How Does a Book Get From the Writer’s Head to the Page?
Hard work? Hours at the computer? Butt in chair? Blood, sweat, and tears?
Yes
.
Why would anyone do that?
Every writer you ask will have a
different answer. For me, it’s the
feeling I get if I don’t write. I can
only describe it as ‘my brain itches’.
And when I agonize over some twist or turn or wording or event in the
story and suddenly everything falls into place, it’s one of the most rewarding feelings
in the world.
It’s very satisfying to
create. To take daydreams and turn them
into words on a page or screen. To make
a story. A story! A concrete thing where one did not exist
before. A collection of words and ideas
that might bring pleasure to another person.
So how does this happen?
“Where do you get your ideas” is
probably the most-asked question a writer hears. If I’m feeling particularly snarky, I answer,
“Sears,” or “The Idea Store,” or “Tiffany,” or—well, you get the idea. The truthful answer is, “Everywhere.” The analogy that springs to my mind is the
compost heap. Everything I see, hear,
read, experience, think goes into the great compost heap in the back of my mind where
it settles in and stews with all the other things there. Eventually I extract a shovel full
of...ideas. All the disparate things
have somehow formed relationships and have turned into something useful.
But an idea isn't a book. A book is made of many, many, many...well, you get the idea..ideas. The writing is only the first step. This is how a self-published book
comes to life: it gets written, revised, made pretty for the reader,
published. Each of those steps is
composed of a zillion smaller steps.
Here’s the status of the current book under construction, Western Heroes: Grey.
Grey’s Progress (yes, there's a way to go)
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First Draft
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Revise
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Beta readers
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Revise
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Editor
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Revise
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Done!!! (sort of)
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Cover & Format
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Publish
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