Am I a Novelist?
For the past few weeks I’ve been wondering about this. I had a final interview with my writing professor, and she had a number of interesting things to say. For starters, she encouraged me to check out going into a Masters programme, and named a few. I never got all the way to a BA in anything, but a lot of places will take mature students into Masters studies without one. Something to consider for when my home considerations are less pressing, I think, but I will surely carry on the learning process whether formally or not.
The other thing she said was really an echo of what I’ve been asking myself. I know I am a writer. That’s not a question. But am I a novelist? Particularly a fantasy novelist (she has some ivory tower issues with fantasy as literature)? My prof encouraged me to take time, to explore other genres in a serious way. She recommended giving myself three years to deliberately find my place. I see her point.
I feel that right now I am exploring by learning what I can about writing novels in particular. I suppose I won’t know if it’s for me or not unless I try it for a little longer. Even selling a novel I hope wouldn’t set me in a permanent rut that wouldn’t allow for exploration. I still like taking stabs at poetry. I know I can write non-fiction, and be quite powerfully persuasive on issues that get me riled. I also know that it’s good to be stretched, to try writing things I wouldn’t be personally motivated to try. That means a writing class, when it comes right down to it. And I happen to have an incomplete correspondence course sitting on my shelf…*sigh*
It’s not that I don’t know what to do, so much as it’s hard to know what to do first.