Mercy Hospital is coming along nicely. The replacement chapter is about 8,000 or so words from being completed. Then I have to send the manuscripts back out for further editing. So for the rest of this series, I’m keeping the answers short so I can focus on my writing.
When I tell people I’m a writer, I typically get a slew of questions. Aside from “are you published?” (yes) and “where can I buy your books” (here), I’m tackling the most common ones that people seem to like to ask me, how I feel about those questions, and which ones you should never ask of any writer.
- Where do you get your ideas?
- How much money do you make?
- What’s your writing/book/short story about?
- What is your writing process like?
- I want to write a book about [x]. How do I do it?
- Do you ever get writer’s block?
- Why do you write horror? What’s wrong with you?
- Why don’t you write like Harry Potter novels or something? Those make lots of money.
The simple answer is this: you sit your ass down at your keyboard and start typing.
The longer answer is this: if you don’t know how to do it, you might not want to bother trying. Writing is work. If it’s a form of work that you love, then it won’t feel so grueling. But if you’re just dabbling in writing or don’t care to revise your work six, seven, or eight times, don’t waste your time in the delusion that one draft and bam you’re published.
You need to be familiar with your genre, to know the basics of its form, etc.
I could go on a long time about how to write a book, and it would help, but unless you’re willing to put in the work, just walk away. Don’t set yourself up for disappointment.
Asking this of a writer you just meet is like asking for a full and expensive mentoring session in just the small space of time you have with this person. Unless you intend to hire that writer as your mentor, please don’t ask this question.
Moving on… I have a book to write.