“Writing a novel is a journey. You need a road map.” — Ashwini Dodani

While I agree with the part that says, “Writing a novel is a journey,” I profoundly disagree with the part that says, “You need a road map,”

Writing a novel is a process of throwing the road map into the trash. It is a matter of letting go of everything you’ve been taught, every road map you’ve been given in your education, and surrendering to the novel that wants to be written.

Every journey has unlimited possibilities. Every journey is a trek into the unknown. Every journey uncovers that which we fear, that which we are apprehensive about, that which we need to learn, that which we crave. Why discombobulate that journey with maps drawn from the past? Why not journey into the unknown to discover that which reveals what our true journey is all about? We can follow previously drawn road maps or we can create new ones as we follow that which leads us to where we are going. We can follow road maps or we can draw new ones. Or we can throw the road maps out and follow the maps the universe is enticing us to draw that no one has ever seen before. We can follow road maps or we can create new ones.

That is the challenge of a true writer.