Giving a Voice

So you want to write a book?

You need curiosity, love of knowledge, know your subject and eager to write it down. Bring readers in to propel them forward. Example: Freezing to death, or a fiery crash.

But this is what I do know. What is it that motivates you?  Just understanding the type of books you enjoy reading could give an indication as to the direction you would go to write a book. Lesson number one, “First you have to know who you are”. 

If you aren’t sure, you’ll make a mistake.  But we learn by them.  Example, a close family member wrote two completely different fictional books.  One was only half-way good, the second a complete failure. Lesson two,  ”Write what you know.”

Every author does research. No matter how much you know about a subject, there is always the need to do research.  Whether it is about genealogy, history, children stories, romance, or any other topic. “Lesson three, Research is part of writing.”

There are many writing veins.  It could be a book, but it also could be a blog, newspaper, magazines, or specialty quarterly journals. And, we mustn’t leave out writing poetry. So lesson number four, “It doesn’t have to be just books”.

For me, it was biography/memoir, my book Forever Laced, A Journey Through Two Centuries, also writing for the Southern Genealogy Exchange, a blog, and writing many short ancestor stories. Lesson five: “Editing is a writer’s worst enemy”.

Talk about main stream publishing. Getting an agent, also called mission impossible, vs. self-publishing, hard work, expensive and other pitfalls. Lesson six, “It is a lot of work, frustrating, but very rewarding, enjoy the process, have fun”.