Writing a novel is a ridiculously arduous task. Just ask anyone who's attempted to put pen to paper - or rather fingers to keys - in order to produce a literary masterpiece. It's hard enough trying to coax your novel out of your noggin, but every writer also knows that any single novel-writing attempt is often accompanied by an entire slew of obstacles, most of which are self-created. People who've tried to write a novel know the stakes, of course, but they also crave the possible rewards. There's a certain rush that comes with furiously typing words to form coherent sentences that are then fashioned into a cohesive narrative that could possibly - one day - be enjoyed by other people. Nevertheless, here we present to you a list of 17 things, in no particular order, that only those unfortunate souls trying to write a novel will know all too well...
17. The Sudden Need To Clean Everything In Sight (Twice)
You're not a clean freak by any stretch of the imagination, and nor are you a slob, but when you're attempting to write a novel you become convinced that nothing is clean or organised enough. You think of cleaning your surroundings as a metaphor for organising your thoughts so as to produce cleaner and well-structured sentences. Or you at least pretend to.
16. Refreshing Your Online Profiles Becomes A Priority
Even the ones you don't use anymore. Why? Because liking every cat page on Facebook is a great idea when you have a novel to write. Also, marvelling at the change MySpace has undergone and tweeting that you need to write your novel is part of the actual novel-writing process. Chances are you've tweeted more words than you've written in your word document, actually.
15. Hanging With Your Pet Never Seemed More Important
Your furry/scaly/feathery companions have stuck by you the entire time you've been trying to make it as a potential novelist, mostly because you're their food source, but also because they love you. So it's only fair to allocate a good amount of your day to just chilling with them. And three hours is justifiable because you're a compassionate human being first and a writer second, right? RIGHT.
Mata graduated from the University of Auckland with a Bachelor of Arts double majoring in English and Political Studies. She has an unhealthy obsession with books, television shows and pop-culture in general.
