To feel like I have a bestseller in me that can't find its way out?

[Sotuko]

I'm an introvert, don't socialise unless I have to and spend a hell of a lot of time daydreaming - even when I'm at work I'm daydreaming about scenarios etc that I've made up in my head. I dream is to become an author but I just don't seem able to finish a story!! I set it out, become obsessed with it, live and breathe it and then all of a sudden I think "hang on, what is the point of this story?? It isn't actually going anywhere!".

A concept I'm fascinated with is the split second decision that changes an entire life (I.e. Turning right instead of left leads to an entirely different life). I'd like to turn this concept into a book but I just never seem to have the time to actually do it!

AIBU to think it's in there and at the right time, it will come out or am I kidding myself?

Have you read up on narrative technique? My experience of reading drafts by very inexperienced authors is that they often lacked basic understanding of principles like narrative voice, point of view, etc. So a basic understanding of these things would be really helpful.

Plus, just get on with it!

Its a thing where people try to write a whole novel in just a month.

Whats the best community?

The nanowrimo site itself? Though it seems to be down at the moment. I would guess any community you like - mumsnet normally has a thread on it, there will be facebook groups, subreddits, etc. I'd guess different things will work for different people. It's just about knowing that people are cheering you on. Some people will prefer places they tend to check regularly, others would find that too much of a distraction!

I had lots of sorts of vague ideas for books, and books that hinged around concepts for years. I have to say, I think starting with a concept is about the worst place to start for me.

One day I just woke up after an incredibly vivid dream and began to write. By lunchtime, I had sketched out the rough arc of a five book series, and my first writing took place near the end of the third book! I wrote my first book (120k words) in 43 days. There was just so much coming out that I would be writing myself lots of emails through the day as things came to me.

Obviously I had a lot pent up in me! (I used to write a lot as a kid/teen, so I think it was the product of one holiday plus a seven year hiatus of creativity!) But the fact is, I still write every day. I've completed books 2 and 3 since (over a much longer period!), and am working on books 4 and 5 mostly. I have also started a new book series.

I don't find I get writer's block, because I've always just written what part of any one of the five books feels right to me that day (or rewriting older books), or the new series. Worst come to worst, I do 'world building' - writing facts and details about a character's history that might be irrelevant to the current plot, but that mean you can flesh them out simply at a moment's notice later.

Just get writing, honestly.

You are a bit, yeah. First in assuming what you write will be a best seller - a very tiny fraction of written books are published, and a very tiny proportion of those do more than break even - it would be better to revise your expectations to 'finishing a first draft' but also in assuming writing is easy, it's not, it's work. And an awful lot of that work is editing. That said, the only way to write is to sit down and write, you can't edit a blank page, so don't put it off. Start writing and see what happens.

Very few people have enough time to write, btw, and you may have to accept dropping something else to fit it in.

Books get written, which means someone needs to sit down and write them. That person can be you. So write.

Carry a notebook around. Every thought you have - just write it, don't daydream it. Read other people's novels and write every day. Something. Anything. Just write.

Then start on your story. Develop your characters and some semblance of a general plot (you don't have to finish that), bring these characters to life. Let the characters lead you.

Most authors set aside a set time to write, it is the only way. Most writing is agonising. Good luck.

Oh and a tip - read bad books as well as good ones! I have just read the most tedious drivel you could imagine - I honestly struggled through it 10m at a time because it sent me to sleep. I try and read great books and terrible ones, and especially the reviews on Goodreads to unpick what works in a narrative and what doesn't (sometimes other people can articulate things far better than you do!).