Writing a book? No Sweat! Right? It’s what I do
I’ve been working on the third edition of Writing In InDesign due out around the first of the year. As usual, I am writing a lot, rearranging everything, doing everything I can to make it more helpful and uplifting to my readers. It will also include the exciting new advances in ebook design and formatting now possible with InDesign CC. But this is just a quote about why we do what we do:
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So, I’m a writer and this’ll be easy
Nope! For me [even with my 40+ years of skills, training, and background] it takes work, perseverance, and a willingness to take risks and simply put my stuff out there for the world to see. I’m certain that you have your own personal issues. We’re all different. I’d like to hear your stories.
Regardless, there is a lot to do. A book is a large to huge project. This is not simple or even easy, but it is fun. You need to find your routine. I write two to six hours a day, six days a week as my normal practice. When I was teaching full-time, I got up earlier and wrote an hour and a half every morning.
You will need to develop your own routine. But as I mentioned, I am certain you have done this already. You will need to do some additional reading, studying, and practicing as you turn the corner into professionalism. It is not instant success. This would be the type of thing to start in your first year of college or grad school—hoping you will have become a producing writer by the time you graduate.
But in most cases, it takes some maturity. In fiction, there are teenagers with remarkably good stories to tell. For non-fiction, it takes experience to develop the skills required to teach and share what you have learned.
Regardless, this book [Writing In InDesign] will probably not be of much interest to the occasional writer. Writers write, but there is much more to a book than the words written within. It is even more than a career choice. Authors and book designers have a deep inner need to share stories, convey messages, and teach helpful ideas and techniques. Most of you will write many books. With the development of on-demand self-publishing on a professional level, we start to think in terms of a body of work developed to share lifestyle, culture, and truth.
Now we need to move into the practicalities of writing, book design, production, and publishing. We will start with the words, but you need to understand from the beginning that words, graphics, and layout all work together to help the reader easily understand what you have been given to say.
This is much larger than a simple ego trip. We are concerned with sharing truth. That is what we are looking for. That is what our readers are looking for. These techniques also work for fluff and entertainment. But, even escapist stories can help the reader sort out his or her life and lead them toward truth. That is one of the responsibilities of an author. As a Christian, that is why I do what I do.
Related articles
- How can I make the next book better? (bergsland.org)
- The joy (and madness!) of writing a book (whilethekidsaresleeping.wordpress.com)
