Just Write the Damn Thing

I listened to an interview with Neil Gaiman today that kind of set me back on track. I wasn't really off any track, other than I was starting to obsess with publishing again. This happens every once in a while. I start to worry that no one will want my book and what will I do then? Will I self-publish? Will I use a Print on Demand service. Will I sit at home and cry? So I obsess and my focus wavers. But the interview helped. Gaiman says that when people ask him for writing advice he says: Write. Real writers get that. The true secret to writing is to write. You aren't a writer if you don't. Other people, who like the idea of being a writer but don't want to do the hard work want to know the secret. And sure, there are many pathways to being published, but none apply if you don't write.

So, I got out of that temporary funk. The secret to writing is to write. You can't publish a book that isn't written. You can't market a book that isn't written. You can't tell your friends and family to buy a book that isn't written.

So, I wrote. Or, I edited, which is also writing in my opinion. You have to be able to edit to be successful. Once my book is edited I will start to query publishers (which is not really writing, not creative, anyway). As I do that, I will start writing something else. Or I'll edit something else. It's a process. Write, rewrite if necessary, query/submit, repeat until successful/dead. Rinse. Lather. Something.

And I've figured out how to edit in a way that takes less time and isn't as annoying as before. I use MS Word's Review and Track Changes functions. It let's me go through my manuscript, cross things out (it keeps the text so I can still see what was there) make comments that stick on the side, and it does it all in red so when I make the revisions I can easily see what I want to change.