“Big ideas….
they cease to exist if I fail to follow up on them
with a steady string of small ideas
that make each a reality.”
~ Twyla Tharp
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My personal selection of the inspiring words that I’ve stumbled upon
and the books where I found them.
“De-cluttering invites inspiration.
Discarding the old and unworkable,
we make way for the new and suitable.”
~ Julia Cameron
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Danielle Raine | Creativity Quotes
My personal selection of the inspiring words that I’ve stumbled upon
and the books where I found them.
“Life is at its best when love,
money and creativity are growing in harmony.”
~ Gay Hendricks
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Danielle Raine | Creativity Quotes
My personal selection of the inspiring words that I’ve stumbled upon
and the books where I found them.
More Pinspiration for Writers coming soon!
Or follow my board on Pinterest here.
As part of my How To Write A Book series, I thought it might be helpful to share the story of how I wrote my first book, Housework Blues. So, the following is the tale of how I did it – just one of the many ways books can evolve.
Around 2008, I began searching for a book that would help me with my domestic woes. I tend to turn to books for help with my challenges and problems, and so I was seeking literary solace for my severe housework blues.
At the time, I was working from home, as well as being a full time mum to two small children. I was drowning in laundry and mess and disorganised chaos. I needed help.
I’d tried to find a book that addressed what I was going through, but all I could find were collections of cleaning tips or time management systems. I wanted a book that dealt with the aspect I struggled with; the emotional and psychological challenge. (Housework was ‘doing my head in’.)
Then one day – ironically, as I was scrubbing the kitchen floor – I had an epiphany. I realised, “There should be a guide for women like me. There should be a housework manual for women who just don’t want to do this stuff!”
So I threw the scrubbing brush back into the soapy bucket. (Yes, I was actually scrubbing ‘scrubber-style’.) Then I went and vented my spleen onto my computer. I still have the document. It’s essentially just a list of my struggles, peppered with considerable frustration and angst. I gave it the working title of “A Feminist Guide to Cooking and Cleaning. – A mental approach to housework – for women who don’t.”
I’d heard the advice: if you can’t find the book you need – write it. So I thought this could be my chance to finally put my writing aspirations into a concrete form – that someone may actually want to read. (I suspected I wasn’t the only female who didn’t want to spend her life, as Rudyard Kipling said, ‘threshing herself to pieces over the mean worry of housekeeping’.)
I soon dropped the feminist tag, though. I am possibly the least political person you’ll ever meet, and this was stirring up all kinds of negative responses. My project was simply a quest for a happier domestic balance. I was aware of the cultural issues, (ie, more being expected of female than males) but I wanted to increase the harmony in my home, not start a war.
I was more interested in the psychological and emotional stuff behind the angst/resentment. I suspected that the real issue, for me, lay deeper than not knowing how to shine my sink. This was the angle that I felt hadn’t really been addressed before. So I created a list of all the reasons why I felt I was struggling, and all the thoughts I had about what I could do about it.
From that A4 Word document of frustrated ramblings, a book was born.
Once I’d had the idea, potential chapters and snippets of text began occurring to me more frequently, (ironically, usually during housework.) In my mission to conquer my housework overload, I’d already come up with a few strategies of my own. With a bit of thought and attention, I was able to come up with a few more. So I wrote those down too. Over the next few months, I added more notes and ideas, more solutions and remedies.
And I felt duty bound to share them. I’d discovered (to my relief) that not all females are born homemakers. I wanted to share my tips and tricks with any like-minded non-domestics. And so, out of the desire to create calm out of the chaos of my home life, along with an urge to write and share, I’d embarked upon my first book.
But at that point I didn’t know it was a book. It would change shape and structure a dozen times before it came to rest in its current format. Some ideas evolved from a snippet into a whole section (Delegation). Other ideas were swallowed up elsewhere or ditched completely. (Possibly for the best in the case of The Loo.)
The more I added to my musings and ideas, the more the material began to naturally fall into complete sections. I wondered whether I might actually have enough material for a series of ebooks…? Each of these could relate to the problem of housework OD, but tackling a particular bugbear, ie Lack of Motivation, Lack of Energy etc… This series began life entitled Make Peace with Housework. And, in anticipation of my Big Launch, I also began a blog of the same name.
But I wasn’t happy with my ‘mini-ebooks’. They were quite small as standalone pieces, and I felt they weren’t substantial enough to be sold as a complete solution. Besides, I was hearing from readers that they suffered from most, if not all, of the 8 housework blues that I’d identified.
So, I decided to wrap them all together into one volume.
I had to rework the intro and then go through the sections to make sure they worked together as an integral whole, rather than disparate sections bundled together. But it was enjoyable work and I knew as I was doing it that it flowed much better.
Plus, there was the added bonus of having accidentally produced a ‘real book’.
This was very satisfying – to find myself at the end of the process, without knowing what was happening until the majority of the work had been done. (I’ve written more about my ‘accidental’ method here.)
By the end, though, I knew I had a book.
