How is writing a book like childbirth?
It was once said by that oft-quoted philosopher, 'Anonymous', that "Everyone has at least one novel in them." While I agree with the premise of the statement, I have to disagree with the practicality of it. Everyone of us has at one time or another fantasized about becoming the next social commentator like Mark Twain or novelist like J.K. Rowling or to simply tell his or her own life story. Each of these three types of writing has it's rewards as well as it's setbacks that we will explore later.
Today I would like to explore something much more basic, yet essential; and that is: "Why do I want to write in the first place?" Following closely behind that question is the one asked by your potential audience: "Why should we read your work?". While I believe that everyone has at least one great novel in them, I also believe that NOT everyone can......or even should. It is a cruel dose of reality, but here goes..........
Writing a literary work is like giving birth. First, you conceive. This is that first spark of creativity that seems to be divine and takes place in the most secret inner places of your mind. Like children, some works of literature are conceived out of love. Some are conceived because of a primal need to (pro)create. Some are conceived out of a sense of duty or even by "accident" in some situations. Whatever the case may be, all have that initial conception in the "womb" of the writer's soul.
I'm sure that you have heard the old adage "No child is an accident". This is usually said to new parents-to-be who find themselves staring with shock at a home pregnancy test for the fifth time and wondering "what happened?". We console the bewildered parents-to-be that no child is truly an accident because "You may not have planned this child, but God did". This is true in writing a new novel as well. No work of literature is an accident.
Let us set the "accidental" conception aside for a second and let's say that you are willingly and knowingly trying to write the next Great American Novel, Biography or Non-Fiction work. Before continuing with the process, you must ask yourself: "Why do I want to write?"
If you are yet to have children yourself or if you are a parent, remember back, to that time before you had children. If you have spent any amount of time in a grocery store or restaurant, you are sure to have witnessed a young parent struggling with an unruly, loud and troublesome child and have naïvely asked them under your breath, "Why can't you control your brat" or "Some people should never be allowed to have kids" or "Just because you can have a baby, doesn't mean that you should". Come on.... Be honest for a second, you've thought that at least once.
To be completely honest and forward about it, the statement that "Everyone has at least one great novel in them" is true, yet it is also true that "Just because you can write a book, doesn't mean that you should". Ouch! Sorry, but It is a cruel truth that some people do not have the skills, discipline, resources or endurance that it takes to bring that book into the world.
As a writer, you must ask yourself one very important question:
Why do I want to write?
If your motive to write is purely egotistical and is a way to get your story "off your chest", then unless you are a Hollywood celebrity or a sports star, I suggest confining your writing to the journal on your bed-side table or talk to a priest, your hair stylist or the bartender at the pub. Very few readers want to read an ultra personal tell-all that is meant for your eyes only.
If your motive for writing is to make millions of dollars and become the next Steven King or Heather Graham, I suggest that you buy a Lotto ticket instead; your chances are better. Very few people actually make even a decent living writing; much less actually becoming wealthy doing it.
If you write because you have to write, must write, need to write.......now we're getting somewhere. Someone once said that writing is a sickness. Those who suffer from this sickness write because they have to. When they are not writing, they are thinking about what to write. To the writer, the hours spent in front of the computer or at the library, doing tedious research in order to make your novel seem real and believable is not a chore; it is actually fun. They hate NOT writing. Even while standing in the line at the bank, they are watching that old man in front of them with his pants pulled up to his belly button, veteran's cap, orthopedic shoes who smells of "Brute" after shave, and the whole time, they are wondering how that character would fit into the story they are currently working on or "filing" the character away in their mind for a future story.
If you feel that you suffer from this creative condition called "writing", let me be the first to say: congratulations! You are "expecting". Now it is time to prepare for the bundle of joy that will be delivered not by a stork, but by the UPS driver in the form of a paperback book with your name in big letters. And just like the new parent looking at their child's face for the first time, you will be beaming with well deserved pride when you sign that first copy at your local bookstore for an eager fan.
