Wherever you are on your book writing adventure, you’ll find what you need here…
What to do if you’re just starting out on your Author Adventure: planning, preparation, and dealing with your Inner Dickhead
“Writing is the most fun you can have by yourself.”
My favourite author, Sir Terry Pratchett, said that, and he’s right.
But writing isn’t a solo sport.
It kind of looks like it is, when you see a book or an article with one person’s name on the front.
But then you turn to the acknowledgements and realise there’s a whoooooole lot of people involved in the creative process.
Fight the power!
I can already hear the zombie-drones of capitalism moaning at us to drain our bank accounts in the pursuit of perfection.
January crawls closer like a B-movie undead torso, imploring us to spend money, transform ourselves into something we’re not and can never be, and perform productivity in the name of the gods of consumerism.
Every year, Joe and I have an advent calendar, because Christmas whimsy is not just for children.
This year, I got marketed at by Task Master and bought their advent calendar and it does not disappoint.
All over the box are 24 doors, as you’d expect. But there’s also a door on the back (start there) and a bunch of random little doors on the sides, too.
Traditionally, I would rather walk into the chicken coop and fall over face first into a pile of hen poo than write a landing page.
Despite my background as a copywriter, writing landing pages is my least favourite thing to do in marketing.
I will always find something more pressing to do, like pluck those weird hairs off my big toe.
“My book is a Trojan horse.”
Last night at The Marketing Meetup in Birmingham, Sophie Blackmore described her book as a Trojan horse and my antennae started tingling.
I hadn’t really thought about books in those words before…
Sophie wrote her book with me this year — It’s Only Bloody Marketing — and it is doing exactly what she wanted it to do.
“Would you like to go climbing?” he asked.
“Climbing? Like, rock climbing?” I said. “I don’t know how.”
“I’ll teach you.”
17 years ago (ish) I met the most handsome guy and we became friends.
When I was at school, I didn’t really have friends. I had a stamp collection.
I hovered on the periphery like a weird little moth, waiting to be invited in — to parties, to sports teams, to life.
The library was my playground and I ate most of my lunches there...
I was on the brink of signing up to yet another thing this morning, despite wanting — NEEDING — to create space to breathe.
Why do I do this?
It’s interesting, and I think the reason is twofold:
Hitting publish on your book is a bit like walking through a wasp convention covered in jam holding a sign that says “please don’t hurt me!”
They say writing a book is brave, and it is…
But SHARING it is the real hero move when it FEELS like 90% of the internet is screaming abuse into the void like it’s an Olympic sport.
“Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”
If you’re American, you’ll know these words well — from the Declaration of Independence, drafted by Thomas Jefferson.
And if you’re not American, the pursuit of happiness will probably be fairly familiar to you, because it’s embedded in our culture.
moxie (noun): energy, pep; courage, determination; know-how.
I named my business Moxie Books because it does indeed take energy, pep, courage, determination, and expertise to write a book.
Also Charisma, Uniqueness, Nerve, and Talent. IYKYK.
The Internet: Wow Stephen King wrote SO MUCH during his early career. That just proves you have to have a passion and follow your dreams and you can do it too.
Stephen King: It was cocaine and booze. I don’t even remember writing Cujo.
Look. It’s really easy to gaze at successful authors and wonder, “How did they do it?” and assume that whatever worked for them, will work for you.
