“Michael, are you crazy?”
Maybe. What about it.
Sometimes an idea just comes out of nowhere and won’t leave me alone until I write about it. So, I write about it.
Then what?
Isn’t that enough? Can’t I just write?
No. Time to do the real work now.
Next comes self-editing. Truth be told, that’s really my favorite part. But it is more workmanlike than “the fires of creation.”
What’s my goal as a writer? I want people to still be reading my stuff centuries after I die.
Self-editing matters. Do you want to know why? Because it’s a novel, not a blog. Make it easy to read, easy to understand, easy to enjoy, easy to edit, and easy to publish. And easy to hate, as the case may be. Easy.
Then you have to decide among dozens of publishing options. Big press, small press, hardback, paperback, ebook, traditional print, self-published, print-on-demand, straight to a publisher or through an agent or acting as your own publisher…
Oh, and rejection happens. A lot.
If you involve an editor in this, he’ll teach you how to write better and how to self-edit better. If not, oh well.
Authors don’t pay publishers. Readers pay publishers. Publishers pay authors.
Writing is a calling but publishing is a business.
Writing your novel is looking easier all the time, isn’t it?
I haven’t even mentioned self-promotion after you’re published. Just one more source of aggravation to steal your time and your focus away from writing your next novel.