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I have lots of great ideas for novels. Just can't write fiction worth beans. About 10 years ago I was hot to write a novel about what google is attempting to do by putting all published text online and indexed. I thought it was a pretty good idea.

How many words of fiction have you written?

Write 200,000-300,000 words and see what you think of your writing style then.

How, you ask?

You sit down and you write; Steinbeck has a good treatise on writing (Journal of a Novel); read and emulate that.

The real key is to write every day, five (or however many) days a week. Every week. Rack up lots of words. Don't go to writing seminars, just write!

When you are done you edit. Editing is easy. You just have to throw away about half of what you wrote (ignore the blood your are losing).

When you are done, you get to the hard part: selling the sucker.

But first, you have to crank out the words. Don't worry at first how good they are, just get them down. Don't go back and edit until you are done. WRITE! And then WRITE SOME MORE!

[The rest is left as an exercise for the student...]

I like your post about writing. I love to write. I have a manuscript that I am "hoping" to get published. It's so stinkin hard to know where to start. Right now I'm looking for a literary agent. I've been inquiring, but since I don't know anyone in the business it's like opening a phone book, closing my eyes, and placing my finger on a name.

(The real key is to write every day, five (or however many) days a week. Every week. Rack up lots of words. Don't go to writing seminars, just write!)

This is true. It's kinda funny! My book is historical fiction. But, I would get in this zone whenever I would write. It's like these characters I had created are talking to each other inside my head, and I'm trying to get it typed as they go. My husband would come in and say something, and I'd be like, "Shhh! I'm arguing with myself, and I can't hear if you're talking!" He learned to walk into the room real quietlike.

(But first, you have to crank out the words. Don't worry at first how good they are, just get them down. Don't go back and edit until you are done. WRITE! And then WRITE SOME MORE!)

Amen to that! I would still be on the first chapter otherwise. I'm a wordy person, so I ended up editing a lot out. Now, it's my grammar, and punctuation that I'm obsessing over. And that part is NO FUN!