and I will have more to say to you guys. I also plan on finishing one of the books I am reading, so I will write my thoughts on it and how it has inspired some core aspects of my next novel. I will also likely be posting about my WIP. I will go over the book, some ideas I hope to explore, and why and how.

I am very excited to share these things with you guys, and I hope you guys are excited to hear what I have to say. I apologize for the lack of posts this week and for not having an actual post today. I simply don’t have anything to say, and I don’t want to write anything without a purpose. Thank you for understanding!

Thanks for reading, and I’ll see you guys next week. Have a fantastic day!

The post When Writers Should Take Breaks appeared first on Elliot Kessler.

It makes sense that people would rather rant and complain about everything in their lives rather than look at themselves. It’s a lot easier that way, and it feels much better. Nothing bad that happens is ever our fault. We are blameless. It’s everyone else who is the problem. There’s a line from a song by Imagine Dragons that’s been on my head a lot lately. It goes like this: “We don’t want to change. We just want to change everything.”

I like that band. They make good music. I do not like their ideologies, specifically this line. If you want to change everything around you without changing yourself, you believe everyone around you is the problem, not you. You’re blameless because that feels good.

You may be wondering what this has to do with writing. After all, this is a writing blog. I’m here to tell you this has everything to do with writing. It’s why about 3% of all writers who start a book finish it. My second book isn’t finished yet because I am very good at pointing fingers.

Blaming Time

We never have enough time to do everything we want. We have jobs, school, hobbies, friends, chores, and many other tasks that fill our day. The little free time we have, we spend resting or doing recreational activities. There is simply no time to write.

Except there is. You can make the time. Instead of scrolling through social media in the morning, write. Instead of watching TV or playing games in the evening, write. Writing will require sacrifice. You may have to sacrifice money, working a part-time job. You may have to sacrifice your social life, grades, or hobbies. Or, you could not sacrifice any of that and write where you can. Make writing your hobby.

The truth is, we have plenty of time to write. We don’t need hours to write. The amount of time you spend watching your show or playing your game, spend it on writing. You only need a little bit every day to get something done. You don’t need to write a thousand words a day. Start by writing a hundred and build it from there.

My point is this: not having enough time is an excuse for not writing. We all have plenty of time to write, we only have to choose to write during our free time rather than watching shows and playing games. It’s more challenging, but it is necessary.

Blaming Skill

There are some people out there that genuinely believe they cannot write. They want to write a novel, but they don’t know how, so they don’t write. But that is no reason not to write. We live in a digital age. The wealth of human knowledge is only a few buttons away. Websites like Masterclass, Skillshare, and YouTube make it easier than ever for anyone to learn anything they want.

If you don’t know how to write, learn. Then practice. I wrote quite a few short stories which were thrown in the trash before I started writing “Liar’s Legacy,” and even that book wasn’t much good. At this point, I have only written a couple of short stories that I am proud of. The book I am writing now is something that I am very proud of, and I hope to write some short stories about the characters soon which I will post on this blog.

You don’t have to start writing perfectly. No one does. You don’t sit down at the piano for the first time and play Mozart. You practice for years on end before you can play well. Same with writing. It isn’t raw talent. It’s a skill. Everyone can write, and now, thanks to companies like Amazon, anyone can publish their book without spending a penny. Anyone can be an author, whether you have the skills or not. If you have them, great. Write your masterpiece! If not, learn. There’s no time like the present!

Blaming Tools

Some people don’t write because they don’t believe they have the right equipment. They don’t have the right computer, the right software, the right space, or the right environment. They don’t have the money to purchase these tools either.

This is one of the most pointless arguments I have seen for why someone who wants to write isn’t writing. You don’t need money to write. I began writing stories using a notebook from school and a pen. That was it. Some authors, such as Niel Gaiman, and screenwriters, such as Quentin Tarantino, write all of their first drafts by hand with pen and paper. There are tons of free word processors. The website Reedsy has a free book editor. I wrote the first draft of a novella on it, which was terrific. I would highly recommend it to any author short on money. As for hardware, you don’t need a MacBook to start writing books. You can pick up a laptop at Walmart for $150, which would work fine. Or, if you are using the Reedsy book editor, you can visit your local library and use their computers. But be sure to log out after each writing session.

