How To Write A Book
When my first book, a hybrid memoir, was recently published, I was suddenly an expert. Not in my opinion. I’m not an expert in anything. But many people—some of whom I hadn’t heard from in a decade or more—contacted me with a list of questions and hopeful hearts.
They wanted to inform me that they are possibly-almost-nearly-maybe-about-to-get-ready-to write a book. If only they knew how to proceed. Each person had a great story idea, but no clue about how to turn that idea into a published book.
“But it’s a really great idea!” they all said. “Maybe you’d like to write it?”
“Um…no, thank you.”
The How-To is what they want from me, and that’s okay. I like to be useful, and it has been fun to reconnect with old friends.
One man, whom I hadn’t seen since the year 2000, prefaced his inquiry by asking me if I’d written the book myself or had hired a ghost writer. Once I got over feeling slightly insulted, I relaxed and enjoyed our chat. He, too, has an idea for a book, of course.
After many conversations with aspiring writers, I decided the best way I could help was to do what I do best: write a description of my experiences.
Before I share the step-by-step process I went through to produce a publishable book, however, let me mention my university degree in English—with a creative writing emphasis—and the ridiculous number of books I have read: somewhere in the neighborhood of 125 a year, which I believe is a conservative estimate, during each of the past 60 years. Reading and paying attention to the language and presentation of 7,500-ish books taught me quite a bit about the craft of writing.
Let me also mention that I am not an amateur author. It’s true that I had never written an entire publishable book before, but on the day I typed “Chapter One” I had been publishing in magazines and on websites for nearly twenty-five years. During those assignments, I worked with many editors. So I was an accomplished re-writer. The work of writing is re-writing, as any writer will tell you.
My experience also included a decade of interviewing authors for a weekly radio show and podcast—more than 400 authors. And during those conversations, I absorbed a ton of information about the book publishing industry. I’ve also read hundreds of online articles and a tall stack of library books about publishing-related topics. I’ve been intending to write a book for decades. And if I was a naturally confident person, I’d have done it long ago. But I’m not naturally confident and the only way I ever accomplish anything is by over-learning and then plowing through the work like a badger on crack.
I used to try to read all the textbooks for my university classes before the semester began. Unless I already knew what I was supposed to learn, I felt like a failure. None of that made any sense to other students or my professors, but sometimes I’m an idiot. (I’m telling you all this so you’ll understand that I’m not a good role model. But as Judy Blunt once told me, “Everyone has a process, and this is yours.” It took me a while to accept my process and get on with the writing. Don’t be like me. Leap the river of doubt and take flight. You know you want to write a book, so just go do it.)
My personal library includes several books about writing and editing, in particular one titled Seven Drafts: Self-Edit Like a Pro from Blank Page to Book. I bought the book after I heard the author on a podcast.
At the time, it seemed like a necessary purchase—an investment that would help me stay on track with my book idea while I thrashed around in my typical mental quagmire of self-doubt. For me, safety in the creative zone looks like a schedule and a chronological check list. I envisioned seven check marks and done. An efficient, structured goal.
But shortly after I began reading the book, it became clear that the author actually expected me to first write my manuscript (the first draft) and then re-write the entire thing six more times. No way! I thought the number seven represented partial edits, not seven entire re-writes. No, no, no, I thought. Two or three re-writes would be plenty.
Even with all my writing, research, and interviewing experience, I was über naïve about the process of creating a book. Turns out, it wasn’t something I could read about, tick boxes on a list, and then be done.
You just don’t know how something works until you do it yourself. All you learn by reading about something is how another person’s method works, for them. What I learned about my writing method is that I will re-write until I am physically dragged away from my laptop or threatened with canceled publication. Even though I’m well aware of the definition and traits of a “discouraged perfectionist,” it’s difficult for me to stop behaving like one.
In the end, I re-wrote my manuscript many more than seven times. I stopped counting because there were too many partial re-writes to keep track of. If I had to guess, I would say I churned through at least two dozen drafts. But that didn’t feel excessive.
With each subsequent draft, I could feel the narrator maturing and watch new sentences deliver my story with escalating clarity. It was a joyfully tedious process.
First, I wrote and re-wrote the first thirty pages several times. The first three chapters, or approximately thirty pages, are what a publisher wants to see—along with other information generally requested in a nonfiction book proposal. Of course, those pages changed during later re-writes.
After that, here’s a list, as best I can recall, of what I did to write and publish my first book:
write first draft
re-write entire book
re-write entire book
read several passages to friends, who gave feedback
re-write those passages, which prompted re-writes of other passages
re-write entire book
send manuscript to a book coach
change the structure of the entire book based on his notes
re-write entire book
self-edit for continuity, connectivity, and clarity
send manuscript to copy editor
re-write most of the book to incorporate copy editor’s notes and comments
another round of self-editing
send manuscript to beta readers
re-write many sections of the book based on beta readers’ feedback
re-write entire book after changes, to check for continuity, connectivity, and clarity
send manuscript to proof reader
re-write many sections while making corrections and changes suggested by the proof reader
read the entire manuscript out loud, making small changes along the way
send final manuscript to publisher
write book blurb
write author bio
receive manuscript proof and read it—line by numbered line—note errors, resist (somewhat successfully) the urge to re-write
send corrections to interior designer
receive another proof, check to be sure all corrections were made
approve final manuscript
approve final digital or physical proofs for hardcover, softcover, and digital editions
All done. Ha ha ha. That list doesn’t include most of the tasks related to cover and interior design, marketing, or production of the audiobook version.
But you’ll be ready for all that by the time your final manuscript has been sent off to the printer. Then it’ll be time to scrape enough brain cells into one pile to navigate the book launch and tasks related to marketing and publicity campaigns. During this exciting time, try not to alienate your friends and family by constantly talking about your book. Even when they ask, keep it short.
Meanwhile, the next book—the one you began to write while waiting for various editing and pre-publishing tasks to happen—is yelling at you to get back to work.
As it turns out, having an idea for a book means nothing if you aren’t willing to do the work of being a writer (i.e. re-writing). For me, writing and re-writing is fun, even though I’ll never be a book publishing expert (because the business is constantly changing). It has taken me ten days to write and re-write these 1,400 words. And I’ll keep re-writing them if I don’t stop. Right. Now.
