Tag: publishing

Lessons I Learned Writing My First Book, Part 2: Discipline

You’re running at a steady pace. You’ve been running for the past thirty minutes. Sweat streams down your back and drips from your brow onto your nose and neck. The marathon is halfway done. Only halfway. Your thoughts stray. You think of a cold glass of water. You think of resting – just for a moment – and catching your breath. Or maybe longer than a moment. You ran half a marathon. That’s good enough.

But you don’t stop. You keep running. You stumble and nearly trip. You regain your balance. You find your rhythm again and keep running. You feel out of breath. Now, the temptation to stop feels more like a necessity. Can’t finish the marathon if you can’t breathe. You feel like you’ll faint from exhaustion.

You remember your breathing exercises. You’ve trained for this. And you find your second wind. A burst of new energy propels you forward. You keep running. At last, you reach the end.

Marathons are a discipline. They take training, practice, and the determination to finish what you started. Writing is the same way. Crafting a book isn’t a quick sprint. It’s not a pole vault or long jump where you throw all of your strength into a few seconds of exertion. Writers must pace themselves and must be willing to get up every day, sit down at their computer, avoid the temptation to get hooked on Youtube or Facebook, and write their word count for the day.

For all that we exalt discipline and admire it in people, it’s not exactly the most well-practiced quality. We like people who accomplish great things: maybe build a skyscraper, or paint a masterpiece, or simply make a million bucks. We look at those people and we think how much patience and hard work must have gone into their achievements. We see the results of discipline, and think we should give it a go, but so many of us just can’t push ourselves. Why? Because discipline sucks.

Writing is a marathon
Runners at the start of the 2012 Borgess Half Marathon//Simon A. Thalmann//Licensed under CC BY 2.0.

It’s a slow-burning candle. It isn’t fancy and it isn’t glamorous. The results of discipline are glamorous. That fancy skyscraper, that painting, those million dollars. Wowee! I want that! But putting in the work is a pain.

Writing isn’t exactly a glamorous, exciting process either. Silently typing away at a computer doesn’t make for a great show. It’s not something you show off to others. “Look, Bob, watch me write my story! Isn’t it so cool?” Yeah, nobody’s going to care about the process. They want to see the end product.

Do you want to write? I mean really write, as a lifelong hobby or career? Do you envision yourself as a published author? That vision is the end result of discipline. You must train yourself to write on a schedule that works for you. Every day, every couple days, whatever you find works best. And then you must train yourself to be consistent about it. It’s not always pleasant, especially starting out, but it does get easier over time.

I have a day job. I had to find the time to write. Frequently, coming home from work, I didn’t want to. But I did it anyway. And the end result is, I wrote a book! I published it! I accomplished what I set out to do!

I don’t meant to scare away any of you potential writers out there. But writing can feel like a chore at times. Even so, when we set our minds to doing the things we love, we’ll make the time and effort to do them. But it does take dedication. Dreams are all well and good, but they’re nothing without action, and discipline demands action. Even a dream job has its drudgery, right?

And it’s sweeter in the end, to run toward your goal and finally reach it after a long, tiring run.

The gods and beings of ancient myth never went away. They just moved on with the times.

My book, A God Walks up to the Bar, is currently available on Amazon.com. Venture into the world of the Greek god Hermes, a world filled with demigods, vampires, nymphs, ogres, magic, and trickery. It’s a tough job, being a god!

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Lessons I Learned Writing My First Book, Part 1

My first book was quite the educational experience. There’s nothing quite like diving into a new challenge and learning as you go. It’s sink or swim, sometimes, and not knowing quite what you’re doing is as exhilarating as it is terrifying!

So, I’ve made it through, and looking back on the years-long trek, I realize that I actually may have learned a thing or two. Not just the technical aspects of writing, but general takeaways, as well. So, for all you fellow authors out there, and those of you who are thinking of entering the wonderful world of writing, here are my lessons learned from writing my first book.

First and foremost: Discipline. Writing takes effort. More than that, it takes the willingness to sit down and just do the work. It takes a willingness to push yourself beyond your boundaries, to organize a time that’s best for writing, and just do it. Dedication is a big part of being an author, because writing takes time, and time is precious, right? You got to be willing to make that sacrifice.

Writing also taught me perseverance. I felt like I was running a marathon when I was writing my book. It’s not a quick and easy thing when writing a book of any length. This isn’t a blog article or a social media post. I was in it for the long haul, and sometimes I just felt apathetic about what I was doing. I wondered if there was even a point to writing, if it would mean anything in the end. That’s when I had to roll up my sleeves and keep going. You got to be willing to motor on.

Thirdly, I learned patience. Writing takes lots and lots of patience. Whether words come easily to you when you write or not, the process is not necessarily a quick one. Maybe that first draft takes no time at all, but then you got to go back and revise. And revise again. And again. And then you get it read by beta readers. And by editors. And then you go back and write a new draft. You got to be willing to be patient to make your story the best it can be.

And finally, the hardest lesson of all: Humility. To be a published writer means putting your work – and yourself – out there for all to see. That makes you feel quite vulnerable at times. Putting out your book invites criticism and commentary, some positive, some not. When I first gave out drafts of my book to be read by others, I got a heaping helping of flaws and bad habits set down before me. It’s not pleasant, but it’s needed. You got to be willing to admit you’re not perfect and develop a tough skin to take necessary criticism.

That’s the quick summary. Over the next week or so, I’d like to dive deeper into each lesson and go into more detail about how I grew over the course of this book. I hope you all enjoy it!

The gods and beings of ancient myth never went away. They just moved on with the times.

My book, A God Walks up to the Bar, is currently available on Amazon.com. Venture into the world of the Greek god Hermes, a world filled with demigods, vampires, nymphs, ogres, magic, and trickery. It’s a tough job, being a god!

Enjoying my blog? Don’t want to miss a single post? Subscribe for updates on when I post and follow my writing career, musings on fiction and storytelling, and reflections about life in general!

Book Release Date is Set!

Save the date! My first-ever book, A God Walks Up to the Bar, is due to be published one week from now, on Saturday, August 12th. It will be available as a Kindle eBook on Amazon.com.

This book has been a long time in the making, and I couldn’t have done it without the support of my friends and family and the excellent work of my editor and cover artist.

If you enjoy modern fantasy, Greek mythology, trickster heroes, and general supernatural shenanigans, please check it out!