Conclusion

There is no excuse for not writing. If you have a novel in your head that you want to write, go ahead and write it. Learn the skills, practice with short stories, use whatever tools you have with whatever time you have, and write. You can write a novel using your practice short stories if you want. That’s how I wrote “Liar’s Legacy.” Each chapter is its own story and can stand on its own. I was still learning about writing then. Heck, I’m still learning, and I don’t think I will ever stop.

If I didn’t sit down and decided to write “Liar’s Legacy,” I wouldn’t be able to say that I had written a book. But I pushed myself, and I did something very challenging for me. I stopped making excuses and pointing fingers. I knew I could write it if I tried, so I did. I am now in the three percent of all people who start a book.

I couldn’t have done it on my own, though. I had my Aunt, who kept me on track, preventing me from making excuses. Because of her, I now know I can write novels. I owe a lot to her.

Get someone to keep you on track, too. Show them your work, and have them read your latest chapter or scene. Show them your short stories and get feedback. Get someone to keep you from making excuses.

Thanks for reading! Have a fantastic day.

The post Pointing Fingers appeared first on Elliot Kessler.

One author there was supposed to be one of the highlights of the conference. His name was S. D. Smith, the author of “The Green Ember” children’s series. He is strongly Christian and puts many Christian themes and values into his stories, which I found inspiring. He said many fantastic things that I found helpful, but he said one thing that stuck with me the most: “Writing is servitude.”

The more I thought about it, the more I realized how right he was. Writing should be a service unto others.

When writing, we must ask ourselves why. Are we writing to entertain ourselves? Are we writing because it’s fun? Maybe it’s because we’re trying to prove something or gain the attention of many. Is it because we seek fame and fortune? Does it matter why we write?

I believe it does. I believe why you write determines what you write on a fundamental level, and it will affect the quality of your work.

Writing for Fun

There’s nothing wrong with writing for fun. I’ve written several short stories for no reason except that they were fun. They didn’t have any meaning, and they didn’t uniquely explore themes. They were fun, dumb stories that I enjoyed writing, and the results showed that. The stories weren’t the best quality, but I thought they were passable. They worked, but they weren’t perfect pieces of art.

There are tons of popular movies that are only there for the fun of it. Most mainstream films, such as those from Disney, don’t explore themes and ideas deeply and settle for fun, entertaining stories instead. They work, and we occasionally get classics that work exceptionally well, such as “Guardians of the Galaxy” and “Avengers: Endgame,” but most are easily forgettable.

Entertainment is the fundamental purpose of storytelling, but it shouldn’t be the only purpose. When it is, we get something that looks frighteningly similar to the storytelling world today in every medium. Our movies are primarily bland, fun spectacles. Our literature is the same.

This isn’t to say writing for fun is wrong. It isn’t. If writing wasn’t fun, why would anyone want to do it? But writing a story purely for fun results in a bland, uninteresting mess that is entertaining but nothing more. It’s good, not great.

Fame and Fortune

If you’re writing for fame and fortune, you’re in the wrong business. If you want to be famous, there are plenty of easy ways of doing this. Becoming a storyteller is not one of them. Start a YouTube channel or become a social media influencer if you seek fame and fortune. If you gain enough followers, then you can write a story, which will probably sell reasonably well, depending on how you market and distribute it, how many followers you have, and the type of content you create for your social media page or YouTube channel.

There are plenty of people who will tell you how to do this. I am not one of them because I am not a YouTuber, I don’t have a lot of Instagram followers, and only about fifteen people read this blog. I am grateful for those followers and you readers, but this shows that this is not the route to fame and fortune. It isn’t easy to become a mainstream author, and that’s why only a handful reaches that level.

Even if you write a book and become relatively well-known among the reading community, that does not mean the fortune part will come with it. If you are traditionally published, the publisher will take a significant cut from your book. If you are self-published, you must subtract the marketing, editing, cover art costs, and more spent on your book. Self-publishing typically costs thousands of dollars. There are the lucky few who write books that become best-sellers without spending tons of money, such as Andy Weir with his book “The Martian,” but the odds of that happening to you are the same as you winning the lottery.

Your purpose shows in your writing, and writing for attention and money also shows. The story will likely be bland and unoriginal, taking the lazy route and following the story circle to the letter. The story isn’t the story’s purpose, and your writing will suffer. Some examples of what your story may look like include “Star Wars: The Force Awakens,” “Black Widow,” and “Despicable Me 3.”