Parenting your book will not be easy....but it will be worth it. In the next series of posts, we will discuss how to go from "conception" to "gestation" "labor" "birth" and "parenting" of your book baby.
Today I would like to explore something much more basic, yet essential; and that is: "Why do I want to write in the first place?" Following closely behind that question is the one asked by your potential audience: "Why should we read your work?". While I believe that everyone has at least one great novel in them, I also believe that NOT everyone can......or even should. It is a cruel dose of reality, but here goes..........
Writing a literary work is like giving birth. First, you conceive. This is that first spark of creativity that seems to be divine and takes place in the most secret inner places of your mind. Like children, some works of literature are conceived out of love. Some are conceived because of a primal need to (pro)create. Some are conceived out of a sense of duty or even by "accident" in some situations. Whatever the case may be, all have that initial conception in the "womb" of the writer's soul.
I'm sure that you have heard the old adage "No child is an accident". This is usually said to new parents-to-be who find themselves staring with shock at a home pregnancy test for the fifth time and wondering "what happened?". We console the bewildered parents-to-be that no child is truly an accident because "You may not have planned this child, but God did". This is true in writing a new novel as well. No work of literature is an accident.
Let us set the "accidental" conception aside for a second and let's say that you are willingly and knowingly trying to write the next Great American Novel, Biography or Non-Fiction work. Before continuing with the process, you must ask yourself: "Why do I want to write?"
If you are yet to have children yourself or if you are a parent, remember back, to that time before you had children. If you have spent any amount of time in a grocery store or restaurant, you are sure to have witnessed a young parent struggling with an unruly, loud and troublesome child and have naïvely asked them under your breath, "Why can't you control your brat" or "Some people should never be allowed to have kids" or "Just because you can have a baby, doesn't mean that you should". Come on.... Be honest for a second, you've thought that at least once.
To be completely honest and forward about it, the statement that "Everyone has at least one great novel in them" is true, yet it is also true that "Just because you can write a book, doesn't mean that you should". Ouch! Sorry, but It is a cruel truth that some people do not have the skills, discipline, resources or endurance that it takes to bring that book into the world.
As a writer, you must ask yourself one very important question:
Why do I want to write?
If your motive to write is purely egotistical and is a way to get your story "off your chest", then unless you are a Hollywood celebrity or a sports star, I suggest confining your writing to the journal on your bed-side table or talk to a priest, your hair stylist or the bartender at the pub. Very few readers want to read an ultra personal tell-all that is meant for your eyes only.
If your motive for writing is to make millions of dollars and become the next Steven King or Heather Graham, I suggest that you buy a Lotto ticket instead; your chances are better. Very few people actually make even a decent living writing; much less actually becoming wealthy doing it.
If you write because you have to write, must write, need to write.......now we're getting somewhere. Someone once said that writing is a sickness. Those who suffer from this sickness write because they have to. When they are not writing, they are thinking about what to write. To the writer, the hours spent in front of the computer or at the library, doing tedious research in order to make your novel seem real and believable is not a chore; it is actually fun. They hate NOT writing. Even while standing in the line at the bank, they are watching that old man in front of them with his pants pulled up to his belly button, veteran's cap, orthopedic shoes who smells of "Brute" after shave, and the whole time, they are wondering how that character would fit into the story they are currently working on or "filing" the character away in their mind for a future story.
If you feel that you suffer from this creative condition called "writing", let me be the first to say: congratulations! You are "expecting". Now it is time to prepare for the bundle of joy that will be delivered not by a stork, but by the UPS driver in the form of a paperback book with your name in big letters. And just like the new parent looking at their child's face for the first time, you will be beaming with well deserved pride when you sign that first copy at your local bookstore for an eager fan.
Parenting your book will not be easy....but it will be worth it. In the next series of posts, we will discuss how to go from "conception" to "gestation" "labor" "birth" and "parenting" of your book baby.
