Behind the Scenes: Writing a Book

I have a fair amount of writing projects on my plate. I’ve alluded to them here and on social media, and, to put it plainly, I’m essentially obsessed with writing books right now. I’ll talk more about the individual projects over the next couple of months, but I thought that today I’d show you a behind-the-scenes look at what writing a book is like for me. Hopefully this will help you on your own writing endeavors or at least gain a little context for what I mean when I talk about writing.

For me, there are two key elements to writing a book: outlining and just gluing my butt to a chair to make myself write. Of course, I mean that figuratively, but you get what I mean. As Ernest Hemingway said, “There is nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed.” The point is you sit down to write and just pour your heart and soul out into words that will eventually need to be cut out until you write the gold that you are capable.

I like to write in natural light, at a table, and with headphones in. I focus best outside of my house, usually at a coffee shop of some kind. If I can, I turn off my internet access and my phone so that I don’t have distractions. As much as I love writing, and as much as it is a part of me and my identity, it can be so difficult to focus on at times. But I can’t only write when I feel particularly inspired, as then I would hardly write. I know that I just need to get out the words, even if they’re awful, especially if they’re awful. Later, I’ll need to go through it multiple times to clear out the bad and to rewrite over and over again until I’m close to happy with what I have.

If you’re thinking of writing a book, I absolutely advise it. But be forewarned – it isn’t easy. Writing a book is pouring your soul into something and disliking it almost immediately. Writing a book is working hard on something on the off chance that it turns out okay. Writing a book is stumbling over words and phrases and ideas, picking through them one by one, reorganizing them over and over, and then hoping that others don’t hate it. But it’s so worth it.

Sign up for the monthly newsletter! Become one of the greatest people you will ever meet and get a recap of the best blog posts, extra writing tips, and free downloads. I will never give your email address to anyone or use it for any other purpose without your express permission.

var linkwithin_site_id = 1800999;