So You Want to Write a Book?

This last week I have been to the local coffee shop on three occasions to meet folks that are keen on writing and publishing. These are far from isolated incidents as one of the most common phrases I hear is, “I want to write a book”. In fact, all of these people are known to me through my everyday life and nothing to do with my writing endeavours. And each of them said that I should “write a book about writing a book”. Undoubtedly, publishing would need to be included.

Consequently, I researched the books on the topic and there are many. However, I also found that most were written in a literary style, rather than an instructional one. Having taught people to fly for many years, I understand the importance of being concise and hitting the core elements in a simple and logical manner.

Furthermore, the  most fundamental element of writing a book relates to self discipline and putting one’s backside in the seat and starting to type. Sure, researching the topic is fun but it’s the work ethic that creates a book. The good news is that the maths is relatively simple. If you commit to writing 1,000 words each day at a rate of five days per week, in 16 weeks you have an 80,000 word manuscript.

There will be days when you’ve written 1,000 words before breakfast and other days it will take longer, but 1,000 words is an easily achievable daily target. Notwithstanding, if you set a higher target, that manuscript will be in your hands more quickly. There are other simple techniques but that’s a discussion for another day. After all, this is called “Short Thoughts”.

So, do I write a book about writing a book? I have other projects underway but this topic continually raises its head.

What do you think? If it interests you, drop me a line on the “Contacts” page of this website. Otherwise, I’ll just keep meeting emerging authors for coffee.

Cheers