Becoming a Servant

Writing to serve others typically means inspiring others, communicating a message or idea, or exploring themes for others. I get the best story ideas when I try to write for others. They aren’t necessarily the most fun or entertaining ideas but are the deepest and have the most potential for a good story. They explore interesting ideas, look at a topic from a new angle, and think deeply about a particular subject.

I believe this is also a biblical perspective of storytelling. We are called to be servants, so what better purpose to write than serving others? It glorifies God, displaying his creativity through us as we are made in his image. It also shows others new or different perspectives on particular matters, such as loss, morality, and happiness. We can show others what the Bible says about these themes and how we should live them. We are also using the talents that God has provided us, planting the seeds of truth into the minds of our audiences so that God may grow them.

That is servitude through storytelling. Becoming humble servants of God to plant his seeds and glorify him in fiction, not to seek money, fame, or justification, but to help others in their lives.

This is a challenge. It is far easier to write a story for fun or fame. When you write your New York Times Bestseller, and the cash starts rolling in, it’s easy to quickly write a soulless sequel to keep the money flowing. It is much harder to write a story to praise God and serve others.

Writing is servitude.

Thanks for reading! Have a fantastic day.

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I didn’t get it finished.

Every time I sat down to write, I would get a few words down, or even a few hundred words down, but then I would get distracted by some notion or impulse. I would constantly fall through internet rabbit holes, looking through articles, watching YouTube, and learning about completely pointless things that have nothing to do with my book. I got pulled back into my old hobby of making games while trying to get 50,000 words written in a month.

This month, I wrote less than 15,000 words in my novel. What happened?

For as long as I can remember, I constantly have had random obsessions over the most random things that last for about a week before they leave. I’ll get obsessed with a book, unable to put it down until I suddenly put it on my shelf unfinished and don’t touch it for a month. I’ll play a game for hours on end before putting it to the side, not ever playing it again. I’ll find some cool gadgets or software that I must have. I’ll watch videos and read about it until it’s finally in my hands. Then, I’ll toss it aside and never use it again.

While this is all associated with having ADD, that isn’t an excuse. I can control myself, but I don’t have the discipline to do it. I allow myself to become immersed in these things that other people are creating rather than creating my own. Or, I become obsessed with creating something that takes months or years to create, but I want to make it now.

These hobbies should remain just that: hobbies. The books I read, the games I play and make, and the cool gadgets must be on the back burner. I need to focus my energy on finishing the semester and writing my book, but I don’t. Instead, I focus on finding new things to obsess over. I look at things and skills with longing, wishing I could be as good as the guys I find on the internet.

But the truth is that I’m not. These people have been working on their crafts and skills for years, and I have been working on my own, which is writing and storytelling. I don’t need to focus all my energy on hobbies right now. I have a task I have assigned myself, a talent that God has given me, and I’m not doing anything with it. The books and articles I read aren’t to study and learn more about storytelling and the craft of writing a novel. They’re about the latest shows, films, and gadgets. That’s not what I need to be studying right now. I must study storytelling, do my best to understand how to write a good novel and do the work to get what I want.

I want to be a sci-fi novelist. I want to make my living churning out story after story, creating quality content people enjoy and are moved by. I’m not going to get there by learning how beat the final boss of “The Legend of Zelda.”

The moral of the story is this: if you have a destination, follow the map. Stay in the boat, and don’t chase after the sirens because they will swallow you whole. Maybe that metaphor doesn’t make sense. If you have a goal or a dream, chase after that dream and don’t take any detours. If you want to be an author, don’t study to become a game developer. If you want to be an actor, don’t attend medical school. Focus on your craft and not someone else’s.

I hope my first experience with NaNoWriMo will help you with your novel-writing experience or any other goals you are trying to reach. I will probably be participating in NaNoWriMo again next year. In the coming months, I will do my best to focus as much energy as possible to finish the first draft of my novel before taking a break. During my break, I will work on this blog and maybe indulge in my hobbies.

I know yesterday I said I would review the first two episodes of “Willow” because they were released today, but I found that I did not have the time to watch them. But I will do my best to review them tomorrow!

Thanks for reading! Have a fantastic day.

The post Stop Reading, Start Writing (NaNoWriMo 2022) appeared first on Elliot Kessler.