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

Dear Mr. Stratman, I Wonder How Long it Took for You to Make the Book?

Here's a letter from Kenny, also in Ms. Slater's class in Vermont. His question is another of those many people ask.

Dear Mr. Stratman,

Thank you for Cheechako.  It is a really good book!  We hope that there are more than 2 books in the set .

I think the best part is when Will goes out in a blizzard to save his family and friend. 

I wonder how long it took for you to make the book? 

I like the way you write about what happens to you in your childhood. My friend Wyatt and I read ahead about 80 pages and finished the book.  We like the book a lot but book 2 is probably even better than the 1st one.

I can't wait to read book 2!

Sincerely,
Kenny  


Dear Kenny,

As you can probably guess, there are about a million answers to that question.

I know writers who challenge themselves to write a page a day. I know others who might write 30 pages at a burst. That kind of writer usually doesn't write that often, just walks around with his/her ideas until he has the time to write, or it just explodes out of him.

"Cheechako," my first published book–and, at 140 pages, my shortest book–took me about 30 years to write. Not a typo: 30 years.

I wrote a version of chapter one and it was published as a short story in Cricket Magazine in the early '80s. In those days, they paid about 25 cents a word and I think I remember making about $400 on it.

One of the Cricket editors wrote to me and said, "this should be a book." I knew she was right but it takes more than knowing to get through to that last page. Several other chapters were also published as short stories by Cricket.

Writing a Book is Like Reading a Book Really Slowly.

Ray Bradbury once told me that he wrote one sentence and then tried to figure out another sentence to follow it. I've done that, times when I was a little bit stuck.

Mostly what I do is just ask myself "what comes next?" Another way of saying that is, "what can happen next that will make Scott, Kenny, Wyatt, and others like them, in classrooms in Vermont and around the world, keep turning those pages and keep being excited to find out what happens?"

Usually I have a few scenes that I've imagined in advance. For example, in one of my mystery stories, I knew before I started writing the book, that the hero and his girlfriend would be tied to anchors and be tossed off the deck of an old sailing ship. 

Did I have a way to save them? Well, sure. Otherwise it would be a very short book. 

Since I knew I had to first get them to the ship, I sort of knew what to write next. 

Researching "Cheechako," I found out about a rare-ish black wolf that lives near Denali National Park, about 60 miles south of Nenana, the town where Will, Elias and Blackie live. So I started writing in the direction of those wolves. And Kenny, you already know how that turned out. 

Finally, you mentioned Book 2 in the Cheechako Series, which is called "Float Monkeys." It's already out for e-books and in paperback, and well reviewed. Be sure to write and ask any questions you have about that. 

Thanks for a really good question and for reading and liking "Cheechako." 

Best regards,   Jonathan 

JonathanThomasStratman@gmail.com

Dear Mr. Stratman, Why Did You Become An Author?

Recently I received a letter from Scott, who had just finished reading "Cheechako," in Ms. Slater's Jr. High class in Vermont. Since it's a question I often get from readers, I thought I would also answer it here in the blog. Feel free to write with questions of your own.

Dear Mr. Stratman,

I loved your book.  My favorite part of this excellent book was when Will found the wolf in the snare.  I think it shows that no matter how small you are you can be brave. I also loved all the cliff hangers.  They kept me on the edge of my seat the whole time I read it. I just had to read ahead of the group.

Why did you become an author?

Thanks again,
Scott

Dear Scott,

Sorry it’s taken me so long to respond. I’ve been going back and forth between here and an old house I’m fixing up in Oregon and time gets away.

There are a couple of reasons I became an author. I wanted to a long time ago. I read a story in “Boy’s Life,” magazine and got really excited about it. I don’t remember the story but I do remember going to my dad and telling him that I wanted to be a writer. I was probably in 7th grade at the time.

I read everything when I was a kid, even cereal boxes! But what I liked most were adventures, books and stories that made me  feel excited, like it was me going places and having adventures.

The funny thing about writing, for me at least, is that I don’t feel quite balanced if I’m not writing. I get up most mornings at six and write an average of four pages. I also am a guitar player and when I was in high school I wrote songs, poems, and short stories. My first published piece for money was a short story in “Cricket” magazine.

I’ve done other things. I was a teacher, a house-builder, an advertising agency writer, and I’m still a video producer. But all the time I was doing all those other things I have also been writing. I also like to read, when I have time, but mostly I like to write.

Thanks for the question and for liking “Cheechako.”

Best regards,

Jonathan

Jonathan Thomas Stratman
Port Townsend, WA
www.JonathanThomasStratman.com