Has anyone written a novel or started one?

I write mostly short stories, but I have started a novella and one of my good friends is a novelist. The advice she gave me is advice I will pass on to you: Write everyday. No matter what, even if what you write is crud, just write. You can go back and clean it up later. Just get the ideas down on paper, get it out of your mind and into reality. Give yourself a word count to meet. Five hundred words, a thousand words, whatever. Just give yourself a goal and meet it, no matter what. Get it written, then worry about the quality and content. She's written seven novels now, and has two in the process of being published, so I consider her a pretty reliable source for writing advice. ;) Good luck!

I have attempted to work on a novel several times over the years. The further I actually managed was three and a bit chapters before I ran out of steam. Basically, I didn't do my research and that is very important.

When you begin to write, keep writing. Get through the whole thing and get the vision on paper before you go back and try to perfect it. If you concentrate on the details the first time through, you more than likely will forget the big picture that you are trying to accomplish. Once that big picture is down and in front of you then go back and flesh it out. I may have a chapter or two that in the first draft will be one page. But once fleshed out it may be ten.

I have yes, several. I destroyed alot of my stuff though. I am working on an experimental memoir with a spiritual core right now, and am just doing final revisings. As I've never been published I have no real right to advise, but...I guess I could say that getting bogged down in detail is a handicap, or making the language overelaborate. The simpler the better is my advice, or the writing can seem dated. I think it's good to keep things as short as possible...there is danger in endless digressions and revisions: when the end is in sight, reach for it; or you could be writing forever! Writing what you know, from the heart, and keeping things as short and simple as possible (they will be complex enough!) I guess that is my advice, but I'm no expert. Just a struggling hopeful writer like many others...:o)

Every year, I use National Novel Writing Month (http://www.nanowrimo.org) as my jumping off point for starting a piece of work. Along the way, I visit forums at websites like http://www.writersweekly.com and http://www.absolutewrite.com for tips, advice, specific teaching and opinions. There's also a very good series of articles at the http://www.suite101.com website.