The Long and Winding Road to Becoming a Novelist

by Jack Cavanaugh

Like the proverbial journey that begins with a single step, the way to becoming a novelist begins with a single word. And then another. And another. The best piece of advice I can give to anyone who wants to become a novelist is this: Get into the habit of writing every day. 

The second best piece of advice: Write for anyone, anytime, anyplace. The road to becoming a novelist is not a straight one. My personal journey had these twists and turns — writing denominational news stories; a pastor's column; promotional material for my denomination; slide presentations for missionaries; church musicals and humorous skits; ghostwriting speeches and letters; a monthly column for a Christian newspaper; promotional materials for a city-wide prayer breakfast; 90 Hints, Tips, and Great Ideas for Sunday School Teachers; humor and jokes for emcee opportunities and roasts; how-to craft projects; Sunday School curriculum; Sunday School take home papers; short stories; fiction contests; and a self-published genealogy booklet of the Cavanaughs for Christmas presents.

“But I want to write novels!” So did I. What I learned is that each of these writing tasks strengthened my fiction skills. Writing how-to crafts strengthened my ability to write sequentially, which comes in handy when writing scenes. Writing jokes — a difficult and exacting process — prepared me to write dialogue with impact.

Not only is the road to becoming a novelist a winding one, it's long. From the time I began writing seriously as a novelist to the time I signed my first contract thirteen years passed. Thirteen long, agonizing years. A conferee at one writers conference told me she prayed, "Please Lord, don't make my road to getting published as long as Mr. Cavanaugh's." God answered her prayer. It only took her twelve years. She said, "Next time I'll be more specific."

One Christmas my brother stood in line to get me a novel autographed by Dean Koontz. When Mr. Koontz learned that I too was a novelist, he added: "Perseverance counts." A lesson we both learned. And if you want to become a novelist, you'll learn it too.

The journey starts with a single word. Now it's your turn. Which word will you write?

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SWCWS faculty member Jack Cavanaugh is an award-winning, full-time freelance author with twenty-five published novels to his credit. His nine-volume American Family Portrait series spans the history of a nation from 1630 to the present and is still in print nearly fifteen years following its release.

A student of the novel for more than a quarter of a century, Jack takes his craft seriously, continuing to study and teach at Christian writers conferences. He is the former pastor of three churches in San Diego County and draws upon his theological background for the spiritual elements of his plots and characters.

His novels have been translated into a dozen foreign languages, largely because of the universal scope of his topics. Jack has not only written about American history, but about South Africa, banned English Bibles, German Christians in the days of Hitler and Communism, revivals in America, and angelic warfare.

Jack’s current writing schedule includes motion picture screenplays and e-book serial fiction with Internet distribution. His novel Death Watch has been optioned to be made into a motion picture by Out Cold Entertainment, Inc.

Jack has three grown children and lives with his wife in Southern California. Jack will be teaching:

Writing the Novel

It’s a page-turner! These three words spell success for writers of fiction. But what are the characteristics of a page-turner? In these comprehensive sessions, Jack will teach you everything you need to know to help you get started writing Christian fiction from preparing yourself to write, to polishing the final draft.

A Novelist Talks Screenplays

Characters. Plot. Dialogue. Theme. These are a few of the similarities between novels and screenplays. It’s where the similarities end that things get interesting. In this workshop you will be introduced to the basics of screenplay writing, a fun and creative format that will challenge and sharpen your storytelling skills.

Comments

[gaye scudder in guntersville, alabama]

Thank you Mr. Cavanaugh. I am a long time fan going back in history to well before you became a novelist. In fact the time goes back to when I just admired the way you wrote in your glib way. Sincerely, gaye ann