Writer’s Log

Writing books is hard work?  Not ditch digging, sweating hard work; but it takes effort, energy, and time.  My first book was a lark.  I decided based on questionable logic, that I could be a writer.  This was mostly based on someone I had met, he was a writer, and I was sure I was as smart as he was, like I said questionable logic.  That was about twelve years ago.  My background for that leap of confidence was many years as an entrepreneur, accountant, artist, business manager, CFO and investment advisor.   Obvious qualifications to write a mystery book.

I charged into this new endeavor, like all my past activities, with energy and an abundance of confidence.  It was a disaster.  This really was hard work.  One thing I had going for me in this first attempt was years of being an active reader.  From childhood I had loved books.  Even during my busiest working days, I read many books every year.  Now let me state the obvious, being an avid reader does not make you an author.  You may recognize good writing while you’re reading but it is an entirely different skill to be able to write that “good writing.”

The first half of this new book sped along at a brisk pace.  The second half was teeth pulling painful.  I was still very active in business so most of this writing was happening in the wee hours of each morning.  What I recognized immediately was not just the effort it took, but how much I enjoyed the sense of accomplishment when I completed a chapter.  As I struggled to find an ending to my great American novel, it became obvious that I wanted to be a writer.  What also became obvious was that I had a very limited understanding of what I needed to become an author.

I finished that first book in a fit of frustration because I wanted it to be over and I was tired.  All those early, early morning hours writing had taken a toll.  My “real” work had suffered, and I was not as confident about my writing skills as when I began.  I self-published the book and sold zero.  Got zero reviews.  I was invisible.  My wife liked the book.  Most people, who knew I had written a book, said nothing about it; maybe they had nothing good to say?  Most of the people I knew didn’t even bother to buy the book (it was cheap) and lie about reading it.  I was humiliated.  I had failed.

This would have been a good time to give up, hide the book and concentrate on my CPA skills.  Well, that’s not me.  I did hide the book.  It is, thankfully, no longer available.  I don’t even consider it my first book—it was only practice.  Spent the next four or five years learning what I didn’t know when I jumped into writing.  Not so much how to write, but how to write consistently, how to publish and promote a book.  Who and what I needed to help me with my new craft, such as editors, cover designers, content structure, programs related to marketing, promotion, list building and on and on. 

Didn’t write again for almost five years.  The process for the new first book was different.  I started with outlines, summaries, character lists, a great deal of planning.  I had read many books about writing and had a much better Idea about what I had to do to create a book.  I hired people to help me with editing, story structure, continuity, plot, plot holes, cover design, content development and more.  The writing was still hard work, but now I was doing it during the day; it was my primary job.  The result was The Bootlegger’s Legacy. 

Once published, sales started slow, but began to build.  I submitted it to several trade groups and won awards.  I started getting great reviews.  Also got some not-so-great remarks, but they were few and mostly about language choices.  I was totally hooked. 

Common sense tells us that most of us will not be famous or “great” any things, but for me, the most important aspects of my life have been when I tried to do something that was not comfortable, and I succeeded in a small way.  I’ve written eleven books and am still writing.  I’m not on Amazon’s best seller lists, but thousands of people have read my books and based on reviews liked them.  That sense of connecting with people I do not know gives me a feeling of accomplishment that has a value I cannot quantify, but I know has real meaning. 

One of the odd aspects of writing fiction books is the characters you develop.  It may sound nuts, but those characters have a place in my head that feels a lot like real people (yes, I know they are not real people) which is an odd feeling.  It’s also a strangely comfortable feeling.  It means that now that I’m an author, I don’t believe I can stop writing, hard work or not—it is who I am. 

Thanks for being a reader!