Q&A #2: How do I write a book?

My second FAQ (for an explanation of what I mean by this, go here) came to me most recently from Susan in Canada, but has also been posed to me by a variety of other folks. It is also known as:

• How do I get published?
• How do I become a professional writer?
• How do I become as wealthy and successful as J.K. Rowling?

OK, maybe nobody has asked me the J.K. Rowling question, but I do think that question underlies many of the others. And before I go bursting your bubble about how writing doesn’t pay, blah blah, let me be a little bit cheerier, since it’s almost Thanksgiving.

Jane Austen’s writing desk

There is a ton of advice online about how to get published. You don’t need me to to give you the details. I particularly like Jennifer Weiner’s advice for writers, but that’s just because it happens to resemble the path that I took (more or less, except for the order of the acquisition of the dog). However, there are innumerable paths to becoming a writer, and only you can figure out which one to take.

I think the question at the heart of all these questions is not necessarily how does one get an agent and a six-figure book advance, but rather: Can I do it? Can I really, seriously, write a novel and get it published?

The answer, dear readers, is: YES.

There is also an endless amount of advice out there that says being a writer doesn’t pay well, is a lot of hard work and isn’t very glamorous, only happens after decades of rejections, etc., etc. I don’t deny it. But I’m here to tell you this: Don’t pay any attention to it. If you really, truly, desperately and deeply wish to be a writer, don’t listen to anybody who tells you that you can’t do it, or that it’s hard, or that only 0.001% of writers can make a living off of their writing.

Because you know what? All of that’s just going to stop you from putting your butt in that chair in front of your computer (or notebook, or whatever) and telling stories. So just don’t listen to the naysayers — I think it’s a waste of your time. (Obviously, there is a time and place to start thinking about the specifics of publishing, but not until you’ve finished writing your book, and possibly your second or third.)

Besides, there are plenty of writers who make quite a decent living from their writing. Here is a random assortment of them: Sarah Waters, Meg Cabot, Stephenie Meyer, Sophie Kinsella, Sue Grafton. Shall I go on? No, not everyone’s going to be J.K. Rowling. But deciding to be a writer is sort of like deciding to be an actress. Not everyone’s going to be Meryl Streep, but wouldn’t you still look up to her as an ideal?

So if you want to write, then write. Forget about what everyone else says. You just go and do it, and then see what they have to say.

Happy Thanksgiving!

(Got another question for me? Leave it in the comments or email mlo at malindalo dot com.)

Related posts:

1. Process painting and writing Book 2
2. The inner editor vs. the inner critic, and how to ignore them
3. Voice vs. Style