“I could NEVER write a book.” People tell me this all the time. My answer? Well of course you could! It’s not rocket science. Anybody can sit in front of a computer keyboard or a notebook and whip up a story. The question isn’t whether you can or can’t…the question is what exactly do you want to do? Do you want to write a book, or do you want to be a writer?
If you want to simply compose a story that’s in your heart, you can totally do that! And if you want to see it in book format, you can do that, too. There are plenty of people whom you can hire to design you a cover, format your work into an ebook, or print it for you. That’s just takes time and a small investment.
If you want to become a writer, now that’s a different animal. Professional writers are running their own small businesses, so you are going to need to devote yourself completely to that endeavor if you want to build a readership. There will be many things to learn, and the hardest is probably the production schedule you’ll need to maintain. One book a year is great, but it’s going to be tough to maintain your reader’s attention with that frequency. I write a book a year for my mystery series (which debuts with Poisoned Pen Press this May), but I also write three books a year for Love Inspired Suspense. How do I do it? Like anyone else who runs a small business, I commit most of my time to it. I work at it six days a week for as many hours as I can. We’ll talk more about that in the weeks to come, but for now, consider what your goal is.
I’ll say it again…anyone can write a book. If that is the passion that burns inside you, do it! Even a paragraph a day will get you towards that goal. If you want to be a professional writer…that’s a horse of a different color!
