I started on a new novel last week. I had said I wouldn’t start working on this one until after I’d finished editing my nonfiction book (which is coming along nicely), but the story crystallized for me on Wednesday morning and by Friday I just couldn’t help myself.

If you have aspirations of becoming a writer, there’s one thing you will absolutely need to learn to deal with. Criticism. To so many beginning writers, the idea of having someone criticize or critique their work is like asking someone to critique their child; it’s fine so long as they only say nice things. The thing is, if you have dreams of ever being published, you’ll need to learn to deal with constructive criticism in a positive way.

Staying motivated over the course of any long-term project can be tough. Writing a book is no different. When you’re looking ahead at weeks or even months of writing, maintaining momentum gets tricky. My novels generally go pretty quickly, but this new nonfiction writing project is moving much slower than my previous books. With all the research involved, I’m only managing a couple thousand words a day.

Almost every book you read on writing tells you to keep a journal. “Write in your journal every day.” “If you’re feeling stuck, go write in your journal.” “Whatever your problem is, writing in your journal will make it go away.” “You’re not serious about your writing if you don’t keep a journal.”

It’s all lies.

To date, I’ve completed at least one draft on five different novels. Two were fantasy, one was science fiction, one was slipstream fiction (though on rewriting it may just become a mainstream novel), and one was women’s fiction. The first novel I ever wrote was a high fantasy epic. It was terrible. The writing itself wasn’t too horrible and the characters were decent, but the storyline was so cliched that I will never let it see the light of day in its current form. Instead, I’ll take part of the basic concept and two of the main characters and start over from scratch. It will bear little resemblance to the first draft when it’s finished.