Jack Cavanaugh's WORD FORGE

A Crucial Decision Every Novelist Must Make

You have an idea for a novel. Great.

You fire up the word processor, set your fingers on the home row of keys and….

Well? What do you do next? You can go one of two ways—

If You Don't Have This Your Story's In Trouble

Got change?

Hmm. Let me check.

Two quarters. A dime. Two nickels. Three pennies. That makes…

Don’t tell me! I can do it myself!

…seventy-three cents!

(Told you I could do it.)

A person’s change (and how long it takes him to count it) reveals a lot about him. What does seventy-three cents in a grown man’s pocket say about him? Probably that he writes fiction for a living.

Change, or lack of it, in a novel reveals a lot about your story, too.