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Do you have any advice for a student who wants to be a novelist?

I will be attending NYU this fall and majoring in English and I hope to be a novelist in the future. #english #writing #novelist #fiction #writer #author

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Christy’s Answer

Be prepared to have a day job that will support you as you work at your craft as a novelist.
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Simeon’s Answer

Find a good editor that you trust. Having professional eyes look over your work is worth every penny you can get. Be careful about posting your work online as you don't know who might try to repurpose it as their own work. Get the first edition of your work completed as quickly as possible and work on being a ruthless editor of your own work. If this is your first book, you might need to develop an online audience on YouTube, social media, or with a blog to prove to potential publishers that there is a market for your book. If you end up not being able to line up a publisher, you can use Amazon.com to self-publish. Amazon offers the service of being able to print off your book one copy at a time, so you don't have to worry about printing them off in batches.
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Tamasyn’s Answer

Read Steven King’s ‘On Writing ‘ and then ‘Nobody Wants To Read Your S**t’ by Steven Pressfield. Both brilliant. Work everyday at it. Don’t give up. LEARN THE CRAFT. These books will help you to do so. Harness the desire while you’re young, it doesn’t necessarily get easier as you get older. Huge amounts of successful artists got rejected many times - they persevered. Persevere.
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Andra’s Answer

There is a ton of great material on Youtube/Online that you can listen to about book writing, discovery vs world-building writing, and so on.

I'd recommend using the internet to your advantage and learning as much as you can outside of class to help propel you while you take your courses.

Be ready for a ton of feedback that you might not enjoy, be ready to write multiple novels before you find the one that is just right, and don't throw away any of your works because you never know when they might resurface to have a better future.
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Thomas’s Answer

Find a day job where writing is a key component. As others have said, you may need to support yourself as you work on your novels. But while doing that, it would be ideal to still be honing your craft. There are freelance opportunities, or writing content for marketing at a large company.

Conversely, you can find a job that pays the bills but is not a mental distraction if you want to make novel writing your main focus. But be prepared to be a "starving artist" if you aren't looking to get promotions and more responsibility that would distract you from your writing.

Either way, dedicate yourself to finding the time to keep at it.

In short, be realistic about life as a novelist, but don't lose heart.
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