Under exaggerate.
Sometimes I feel like I cannot be a real author since real authors have huge goals like 1,000 words every day. I’ve done this before, even developing the habit at times.
I feel envious when I hear of some writers, who top this lofty goal by writing several thousand words in a single day. I did that. Once.
But what about when life steps in?
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What’s the biggest project you have ever given up on?
For me, I wanted to make a polyglot Bible, with Hebrew, Greek, and Latin in three columns, marking all major differences. (Yes, I’m a nerd!) Working full time on this, I could have finished in a couple years. Maybe.
The problem? Nobody else wanted this. Worse, I found a computer program that could do this almost as well, a website that could do this with even more languages, and a scholar who already did my exact idea with two of the languages. Bummer.
I realized the importance of first making sure your goal is worth the cost.
But let’s say you know your goal—you want to write a novel. And publish it. And make money from it.
Let’s start with the first of these.
Some authors say they don’t have time to read. That’s like a starving castaway saying he has no time to eat. You’re not that confused, are you?
But maybe you have a similar problem: You have no relationships with books outside your niche. For example, your write youth fantasy and read only youth fantasy. Why is this wrong? There’s a nasty word for families that have relationships only with themselves. Authors who only read their genre may fall into that same category.
Fire needs three things—fuel, heat, and oxygen. Without any of these, there is no fire.
Success is similar. It needs these three—time, motivation, and a plan.
Time
Did you know that you could save over $8,000 for your child’s college by saving $1 each day starting at birth? Wow! Or if you invest $5,000/year for 10 years beginning at age 25, you could have over $600,000 by age 65. (Compare this to the $400,000 earned by investing $5,000 from age 35 to 60.)
How to sell loads of books. What a title! Isn’t that everyone’s dream? A load of books to sign, a load of books at every book store. Russell Blake has helpful advice on reaching that goal.
(photo by Amanda M. Bowman http://mtaphotographer.wordpress.com/)
No, children are not time wasters. And your spouse definitely is not.
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How do you write when you have a family, job, and possibly even a life?
Make sure you check out parts 1 and 2 first.
https://danielfbowman.wordpress.com/2013/07/02/how-can-you-write-with-the-kids-around/
https://danielfbowman.wordpress.com/2013/10/01/how-can-you-write-with-the-kids-around-part-2/
1. Communicate
In a good novel, you need dialogue.
Same in relationships.
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Which option is better?
–Andrew lets people know he is an author. But whenever asked to show what he wrote, he claims it is a secret. He fears letting others see the story, lest they steal the ideas and make millions on his hard work. He is more suspicious than the private eye in his whodunit.
–Benjamin avoids telling others that he is an author, though many people realize it because he is too busy writing to have a life. Friends and even professors enjoy reading what he writes for class, but he refuses to share his novel with them, always saying it is not yet good enough.
–Christopher regularly brags about his writing and readily shows it to others. He blogs multiple times a week and has self published several books in the year since he began his writing career. Unfortunately, you can guess the quality of it because of so much in so little time.
So, this brings back the question: When should you show your book to others?
I recommend reading it four times first.
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Writer’s Block?
The cure may be something you’ve never asked. Check out Kristen Lamb’s blog for the answer.
The Single Largest Cause of Writer’s Block–Might Not Be What You Believe.
Daniel F. Bowman 