Do you seem to eat, sleep and drink your book project? You are writing or revising it every minute you have available. And when you are not working on your book, you are thinking about it. You wake up in the night with ideas. You begin to consider changes or improvements while out walking. And in the middle of a conversation with someone on a completely unrelated topic, you might have an epiphany about how to handle a tricky problem in your story or the structure of your nonfiction book.
I’m in the thick of revising and updating my book, The Right Way to Write, Publish and Sell Your Book for Allworth Press/Skyhorse and that project is currently ruling my life. Thankfully, I am enjoying every minute of the work—well most minutes. Every once in a while I have a dilemma that makes me a little cranky. But for the most part, I love the work. I can’t wait to get up in the morning to go back to work on it and I have trouble pulling myself away from my desk to visit with our house guest, to run an errand or even to take a walk.
I keep a pen and paper handy for note-taking so I don’t forget a brilliant thought that occurs while I am away from my computer. The only thing I don’t do is discuss the project with nonwriters/nonauthors. They do not understand. If I start talking about a problem I’m having with organization, my frustration with deciding what to pare down and what to keep, the joy I experience when the project is moving along nicely, my thrill at seeing it come together, seemingly, ahead of schedule, they look at me with eyes glazed over.
But you, my dear blog followers, you understand. You are in the trenches with me working on book projects. You are out there composing, revising, self-editing—you know the joys and the challenges. Do you also have some tips for those writers who haven’t become obsessed with their projects, yet?
Yes, there are hopeful authors who just can’t discipline themselves to write. They are either genuinely too busy with life issues or they aren’t motivated enough to sit down and do the writing they claim they want to do.
There are many reasons why authors don’t write. Their excuses come in many shapes and forms. And it’s a shame when someone has a story to tell or information they want to share, but they just can’t get it together to actually do the writing. Or they get so far with their books and become stuck. Do you have advice for these authors?
Maybe my newest ebooklet would help. There has been quite a flurry of interest in 50 Reasons Why You Should Write That Book. Get your free copy at http://www.patriciafry.com
Yep, that is one thing that really bothers me. I think about this story all day and all night long. When I started writing the story, I would get up at 4 am just to write…Man.
Now that I am done going over the story and editing it by myself a few times, I feel that it is ready to have someone professionally edit it. Then perhaps get a copy right, then maybe publish it after I find the right company for that…I am bothered that I have had to stop.
Good luck with your writing!
Dawn,
Did you get my email inviting you to send me 20 pages or so of your manuscript for a free editorial evaluation?
Patricia