I Want to Write a Novel
To write you need passion, technique, patience, and perseverance. In '90 I began a memoir of Manic Depression called Invisible Driving. It's available on Amazon - finally! Author, Alistair McHarg. You can read sample chapters on my site, www.invisibledriving.com It isn't a novel, it's a memoir, but it reads like a novel - it takes you inside the experience of a manic episode. When I began it, I didn't even know if what I was attempting was possible. I would say conservatively that I've rewritten it completely at least 5 times. What I learned in the process was that writing a book is like Lewis and Clark heading west, you have no idea what you're getting into. You have to surrender to the process; you have to become a servant. Sounds odd, because people think of writers controlling their characters. Wrong. If there's any truth to your story at all, it will show you where to go, and you will simply carry the bags and clean the ashtrays. There is an element of release in all artistic creation, without it, you can never tap into the wellspring of creativity that is deep inside of you, in your soul. You don't make it happen, you let it happen.
With Invisible Driving published at last, I am free to market the two regular novels I wrote afterwards, Moonlit Tours and Washed Up, but they are another story for another day.
