Skip to main content

(Unsolicited) Book Writing Advice

I haven't written one of these things in a while, so I figured it was time to do another one: more unsolicited advice for those who want to write a book!

Write your book first and foremost.
I know I am one to talk about getting ahead of myself (Hello, imagining a possible future all alone in a cramped apartment, or imagining a possible future in a big house with tons of uneven compromises, or broadly imagining something nowhere near that -- and hopefully all for the better), but I can't stress how important it is to write your book first and foremost instead of worrying about stuff like what to call the book or who will put the book out.

With the two projects I'm working on right now, I have a title for one and no title for the other one. I have a pretty clear idea about what I want to write about with both books, so I'm not worried about that. But I do wonder if I'll have to fight for the title of When We Were the Kids if I decide to go with a name publisher. I hope I won't. My attitude is, if somebody else can come up with a better title and I think it's good as well, then that will just have to play out.

In the case of the European horror flick book, I'll let Richard decide more on its title since it's more his book with contributions from me. Hopefully we'll have some ideas soon. As much as people have laughed at me for helping write a book on horror flicks, I'm totally committed to it. This is not the first time I've been laughed at for doing what I want to do. I call it most of my life.

How I suggest one keeps the writing in mind over all other possibilities with the book release, book release date, and so on, is to just keep in the habit of working on the book. That doesn't necessarily mean spend eight hours a day on the book or eight minutes a day on the book. Just find a good routine and keep working. Once again, it's like exercising. And I'm firmly aware that there are plenty of people who have a hard time of sticking to a routine. But if you really want to put your book out there for anyone and everyone to see, I say it's very necessary.

Comments

Richard of DM said…
I wish people would laugh at me for writing a book on horror movies. Usually they just sigh with disappointment and then vomit, also with disappointment.

Popular posts from this blog

The Complete Idiot's Guide to Catherine Wheel

Originally posted: Tuesday, August 29th, 2006 Despite managing to release five proper albums, Catherine Wheel was one of those bands that always seemed to slip past the mainstream rock crowd. Yes, they got some nice airplay in their day, but people seem to have forgotten about them. You may hear “Black Metallic” or “Waydown” on a “classic alternative” show on Sirius or XM or maybe even on terrestrial radio, but that’s about it. For me, they were one of most consistent rock bands of the ’90s, meandering through shoegazer, hard rock, space rock and pop rock, all while eluding mainstream pigeonholing. Led by the smooth, warm pipes of vocalist/guitarist Rob Dickinson (cousin of Iron Maiden’s Bruce Dickinson), Catherine Wheel featured Brian Futter on lead guitar, Dave Hawes on bass and Neil Sims on drums. They weren’t a pretty-boy guitar band, but they weren’t a scuzzy bunch of ragamuffins either. Though the band hailed from England, Catherine Wheel found itself more welcome on American air...

The Complete Idiot's Guide to Ben Folds and Ben Folds Five

Originally posted on Tuesday, April 11th, 2006 : For some, Ben Folds Five was merely a one hit wonder. For others, the trio was a life-changer. Myself, I’m one of the latter. Being formally introduced with the “Battle of Who Could Care Less” video on 120 Minutes , I was very intrigued to know more about this piano-bass-drums combo. Once I heard Whatever and Ever Amen , I was hooked. As a matter of fact, out of all of my favorite bands, Ben Folds Five is one of the few that I liked right away and I have held the same kind of admiration ever since. Their three proper albums (and one b-sides collection) are staples in my record collection and they may very well be (or soon be) staples in your collection too. For a band that was once described as “punk rock for sissies,” you may realize how effortlessly these guys walked between fun, semi-goofy pop songs and some really deep and powerful stuff too. It helps that they had it right from the beginning and kept maturing. Ben Folds Five (1995) ...

Politics Shmolitics

Yesterday, the more pleas I saw for people to go out and vote, the more uncomfortable I felt. Plenty of the blogs I hit up everyday said something along the lines of "Vote and if you don't, don't complain." Folks, this is why I find discussing politics so alienating. There are plenty of reasons why I don't discuss politics on here or in my everyday conversations. The biggest reason is because I don't have a lot of interest in politics in the first place. By what I've seen, heard and read for the last eight years, political debates are usually pissing contests. Judging by the views I've processed, it would be easy to think that we're all slowly going downhill either on the left, right or down the middle. Yet I don't think we're going totally downhill or totally uphill. Debating the direction we're going seems futile, especially when adults start screaming at each other like they're in grade school. To my ears, political debates are s...