Sunday, April 01, 2007

It's going...

It's going and going and going.

I wonder if I have any advice on "how to write a book". I mean, I am actully writing one, right?

Sometimes writers ask how they can write a book, a query, an article and I feel like I have no answer for them.

How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.

This book gets written one word at a time. If I get up from this chair once, I get up a hundred times. There's the baby to right (after she topples) and the kindergartener to pick up from school and coffee to make.

One word at a time until at least 1000 words are written each day. Sometimes I write more, sometimes (but rarely) I write less.

It's not easy. Even the most boring topic is still writing, it's still creating. Creating takes energy, sweat, tears even. The guy who flips my burgers can still flip them when he's distracted, tired and cranky. Have you tried to write this way? But you still must do it.

One word at a time. That is the only way.

"Just keep swimming, just keep swimming..."

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi Heather,

Just wanted to tell you that I love reading your blog - you motivate and inspire me!

I found it a couple weeks ago and enjoy checking in every couple of days. I have a 2 1/2 year old and a 9 month old and I'm starting an at-home freelance writing business. It's nice to know that others are successfully balancing writing and mothering!

Have a good day!
Abbey
abbey@abbeymcgee.com

domestika said...

I am completely charmed by the elephant-eating analogy, and intend to annoy everyone I know by using it frequently, in every remotely relevant situation, regularly, for the foreseeable future. There may even be a cross-stitch wall hanging...

Anonymous said...

Can I just tell you that I read this at EXACTLY the time when I needed to. Thanks for being so out there and open and encouraging!

Time to STOP seeing the entire elephant and just start to nibble.

domestika said...

Just dropping back in for an update and heartfelt thank-you for an analogy that (a) made me laugh and (b) moved me from choking to nibbling... like jenn said, at EXACTLY the right time. I can't believe I ate the whole elephant! :-D