Heart.

Remember that word because it will mean everything to you as I go forward.

Heart.

Because I am a writer, a lot of people tell me, “I want to write a book.” And then ask me to help them. I am never opposed to helping people and offer my advice. Many, and I repeat many, never take it. That's ok. But, maybe you will.

A strange thing occurred this week. Of course, I get requests asking for help. But over the course of one week four different people, from four different circumstances, reached out to me, asking for my help. So I thought, hey why not put it in writing, get it out there, and if I can help them, I can help others.

Of course, I’m no guru .

I’m a writer. Probably one of the least educated writers you’ve ever known. I don’t have a college degree in writing, journalism or English. My degree is in medical technology. In other words, taking blood from people or being an EMT.

My experiences ... from the heart. There's that word again.

I have been called a great writer and I have been called a hack. I have received hundreds if not thousands of emails.

Most, are not good. People find the courage to say what they feel behind the anonymity of a keyboard. Some of the worst emails I have received came even recently. One of my books, through my publisher somehow had a ton of errors. The book was so good but got buried beneath the mountains of hate mail. And I don’t exaggerate. It was so much hate mail. I wanted to quit. But I didn’t.

I tell you this because once you write your book, that’s not it. That's not the end. You want to publish it. And once you publish it, you put yourself out there. When you put yourself out there, you have to expect feedback. More negative than positive. Does it bother me? Absolutely. I don’t think I’ll ever get used to it.

But please do not let that stop you. I’m here to take you from the idea, to the publishing, to beyond.

I want to share my knowledge. Take it, leave it, hate it, love it.

I became a writer in a time before the digital age, when you had to physically print up pages and query letters and send them out to publishers you found in a book called the Writers Digest.

When I started to submit, I already had 10 books under my belt, numerous screenplays, short stories and poems. I kept writing. I kept submitting. I kept getting rejected. I accumulated thousands. No lie. I counted.

It took 14 years for Kindle to become my writing, saving grace. But I won’t get into that yet. Let’s talk about that book you wanna write

So you wanna write a book? Nothing wrong with that. Everybody has a novel in them, it’s just a matter of how you get it out. And that’s what I’m here to help you with. Now, all of this cannot be covered in one blog post. We will take a step by step. From the idea, to the book, to publishing. But first, the idea.

If you want to write a book, feel that you have a novel in you, then you must have an idea, right? Let’s start with that.

Blog post one on how to write a book, the idea. Let’s start with that.

I plan to do a blog post at least once a week maybe sooner, but you can read them at your own pace.

The idea

If you have an idea, let us go. I need you to break out your notebook or open a blank page in Word, or even your phone, (which will be a blog in itself, but the phone is a valuable tool). Whatever medium you choose to use it is a blank canvas, and it is our beginning.

Let’s start.

Write down at the very beginning, my first book. Use that title. Nothing fancy. It will work.

Now I want you to write  your idea  on the next line. Weather is a single sentence or a paragraph, write it down. What is the idea for your book?

Once you have done that, I want you to write the word ‘beginning’ and then the word ‘end’.

Now go back and next to those words

I want you to write how you see the book beginning and how you see the book ending. Even if it’s not a clear vision. For example, if I am going to write a story about a woman who planted an apple tree, I would have it written on at the beginning she plants the tree and at the end she eats the fruit. It doesn’t need to be flushed out at this moment.

Now you may know how you want to end it, but not know how you started it, or how you want to start and not know how to end. That’s OK. Many books I didn’t know how they were going to end. That is where the heart comes in . Every word, every sentence, every thought must be written from your heart. Whether it’s fiction or non-fiction. The heart is honest. The reader can tell.

Now, whether you filled in the end or beginning, you must move forward.

This is what your assignment will be into our next blog.

10 things.

You need to write down 10 things that you want to be in the book.

They don’t need to be in any order, that can come later. But 10 things you want to have in the book.

If you’re writing about your life, or about a person, 10 things

If it is a fiction book, 10 things.

You may have more, but just stick to 10.

And that’s it. That’s your start. That is how you start a book.

The idea

The beginning

The end

The 10

And it doesn’t matter at this moment, when you stare at that blank page getting ready to do this, if you have any of these, do your best.

This flushes your idea, this gets your creative juice is going, and gets it on paper. It’s a start. It’s more than you had yesterday.

And,, uh, pick a song, a good song that you can listen to, and feel inspired by.

Until next time, keep thinking about that book