I come bearing advice

Not mine, though. Jane Smiley's.

Chances are, no one wants you to write your novel―if they say they do, they are just meaning that y should get it over with or get on with it. The people you know actually dread reading the novel you are about to write―they don't want to read about themselves, they don't want to be bored, and they fear embarrassment for everyone. You are, therefore, free.
(13 Ways of Looking at the Novel)