“You should write a book.”
People have told me that for I can’t even remember how long. I’ve always loved to write. In school, English class was a cakewalk, and I rarely struggled with essays and papers for other classes. That’s not blowing my own horn, it’s a nerd alert. Basically, though, I’m just saying writing came easy for me and a lot of those around me—some who know me well and others who are just acquaintances—encouraged me to go for it and do what many people say they’d like to do: write a book.
So, I’m doing it. Guess what? Turns out the writing is just one, teeny part of the whole project. When you’re in the thick of it, slogging through writing scenes and dialogue and fighting with your characters because they have different ideas than yours as to how they should act, well, right then it seems like the biggest thing you’ll ever do. And when you type the last sentence, you feel a huge sense of accomplishment—a well-deserved one! You should feel good about getting to that point…but it’s just a rest stop on the entire journey.
Because, you don’t write a book to let it sit on your hard drive, on a memory stick, or in a desk drawer. You write it to publish it. Get it on the physical shelves in bookstores and the cyber shelves online so everyone can enjoy the story you crafted. And that’s where the w-o-r-k starts. Having a book cover designed. Taking your manuscript through multiple rounds of editing, revising, and beta-reading. Introducing yourself on social media because that’s how books are sold these days. Blogging. Deciding how much is “perfect enough” so you can get the manuscript formatted and uploaded to multiple platforms. Then launching the book and promoting it (which really starts with the social media and blogging pieces of the puzzle).
No complaints—I love what I do and, even though I used to get a little panicky and lightheaded when I looked at all the other stuff involved with writing a book beyond that actual writing part, I reached a point where I’m actually enjoying the ride. I’ve learned so much about the entire publishing industry, and I’m sure I’ll learn a whole lot more before Cedar Ridge comes out. The difference came when I started taking the process one step at a time instead of looking at the big picture and hyperventilating.
“You should write a book.”
You absolutely should—if you’re ready to shift your life in a completely new direction, learn a whole lot of new tricks, and climb waaaaayyyyy outside your comfort zone. If you’re up for that, it’s guaranteed to be an amazing experience that nothing else can top.
