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Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/25795
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/25795
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

Longform storytelling (which is what a novel or novella is) is very very difficult. It is also only tangentially related to writing. You can be good at writing and know nothing about longform storytelling. It is rather like the difference between painting a house and painting a mural. You need all the same understanding and skill with paints and brushes to paint a house as to paint a mural, but the mural is much more difficult because it requires an artist's eye for design, color, and story.

A very few people are natural storytellers and just seem to be able to tell stories, even longform stories, effortlessly. But they are very rare. Most of us have to work at it and study it for a long time.

So, it is a lot of work and it will take a lot of time and dedication to get there, which is pretty much like anything else worth doing in your life. But, like all the arts, there is the added problem that merely doing the work and the study and putting in the time is no guarantee that you will ever make any money doing it. In fact, odds are that you won't.

So, like anything else, it comes down to how much you want it. If you thought it was going to be easy, it's not. If you are still up for it knowing how hard it is going to be, if it is so important to you that no amount of discouragement and rejection is going to stop you, then plow on.

Original score: 14