No idea for a novel
[Today’s post is part of a new series of short parables about the creative life, chosen from my almost forty years as a creativity coach. Please enjoy! To be in touch, you can reach me at [email protected]]
All her life, from the time she was a little girl, Wendy had wanted to write a novel. By the time she was ten, she’d already read hundreds of novels—she was never without one.
During her teen years, that desire grew quiet. She found herself occupied with other things. Then came college, and she had to decide on a major. The desire to write a novel came rushing back and she chose English as her major, much to her parents’ horror.
It seemed like the perfect time to begin her novel, as she was a writing major who was supposed to write. But she discovered to her chagrin that she had no idea for a novel. All through her college years, taking writing class after writing class, no idea for a novel ever arrived.
“How can that be?” she wondered in bewilderment. “I’ve read so many novels! How is it possible that I don’t have my own good idea for a novel?” No one had an answer. Her writing teachers shrugged. Her friends made suggestions, sending her links to writing workshops led by famous writers and well-known teachers. Her undergraduate years passed—with no idea in sight.
A time came when she was about thirty—still not having started a novel—when she was visiting her sister, who had two children, Jessica, aged six, and Anne, aged five. It was a quiet Sunday and the girls were bored. All in a rush, they flew from their room to where Wendy was sitting on the sofa.
“Tell us a story!” they demanded. “Tell us a story!”
Wendy laughed. A story came right out of her, about two camels who hated the desert. It was long, elaborate, and beautiful. Then she regaled them with a story about sad vegetables.
“More!” they exclaimed. “More!”
By the end of that Sunday, Wendy had rattled off six full-blown stories. Each was complete, perfect, and memorable. Two were rather adult, almost too adult for her nieces. Those two, Wendy speculated, might be worked into … but she let that thought drift away, along with the fading Sunday sun.
When she got home, she couldn’t help but wonder. Didn’t she now have several ideas for a novel? But, strange to say, no idea for a novel came to her. She discovered, first to her dismay, then with a familiar shrug, that she still had no idea for a novel. That was strange, of course … but it was a strangeness to which she was completely accustomed.
***
SUBSCRIBE TO ERIC MAISEL’S NEWSLETTER, THE CRAFT OF COACHING HERE!
Eric Maisel is an internationally-respected diplomat coach who specializes in creativity coaching, existential wellness coaching, and relationship coaching. He trains coaches and provides workshops and webinars nationally and internationally.
Dr. Maisel is the author of 50+ books, writes the “Rethinking Mental Health” blog for Psychology Today (with 3.5 million views), blogs for The Good Men Project and Fine Art America, serves as lead editor for the Ethics International Press Critical Psychology and Critical Psychiatry series, and is co-founder of Purposely, the life navigation app.
Dr. Maisel’s books include Fearless Creating, Rethinking Depression, Coaching the Artist Within, The Van Gogh Blues, The Power of Daily Practice, Redesign Your Mind, and scores of other titles. He has been published by Penguin Random House, McGraw Hill, Rodale, Harper San Francisco, Shambhala, New World Library, and Conari/Mango, among many others.
Dr. Maisel has created three certificate programs with Noble-Manhattan Coaching, a Creativity Coach Certificate and Diploma Program, an Existential Wellness Coach Certificate Program, and a Certified Relationship Coach program. With Lynda Monk of the International Association for Journal Writing, Dr. Maisel has created an Art of Journal Coaching Self-Study Plus program.
Dr. Maisel’s most recent books are Why Smart, Creative and Highly Sensitive People Hurt (2023), Affirmations for Self-Love (with Lynda Monk, 2024), Parents Who Bully (2024), and Choose Your Life Purposes (2024). Dr. Maisel lives in the San Francisco Bay Area and maintains a thriving international coaching practice.
—
This Post is republished on Medium.
—
Photo credit: iStock
