Of course, who wants to eat an elephant? They’re tremendous creatures, highly intelligent and protective of their clans. So perhaps, eating an elephant isn’t a great metaphor for writing novels. Elephants are tough to hunt, protected species in many of their habitats, have tough hides, and can kill a person.

On the other hand, maybe that’s not so off-base? Writing novels can certainly feel like we’re on safari in a strange land, hunting big game without the right big game rifle. So I figured I’d share one writer’s approach (i.e. my approach), at least as it is right now – with the caveat that it’s subject to change.

I think that’s the most important thing to keep in mind when we’re bent on being this thing called “writer”. The definition changes from writer to writer and for the same writer, as time goes on and one’s process evolves. This means, therefore, there’s no one write answer.

There are, however, things that work for one writer – and reading about those can sometimes help inform our own process. So what’s writing a novel like for me?

Step 1 – The Picture
Step 2 – The Infatuation – Day and Night, Night and Day
Step 3 – The Kids Are Now Teenagers – Or, It’s Now Hard Work: the Lazy Writer’s Guide to Editing
Step 4 – Appearance Is Everything – Packaging Your Novel for the World – or a Specific Publisher
Step 5 – Social Media – the Introvert’s Answer to Networking, or the Extrovert’s Playground

Over the coming months, when it’s my turn for Writer Wednesday (the first Wednesday of the month), I’ll explore each of these five steps in depth. But I want to leave you with a parting thought:

If you want to write a novel, the only secret is this:

Write that novel.

Write on!

*Image credit: From article, “The Elephant’s Trunk”, by Jordan Hayley Abramson, Science in Our World: Certainty & Controversy, Penn State University Website, 10/16/2011, Link: http://www.personal.psu.edu/afr3/blogs/SIOW/2011/10/the-elephants-trunk.html, accessed 07/17/2013.