For those who are
writers – we get it – writing is hard work.
For those who believe they could write the next best-seller, only if
they had the time, are in for the surprise of their lives – if they ever gets
courage enough to try writing.
The attached hi-jacked
article by one of my favorite authors, Jerry B Jenkins, puts it rather
well. I’m sure you’ll be nodding your
head when you read this one! J Rita
Writing is hard work.
Don’t agree so quickly. Wait till you’ve been dragged down the bumpy road
toward publication a few times. For now, admit that you suspect you’re
something special. The exceptional exception.
For
you, writing will be a breeze. Editors will clamor for your work. You foresee a
bidding war over your next book, with your bank account the big winner. Is that
Reader’s Digest on the phone?
Not so fast.
Guest
column by Jerry B. Jenkins who is the author of more than 180 books with sales
of more than 70 million copies, including the best-selling Left Behind series.
Jerry’s writing has appeared in Time, Reader’s Digest, Parade,
Guideposts, and dozens of Christian periodicals. Twenty of his books
have reached The New York Times best-seller list (seven debuting number
one). He owns the Christian Writers Guild (www.christianwritersguild.com) and Jenkins Entertainment, a filmmaking
company. He is also a contributing editor to Writer’s Digest.
I was talking with an
editor friend, a veteran of many writers conferences, who has seen all levels
of competency. “It’s rare that you find a first-timer who really gets it,” she
said. Writing is not a hobby, a spare-time activity, or something to play at.
It’s work.
For
me, writing is as exhausting as physical labor. After writing and publishing
more than 180 books, that still surprises me.
Sometimes,
on deadline, I’ll sit at the keyboard for six, eight, ten hours or more. When
I’m finished, I’m as spent as if I’ve been ditch-digging all day. I don’t
understand it. Writing doesn’t seem physically taxing, but it is. I guess it’s
a fact that you must be constantly thinking in order to write.
Creativity
will cost you, wear you out.
Don’t
ever get the idea writing is easy. If it is, you’re not working hard enough.
The stuff that comes easy takes the most rewriting. And stuff that comes hard
reads the easiest.
A
psychologist friend once asked if I would have lunch with him and give him a
few tips. “I’m thinking about doing a little freelance writing in my spare time,” he said.
“Interesting,”
I said. “I’ve been thinking about doing a little psychological counseling in my
spare time.”
“I didn’t know you were trained for that.”
“Gotcha,”
I said.
When
you hang out your shingle as a writer, be prepared for unintended slights like
that.
People
tell me all the time that they have a book in them, if they only had time to
write.
That
would be like my saying I have a sermon in me, if only I had time to prepare
it. Pulpit work is something a person is trained and set apart for.
If people want to tell themselves they could
be the one-in-a-thousand writer who could sell a manuscript to a book
publisher, if they could only find the time, fine. They’ll learn the truth when
they sit before the blank computer screen.
So
don’t be one of those who just talks about it or plays at it. Work at it.
Get more advice from Jerry B. Jenkins & other bestselling
authors by picking up your copy of The Complete Handbook of Novel Writing, 2nd Edition.
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