Revalations

Most of you may not know it, but I have an intense desire to write and publish a book. Not some run-of-the-mill coffee-house novel, no. A book that sells; a book like Eragon. Oh, damn.

Yep, you got me. I'd like to be the next Christopher Paolini. I'd like nothing more than to be rich and famous because of a book I wrote.

That being said, I have tried to write several books. Very rarely do I make it past the first page. Why? Because I sit down with a mere scrap of a plot and say to myself "This is it. This is gonna be great." 15 minutes later, I'm back to square one. The reason? When you want to write a book, or perhaps a trilogy, or a cycle, you have to look at the big picture. I looked at one character, picked one detail of that character, and attempted to craft a masterpiece around it. Very rarely does that work. You have to look at the work as a whole, and not in small pieces.

The first challenge is creating, mapping out, and refining a plot. My research has taught me that if you want to be able to write a book, a good plot is essential. It's like the foundation of a house: poor foundation will yield a poor house, whereas a strong foundation will yield a strong house. The same goes for stories.

It's a long road, writing a book. But, perhaps it's not about the destination as much as it is the journey?

Only time will tell.