Writing your first novel

Well, you must do what you REALLY WANT in life... or so they keep ranting! Amidst the cluster of stuff that I really wanna do (U don't want me to bring out the list, do u? ;) ) is writing my own novel someday. I don't care if its gonna be selling like those Harry Potter fantasies.. I don't care if the guy I'm gonna bump into on my next flight is gonna be reading it.. I don't care if the hot chick next door is gonna be reading it.. I don't care if YOU read it.. All i know is that I'll read it- over and over again. And I know my mom will read it (atleast attempt to)... And so will my would-be wife. I'll be doing a minimum of three souls proud- Most importantly myself, and you know the other two :) Hell, there are people who spend their lives without making half those number of people proud!
But what does it take? Guess its gotta be a union of all these:

• Live life King Size- There's no compromising on the fact that you need a good range of experiences and a wide view of the world to write a novel. You can't be the regular Joe with the 10 to 6 software job working five days a week and idling two! You need to pack your bags and move your ass- Just see what it is to be on top of a snow-clad mountain and slide down it. See what it is like to be on the bank of a lake on a misty morning throwing stones. Experience a night out riding. Go live in a village without electricity for a week. Feel the highs and lows of life! Meet a varied range of people. In short, make life a journey worth the name!
• Read a varied range- Read stuff ranging from Laloo Yadav's biography to "Godfather" to "How I moved your cheese" to "Gone with the wind" to "God of small things" to Erotica! Does give you a widened horizon and an unzipped mind (do they call it an open mind? ... ya, whatever!).
• Be true and frank.. Just be yourself- Now this is just a personal belief. The more of make-belief or banavatipan, the lesser are your chances of coming up with something that touches a chord. A novel is always an autobiography, to an extent. Even though it might be about a fictious creature from mars trying to find friends on earth, a novel always draws upon its writer's experiences, thoughts and conflicts. And your best bet is to let it be so!
• Be reflectional and thoughtful- Don't crowd yourself so much with people and events that you don't get the time or the mental space for a sunday afternoon thinking about your life. And don't just make it a pursuit. Make it a journey worth remembering and recollecting.
• Be confident- As with most other activities, writing involves immense confidence in oneself.. More so, because its a long-drawn phase that might range from 6 months to even 3 years! Just make it your vocation, if it isn't so yet. Don't just give up (refer the intro para of this article- its always worth the effort!) thinking you are too small or too immature or too unimportant to be writing a book. All you are is too self-critical!
• No biases- Lack of a bias and ability to take positive criticism should take you a long way. Your first draft maybe way off. Digest it. If 10 days of writing has to be torn and thrown in the bin, don't fret. Just do it (nike ishtyle :D)
• Start off! - The whole cosmos is not gonna allign into a straight line one fine day for you to start your book. Just grab a pen (or a keyboard) and go on. You can do the thinking bit while you are on the job!

Hmm.. I might not be a novelist (or even a seriously aspiring one) but that does make sense, doesn't it?