Do you remember the thrill you got the first time you picked up a pen? The butterflies in your gut, the dry mouth, sweaty palms? Remember the tremble in your fingers as you stared at the page before you? If you've answered yes to any of these questions than you're on the right track. Regardless of whether you've written a year or ten years, if you're dedicated to your craft but don't feel any emotions when you begin to right something is wrong. I've been writing for years, and I still get butterflies every time I start a new project. Does that mean that I'm a green-horn with no skill? Does that mean it takes me weeks to come up with a plot that's believable? No. Not even a novice is like that. It simply means that writing is for me as much of a rush as bungee jumping for the next guy/gal. I was talking to a friend of mine recently who asked a lot of questions and it got me to thinking. What does it mean to be a novice? How do we as writers develop our sk...