I’ve never written a novel, and I’m suspecting that neither have you, though there’s a decent chance that you’ve either tried or you think you might one day: according to the stats I wrote about a few months back, 81% of Americans think they have a book in them. For me, a self-declared writer, there’s the fear that I am just another part of that 81% who says they’ll write a book, but who never actually does. Up until yesterday, that was a very serious and very conscious fear.

But then yesterday, I got a phone call. It was from the Director of Goddard College’s Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing program. He wanted to congratulate me for my acceptance into the college. You read that correctly: I’m going to grad school.

Starting in January, I’ll be participating in Goddard’s uniquely-designed MFA in Creative Writing program, the oldest low-residency program in the nation. For those following along at home, “low-residency” basically means correspondence school, but the difference is that, at the beginning of every semester, I’ll travel to Goddard’s campus outside of Montpelier, VT and spend eight days in an intensive writer’s seminar — “students immerse themselves in craft, literature, critique and practicalities; experiment with different genres; and commune with prominent visiting writers, professionals, and faculty” — after which, I’ll return to my little village and receive one-on-one mentoring via the mail and Internet.

When I went to Goddard’s open house last…spring, I think…., I spoke to a student who was in his first year in the program, and he said that each mentor works with four or five students, and sometimes those four or five students do their own back-and-forth before sending stuff to the mentor, so while you can do the one-on-one thing if you want, there’s also the opportunity to work closely with a small group of peers as well. I can’t tell you how excited I am.

One of my goals for the program is to walk out with a publishable novel. This means that, for the next two years (at most), I’ll leave my fear of failure behind and proceed up the long, arduous trail that is the process of writing a novel. Which brings me to the idea behind this column.

Seven years ago, when I was living in Sausalito, California, I read Journal of a Novel: The East of Eden Letters by John Steinbeck. The story goes like this. Steinbeck wrote his novel, East of Eden, from January to November, 1951. Every morning, he would sit down at his writing desk, sharpen his pencil, and open up his manuscript book. While the manuscript book had facing pages, Steinbeck only liked to write on the right-hand page. But every morning, as a warm-up excercise, he would use the left-hand page to write a letter to his editor and friend, Pascal Covici. He’d use the letters to clear his mind and set goals for himself. Here’s an excerpt from one of his letters. While not the first letter, which he wrote in January, this excerpt comes from the letter (written on President’s Day in February) that stands opposite the first page of the first draft of the novel:

Now I come down to exactness. Before too long I am going to have to write Chapter 1. And it must have its design made in advance. What is it that I want to say in my opening? First I want to establish the boys–what they are and what they are like. Then I would like to indicate my reason for writing this book to them. Then I would like in general terms to tell them what their blood is. Next I want to describe the Salinas Valley in detail but in sparse detail so there can be a real feeling of it. It should be sights and sounds, smells and colors but put down with simpliicity as though the boys were able to read it. … I am using up such quantities of my free space that I will not have space for the writing. But on my first day, which will be tomorrow, I will have to fill three pages. For tomorrow there will be nothing in this left-hand page except field notes. … I have a good feeling about this book now and I hope I can keep it.

I love this idea. I absolutely love it. I love it so much that I’m going to steal it and update it for the 21st century.

“Adventures in Writing” will be blog posts about the novel that I will be writing while at Goddard College. I’ve already written the first couple (to be posted at a future date). While I’m not necessarily looking for assistance with the novel, I do encourage you to leave any feedback or inspirations in the comment sections to these posts. Mostly though, I’m looking to share with you the process of writing. I want you experience, if only vicariously, the kinds of thoughts and decisions that accompany writing over 160,000 words on a single thread of ideas.

And that’s what this column will be. The blog of a novel. So get your bags packed, ’cause we’re going on an adventure.