How Easy is it to Write a Book?

Ohhh, that's a tough question. Or a many-answered question.

I was an ad writer for 30 years. It's good preparation. Many people think you have to be inspired to sit down to write. People introduce themselves as writers and tell me they only write when inspiration hits.

Maybe it works. Seems like the output would be sporadic at best.

Mystery writer, Aaron Elkins, says he gets inspired every morning at nine.

Ad writers don't get to be inspired. Somebody brings an assignment and the ad writer starts writing. Not "thinking" about it, but actually making words appear on the page. Before I'd completed a single novel I wrote millions of words.

Ecstasy of Writing

Ecstasy? Really? 

I think we've all seen movies about writers. When they finally overcome all the movie obstacles and sit down to write, the writer gets a sort of absurdly happy look on his or her face.  We know then that they are going to be discovered, successful, get the girl or the guy, and so forth. 

Here's the deal, or at least an important part of the deal. 

Writing, before anything else, is the physical act of filling pages with words. It's an enduro. 

The writer sits down, starts typing, keeps typing, may or may not like it on any given day, worries that it isn't any good and nobody will ever read it–much of the time feels horrible about the whole process–and so forth. 

Somewhat short of ecstasy. 

First Rule of Writing

Wait for it. Wait for it.

Just start writing. That's it. No matter how it goes, no matter how it feels. 

What if it's just no good? 

A lot of popular writing is just no good. But that's why you re-write. Darn few books are only written once. 

As my annoying younger brother, Joel, much too frequently says: "Do it. Do it now!" 

Questions? Write anytime. 

JonathanThomasStratman@gmail.com