Brandt Dodson (Advice for Novelists, Part 33)

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I'm pleased to feature another talented author here in this series of posts in which I ask editors, authors, agents & publicists the following question:

"If you could say one thing to aspiring novelists, what would you say?"

The best advice I can give any writer is to know why you want to write.

The road to publication (and beyond) is often slow and arduous. The

challenges will be great - and there are many. Some writers will quit and never touch a pen or keyboard again. But the rest will sojourn on. Why? What separates those who quit from those who persist?

If your goal is not worthy of the effort, you will fail. Why do you write? Do you write to impress someone? To make money? To find fame? Or do you write for another reason?

Why do you write?

Answer that, and you will find the motivation necessary to sustain you on the path to publication.

But what's more, you will have found the clarity of vision that will enrich the lives of your readers long after you are gone.

--Brandt Dodson, author of the Colton Parker series and the just released novel White Soul (Harvest House). Visit Brandt's website here.