Writers, Stop Writing
Earlier this week, I received an ezine with an article advising readers to stop writing if they were currently writing a book. Since I consider myself a writer, being advised to stop writing caught me by surprise. Most advice I have seen for those who consider themselves serious writers is to keep writing, no matter what. Being told to stop writing doesn’t seem natural for someone who gets anxious when a keyboard or pen and paper isn’t nearby, who becomes lethargic and irritable when the words are not being put to paper (or computer screen).
The article went onto advise readers to build a platform, ie create a buzz and get known, before writing the book. Something about this doesn’t quite make sense to me. Perhaps I’m naïve or am missing something here, but it sounds like you are to create a buzz, get people interested in you and your book, and then you start writing the book, write the book proposal, find an agent (if you are going after an American publisher), and then hold out until you are offered a six-figure book deal. All of this can take several years, meanwhile you don’t have a book to sell to all the people who are now interested in you. That seems backwards to me, but, as I said, perhaps I am naïve.
I am now seeing there are two reasons for writing a book – no doubt, there are other reasons too. I sense, for some people, they write a book to gain credibility, to take their careers to the next level, to become famous. For others, they write a book because they have a book to write, they love the process of putting words on paper and imagine how those words will impact the reader. The book is the ends rather than the means.
I’m not sure if these two reasons for writing a book are mutually exclusive, but I see my reason for writing my autobiography “I’ll Do It Myself” is more the latter than the former. Yes, of course, I would love to have a bestseller, to be on Oprah and the Hour of Power. But, if I’m honest with myself, those desires are more to fullfil my ego rather than my dream. When the seed for this dream was planted thirty years ago, the internet and Amazon.com did not exist. Being ranked #1 on Amazon for a nano-second was not part of that dream. My dream was to motivate and inspire others by sharing my story, just as Joni Eareckson had done for me back when I was ten. If, along the way, I meet Oprah, Dr. Schuller and Larry King and become a bestselller, that will be icing on the cake and I definitely won’t object! I know God has a bigger plan for me than I can ever imagine for myself – and maybe being on Oprah’s show, having a bestselller that then becomes a box office hit is part of the plan. Time will tell!
For now, I know the first step is to finish writing and editing my autobiography – and that is so close! I can nearly taste it! Despite suggestions from well-intending people, I am still committed to launching my book on my 40th birthday – November 4th. Barring a broken left thumb, I will do whatever it takes to meet this commitment. I’m not sure whether it is red-headed stubbornness, my ticking biological clock or divine intervention, but I have this unexplainable need to “give birth to my baby” on November 4th. Maybe it is because five or six people who were close to me and who I know would have loved to read the book have already passed away, and I want to launch it before anyone else dies. Or maybe its because it’ll make a difference in someone’s life right when it is most needed. I don’t know, and I may never know. I simply know this book needs to be written now.
Once the manuscript is with the editor, which could be as soon as next Friday, I plan to kick start the marketing and platform building. Backwards and too close to the launch date? Perhaps. Time will tell. This order makes more sense to me, from this angle at this time. It definitely makes more sense than telling a writer to stop writing.