I can remember vividly writing the closing paragraph. It felt both moving and surreal – a huge accomplishment, but also strangely calm and inevitable. Of course, there was still much editing and polishing to be done but the main composition, the full first draft, was finished.
And as I sat in the brick outbuilding in my garden (the only place I could escape the noise of family life), with the early summer sunshine streaming through the cobwebbed windows, tears rolled down my cheeks as I wrote the final words. That last chapter was about the role our homes play in our lives – a topic I was passionate about. In fact, this had been the spur at the heart of my mission – to find more peace in the home. So, it was a heartfelt finale, the culmination of a labour of love.
But also, I knew I had achieved something: this was the end of my book.
My first book.
I had written a book. Wow.
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NB: This is an extract from my new book From Wannabe To Writer, which was launched to celebrate to World Book Day 2013. Click here for more details.
…without worrying about getting published. (And why that’s helpful.)
What’s the main reason for not writing that book you want to write?
Is it:
A) Lack. (Lack of time. Lack of skill. Lack of money.)
B) Fear. (Fear that it won’t be any good. Fear that it won’t get published. Fear that it won’t be worth the effort and sacrifice.)
This blog post is for you if you answered B.
Or A. (Because all those excuses, ahem, reasons stem from fear as well.)
The biggest fear tends to be – there’s no guarantee of the outcome. This applies whether you crave the financial result, the prestige, or the personal fulfillment, satisfaction and sense of achievement. (If you were guaranteed all of these – would you hesitate in writing your book?)
But every writer faces this dilemma: there is never a guarantee that it will be worth it.
Some writers may achieve a level of success that gives them a little more confidence to go for it, but even they can’t be sure. (Rich and famous writers do write books that flop.) But if you’re a reader and booklover, aren’t you grateful that your favourite authors managed to overcome this common fear (or at least, carry on in spite of it)?
It’s possible that your future readers may feel the same about you and your book – but only if you write it!
So, how to overcome this fear of disappointing results – or at least, get the book written regardless?
One way is to: Drop that Publishing Deal Paralysis
The daunting prospect of getting a publisher is quite often enough to stop wannabe writers before they even start. They may quote industry statistics of slush piles, or how many books there are to compete with, or the failure rate, even of published books.
Whilst these statistics may be true, a fair number of writers do get published and new books do get bought and read and loved on a regular basis. It’s impossible to know whether you will get a publishing deal – but it does happen! So, if you can’t be sure either way, why not err on the side of optimism? At least that way, you’re more likely to write your book. (Plus optimism is good for your health.)
Besides, with the new era of self-publishing options, that elusive publishing deal is no longer the only way to reach your readers or sell books.
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Another helpful thing to remember when contemplating a book – at any stage – is this:
Writing is not the same as publishing.
Writing a book is one thing. Publishing a book comes later. Your book doesn’t need to appear on the page in it’s polished and perfect, final draft form. The first draft may be total rubbish. It doesn’t matter, no-one has to see it. But you can’t have a polished finished version without starting somewhere, with something.
So let it all out, as raw and rambling as it may be. Don’t worry about what people will think, that’s only a concern when/if you publish it. (The bit you’re fretting over may end up being moved, removed or transformed.) Don’t censor the words as they come tumbling out. The time for that is later, you’ll have first, second…. twentieth drafts – plenty of opportunity to tidy it up, improve it or delete anything that makes you squirm.
It’s only the quality of the finished work that matters. It doesn’t matter what it looked like to start with. It doesn’t matter how many drafts and edits and changes you need to make. It doesn’t matter how confused or lacklustre the material may be when you first get going.
What matters is that you write it. Only then can you work on it and make it better. You can’t edit or refine imaginary sentences. You need to get something, anything, down on paper first.
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And finally - Remember the love
Why do you want to write a book in the first place? This is a popular goal and whilst it can be a savvy career option or financial tactic, it usually stems from a love of writing. If you love to write – write! Regardless of the outcome, the actual process of writing is worthwhile if you enjoy it. Many pursuits have no tangible results yet offer a great deal of pleasure and enjoyment. (Note: many hobbies pursued with passion ‘accidentally’ lead to successes and unexpected outcomes.)
You can judge your results on how the act of writing improves your life, rather than how having written will effect your life. Creative expression is a basic human need and plays a significant role in our overall happiness and contentment. If you write purely for the love of it, it can never be a waste of time.
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If you fixate less on what will happen at the end of the process, you can relax a bit and give your full attention to writing your book. (Ironically, since stress limits creativity, taking the pressure off may naturally enhance your results.) When you stop worrying about what will come of your efforts, you’re more likely – and able – to just write the book. And enjoy the process.
By all means, consider your reader and learn your craft as you go along, but keep writing regardless. Because when you keep putting actual words on pages – however long it takes, and whatever the results – one thing is certain:
you will write your book.
Danielle
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If you’ve ever wondered how to write a book….
If you’d like to shortcut your learning curve….
If you want to truly believe that it’s possible to go from wannabe to successful writer…
This is for you.
My rollercoaster ride to becoming a writer : The highs. The lows. The short-cuts.
One Way to Hit The Bestseller Lists
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