The Writing Starts NOW!So you want to start writing your first book but you're stuck, can't get another word down, maybe not even the first word. You're anxious about getting it written, but you haven't even started! It may be time to take a little poetry to heart. Lose This Day Loitering Lose this day loitering, t'will be the same story Johann Wolfgang von Goethe There are a number of "how-to-write-a-book" resources available nowadays but the only thing you need to do right now, today, is to take Goethe's advice and get started! Carpe Diem! It's true, the longest journey begins with a single step. Take it, then another, and another! Some editors will help even at this early stage. Countless people spend years planning, constructing outlines, planning some more, researching, reading books and browsing websites on how to write well, or on writing a book, or some other variation on the theme, and all they produce is a whole lot of nothing... paralysis by analysis... too much dithering and not enough doing! Sooner or later you have to take yourself seriously and begin. How about right now? "Ya, OK, just as soon as I have time to focus and really concentrate on writing," you say. More paralysis! A lot of "time to focus" is extremely elusive in today's world. All the time you really need is just five minutes grabbed here and there between other activities. If you can squeeze out more than five minutes, great! Enough sessions of just a few minutes duration can be woven into a masterpiece... well, at least enough material to comprise a draft you can send to your editor. But, don't get ahead of yourself with worries about getting it published! That's just crazy-making pressure you don't need. For now, just focus on writing for writing's sake, empty your mind, your soul, your well of inspiration. Get it down! Skill Do you need to be a Hemingway to publish a good book? No! Midlife is often characterized as the time when people change careers, change wardrobes, change residences and, sometimes, men in particular, will go out and buy a new sports car or even shop for a new partner. Most often, thankfully, the changes are not so traumatic as all that. A lot of us are content to settle for a slower, more reflective lifestyle, perhaps including such new activities as yoga or painting or, yes... writing, be it poetry, short stories, personal memoirs, travelogues or something else. Why not? A virtual library of good books is available to help fledgling writers, young and not so young, well-established and beginners. And supplementing the plethora of very good books are enough writing groups, writing courses and websites on writing to fit every genre and every aspiration. But you don't want to become a perpetual student of writing and never actually get around to doing it. Late-blooming writers with a collection of memoirs they want to publish, for example, and probably most firstbook writers, can do a very credible, pre-editing draft of their manuscript if they keep just three principles in mind: 1. Develop a regular practice of writing. Just do it, and do it a lot! For really good help, one book in particular, The Right to Write by Julia Cameron, is a must read. It offers all kinds of tips and exercises to get you involved in the craft of writing. For more on writing skills Go to www.firstbook-writing-editing-publishing.com/writing-skills.html. Editing Getting your first book published is, of course, dependent upon how well you write, but it also has to do with what you write, your research, your marketing strategy, whether you self publish or not, etc. etc. Most of all, it has to do with your partner in writing... your editor. Unless you're planning a "one-off" career as an author, doing a credible job with the writing, regardless of whether your book is a work of fiction, non-fiction, a children's book, or free verse poetry, editing is essential. Only you can do the writing (unless you're planning to hire a ghost writer, which is another matter altogether), but you are NOT the one to edit your own manuscript. A good editor can be what determines whether a publisher even looks at your book or not. If your book is full of preventable errors, the chances of it selling are poor... the chances of your being embarrassed are great. For more on editing Go to www.firstbook-writing-editing-publishing.com/editing.html. Publishing Once your first book is actually written and professionally edited, you have to make decisions around your publishing options. Which will you choose? 1. A traditional commercial, mainstream or trade publisher? Regardless of the option you choose, publishing is complicated and not to be taken lightly. A whole raft of elements and factors must be planned out and brought together. For more on publishing options Go to www.firstbook-writing-editing-publishing.com/publishing.html. Other writing links on this website:
Writing memoirs
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