After years of circling around it like a cautious cat, I find myself psychologically ready to tackle a novel again. The familiar weight of possibility sits on my chest—equal parts excitement and dread. But this time feels different. This time, I’m determined to approach it with the deliberation that age and experience have taught me.
The Eternal Question: Am I Any Good?
There’s something uniquely humbling about calling yourself an “aspiring novelist” for years on end. The word “aspiring” starts to feel less like hope and more like a permanent state of being—a creative purgatory where you’re neither established nor entirely amateur. After all this time, I still don’t know if I’m any good. The question hangs there, unanswered and perhaps unanswerable until you actually finish something and put it into the world.
But maybe that’s the wrong question entirely. Maybe the better question is: “Do I have something worth saying?” And increasingly, I think I do.
The Power of Preparation
This time around, I’m taking a different approach. Instead of diving headfirst into prose with nothing but enthusiasm and caffeine, I’m forcing myself to slow down. To think. To prepare.
The preparation feels crucial now in a way it never did before. When you’re younger, you can afford to write your way into a story, to discover it as you go, to throw away thousands of words without a second thought. But when you’re older—when time feels more finite and precious—every word needs to count more.
So I’m starting with character motivation. Before I write a single scene, I want to understand why my characters do what they do, what drives them, what they fear. I want to know them well enough that when they surprise me on the page (and they will), those surprises will feel inevitable rather than random.
A Genre-Bending Vision
The idea that’s captured my imagination is a science fiction story that blends elements from three films that have stuck with me: Annie Hall, Her, and Ex Machina. It’s an unusual combination—Woody Allen’s neurotic romanticism, Spike Jonze’s exploration of human-AI intimacy, and Alex Garland’s philosophical thriller about consciousness and manipulation.
Twenty-five years ago, I would have immediately started outlining this as a screenplay. The visual possibilities, the dialogue-heavy scenes, the intimate character study—it all screams cinematic. But I’m not 25 anymore, and that realization comes with both loss and liberation.
The loss is obvious: the dreams of Hollywood, of seeing your words transformed into moving images, of red carpets and industry recognition. But the liberation is perhaps more valuable: the freedom to explore this story in the medium that allows for the deepest dive into consciousness and interiority—the novel.
The Weight of Age and Wisdom
Being “older” (though not quite “old”) changes everything about the creative process. There’s less time for false starts, less tolerance for projects that don’t truly matter. But there’s also more life experience to draw from, more understanding of human nature, more appreciation for nuance and complexity.
The romantic neuroses that fascinated me about Annie Hall now feel lived-in rather than observed. The loneliness and connection explored in Her resonates differently when you’ve experienced more varieties of both. The questions about consciousness and authenticity in Ex Machina feel more urgent when you’ve had more time to question your own.
Contemplation Before Creation
So before I get swept away by the excitement of a new project—before I start imagining book tours and literary prizes—I’m making myself sit with the questions. What is this story really about? What am I trying to explore through the lens of human-AI relationships? How do the themes of connection, authenticity, and consciousness intersect in meaningful ways?
This contemplation isn’t procrastination (though the line between the two can be thin). It’s preparation. It’s the difference between building a house with blueprints versus hoping the foundation holds as you add rooms.
The Long Game
Perhaps that’s what changes most with age: the understanding that good work takes time, that the best stories are the ones that have been allowed to marinate in your mind before they hit the page. The urgency is still there—if anything, it’s stronger—but it’s tempered by patience.
I may not know yet if I’m any good as a novelist. But I know I have stories worth telling, and I know that this time, I’m going to tell them with all the care and consideration they deserve.
The blank page is waiting. But first, a little more thinking.
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