For many writers, the hardest part is not publishing a book. Right now there are many options, you can self-publish, or pay for a publication and you no longer need to fight against publishers or publishers. No, publishing a book is pretty easy.
The hard part is writing.
I have a traditional publication book in the process of editing, and I am assembling and writing an e-book with stories that I will self-publish .
In both projects, the hardest part has turned out to be the writing. With these projects behind me, I have learned a few things. What do you need to write a book?
300 words a day is a good start. John Grisham began writing while still practicing as a lawyer, getting up very early each morning and writing a single page . You can do the same, or you can set your own limit. You can use a calendar to keep track of your ghost writing so you are always up to date.
Write a table of contents to guide you. Divide each chapter into sections. Think of a beginning, a middle, and an ending. At this point you don’t want to make it too complicated. Draw a complete outline, divide the chapters and be clear about what each part of your book will be like.
Pick a schedule and work on your book each day. If you want to take a couple of days off a week, mark them on your schedule. Do not leave your book in neutral, do not abandon it, do not let the blockade keep you from the project.
Choose a place to write , it should not be the same place where you work or play. The idea is to make it a special, different site, so that you feel the need to write as soon as you enter it.
Think in blocks of 10,000 words , work in increments of that number, and try to keep the same number of pages in each chapter (more or less, sometimes it is impossible, other times you will not want all the chapters to be the same length , It depends on the moment).
It can be X words a week, a percentage of progress on the work, whatever you want, whatever seems most appropriate. You just need to have a goal and aim.
There is nothing worse than having to rewrite an entire work, because you did not let anyone read it in time. You need to have a beta reader. One (or several) people you trust, who are objective and who tell you in time what is worthwhile, and what is not worth it.
Don’t leave things there. You have finished, they have read it, you have received criticism, and you know what works. Review from top to bottom. Let it rest for a few days (maybe a few weeks). Take the project back and check everything again.
Once you believe that your project has shape, that it is finished, it is time to let it go. Submit to publishers, find an agent and offer your manuscript, self-publish on Amazon, do whatever it takes to reach people. Do not lock it in a drawer.
You need to know that this is very hard, very difficult, extremely complicated. Most likely, you will fail. And nothing happens. It’s okay. Accept failure as one more step in your career, this will be what will differentiate you from the rest and not the impossible standards of perfection.
Write your next draft. Most writers are ashamed of their first book. But without that first book, they would never have learned all those important lessons. Take your work out, fail, try again. Keep going. This is the only way to improve in life – practice.
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