Unlocking the Novel (or Memoir) for Lit Mags

"The first chapter of my second novel was originally a short story."

Welcome to our weekly column offering perspectives on lit mag publishing, with contributions from readers, writers and editors around the world.

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From the first hint of an idea to a final proofread, it usually takes me around six to eight years to write a novel. That’s a long time. It’s an especially long time to be listening to the same characters trying to figure out what it is they want to do and how they want to be seen in the world, a world, that on top of everything else, I have to create especially for them. As with couples in a long marriage, it’s a good idea to take a break from one another now and again. Plus, world-building can be exhausting. Even God rested on the seventh day.