There must be a million different ways to go about writing – but who’s counting – with no one single way being better than any of the others.
I cannot count the number of times I have been asked how I have gone from: having an idea, to actually writing a book. Each book completed has much improved my skills in the art of writing.
My stories grow from what I have seen, learned, and / or experienced. Once that tiny seed is planted it germinates, sending out tiny leaves before flourishing. Sometimes a story needs to brew in my mind for years before taking full shape. Other times it is so demanding that I think of nothing else, until I have written it out in full. After every book I have written, I became a changed person. Most surprising was the emotional journey I had been taken on.
People often say that they have a great book inside them, but don’t know how to get it out. Writing a book is not rocket science.
Simply,
take a deep breath,
Create an outline
and
Just write.
How you go about writing depends on how you:
- like to work,
- think,
- plan and structure things,
- and what your book is about.
Here is how I went from idea to first words.
I cleared my brain and my calendar.
I went from living a hectic and stressful life to having time and freedom to contemplate life. Writing a book is more than storytelling – it has a personal side to it. I write with my voice, but it comes from my characters and what they are experiencing. My characters are real. I feel their pain and joy, their highest moments and their lowest. I cry, alongside my characters. If you do not love what you’re writing then start over – you must be passionate if you want it to sell.
Writing has been a journey in itself and changed me and I feel like a different individual, from before I published my first book. Writing makes me see things differently, for I have walked the many paths of my characters.
I feel that I am a better person for the journeys I have travelled.
