Would You Like to Write a Book?

Let me help...

January is the month of new beginnings. The perfect time to revisit your bucket list. If that includes writing a book…I hear you. According to one researcher, 80-82% of the people surveyed want to be authors. Only about 15% ever start. Of that, 3% ever finish.

I’m closing in on writing my 85^th book, so I know something about the process. And I’m here to help. From now on, the first week of the month, I’ll share specific ideas, tips, tricks and whatever to move you forward.

A few caveats and ground rules:

1. I don’t care why you want to write. Doesn’t matter to me whether you fantasize about making the New York Times bestsellers list or creating something you keep in a drawer. Your goal is the important part. To me, at least.

a stack of books

2. I don’t care what you want to write. It can be a memoir, a family history, a story, or a “how to” about a subject you know well. Believe it or not, the process is the same. (Yes, I’ve written both fiction and non-fiction, including a college textbook and technique books.)

3. I don’t care if your work is any good or not. That’s not up to me. I’m not here to make judgements. Sure, I can guide you, but that’s supposed to help with process—not to be a determinant of worthiness.

4. I don’t care if you start and stop, or stop and stop, or put your work aside for next year, although I hope you’ll give the process a chance. I think you might surprise yourself.

5. I don’t care about your grammar, your spelling, or any of that. It can be fixed later, if at all.

6. I urge you not to talk about your book. Baby books are like tender garden sprouts. They are easily damaged. When you share your seedling, you invite everyone in the world who wears big, ugly boots to stomp it into the dirt. Also, you don’t want people nagging you, “How’s it coming?” How on earth does an author answer that question? “Um, yeah, it’s coming/not coming?” Most of the time we don’t know how we’re doing until we’re nearly done.

7. It’s okay if you haven’t nailed down your topic totally. Writing is a process of discovery. It’s not about sitting down with all the answers and letting them pour out onto the page. It’s about asking questions and probing how you feel. It’s about tacking down gelatin, not wood.

8. It doesn’t matter whether the world thinks of you as an important person. I think of you as an important person. This is between you and me, babe. Got it?

Okay…

Here’s how we’ll start…

YOUR ASSIGNMENT

Write down three words. Just three. These should be representative of an idea to explore, a situation, a memory, a funny/quirky thought, a character, an item, a place…whatever.

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Photo by Eliott Reyna on Unsplash

Wasn’t that easy?

See? You only need three words to get started. I think that’s doable, don’t you?

Feel free to share your words in the chat function. That’ll make this process more real to you! And yes, I’ll do my best along the way to answer your questions.

Lots of love,

Joanna