Trevor B. Williams's Blog, page 2

BOOK REVEAL!

I don’t want to regale you with dialogue, so without further ado…

Welcome to ETERNAL SHADOW (FALL OF GODS #1)!

This cover was designed by Anamaria Stefan, a designer who was selected among a select group of finalists from a contest I ran via 99designs.com. The final six selections I had to choose from were REALLY good - this decision was very hard. In the end, Anamaria’s creation came out on top. It’s a decision I am incredibly proud of since this will be THE face of my book. To put it simply, I love it.

The title change (it was originally called THE BASKING) was one that wasn’t made lightly at all. The decision to come up with a new title - and with it, the series title which didn’t yet exist - was based on one universal piece of feedback I received from everyone that read the book: my alpha/beta readers, my editor, and my CP. The feedback was the original title was just confusing - because nobody could figure out how it tied to the story as a whole. After talking it through with my wife and CP some more, I finally made the call. The new title - as you’ll all soon learn in the future - is a far better reflection of the story and the events that transpire.

I also decided to nix the use of “trilogy” in my series title. Why tie myself down to three books when there could be more?

Speaking of the future…

November 9th, 2019 is the official publication date for ETERNAL SHADOW.

On launch day it will be available in both paperback and ebook formats from Amazon and Barnes & Noble. I’m also hoping to get paperbacks stocks in a few local independent bookstores in the Bay Area.

I also plan on allowing people to pre-order my book, too. Links aren’t yet available as I haven’t completed my book profiles on the aforementioned sites, but everyone will know about the links becoming available once they are! That said, I also plan on selling a special “pre-order edition” which would be shipped directly from me to you. This special version of my book will:

Be signed,

Include a customized bookmark, and

Have a personalized message.

I also plan on throwing in one more piece of swag, but I haven’t yet figured out what that will be. I supposed it’ll be a surprise when you receive my book in the mail! =)

Finally, I wanted to share my book’s blurb which will be on the back cover. Enjoy! I cannot wait to share more information with you as it comes.

What would you do if the world was going to end in ten years? For Jennifer Epstein, a by-the-books senior researcher at SETI, there is only one answer: prevent the apocalypse from happening. Pluto, Neptune, and Uranus were destroyed by an alien threat. The deck was stacked against humanity before the cards came out of the box.

But Jennifer isn’t alone. She has Samantha Monroe, her excitable but brilliant colleague. From South Africa, CEO Muzikayise Khulu of Khulu Global supplies his vast resources to the ultimate race for survival. The three find themselves in an unlikely alliance while political brinkmanship, doomsday cults, and untested technologies form ever-growing obstacles.

Will humanity unite to face the greatest challenge of their time, or will it destroy itself before the alien ship arrives?

The Writing Zone: Stage 15 - ISBNs and Barcodes

Self-publishing is as intensive and time-consuming as you make it out to be.

Whether you create your own book cover and do the bare minimum on the marketing front or pay professionals to design your creation and assist with a full-blown marketing campaign, the end result of your work is having a novel publicly available for the masses to purchase. However, since I’ve committed toward getting as many eyes on my book as possible, I’ve chosen the latter direction. This also means I get to experience far more aspects of the professional publication side of things.

Translation: I get to complete a lot of digital paperwork.

A part of this paperwork is a very important question one must ask when deciding to self-publish their novel: “Do you want to control how your book is sold?”

It sounds like a simple question - one with a simple, single-word answer. However, the reality of today’s publishing world makes it not so clear-cut. You can choose to skip much of the administrative paperwork and allow Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) or Barnes & Noble Press to handle the administrative aspects of your novel - assigning it a code which it can be easily identified and searched upon while you spend nothing for that work. However, what’s the real cost of going that direction?

This is where ISBNs come into play.

What is ISBN?

The International Standard Book Number (ISBN) is a 13-digit number, an official identification which is recognized globally. Those thirteen numbers represent many things for a book.

It makes your book searchable in scores of bibliographic databases around the world, such as Books in Print, and search engines like Google.

All book sales will be associated to the ISBN, ensuring you can easily track the success of your book over time.

It identifies a specific version of your book, making it easy to quickly track data for each format your book is in.

It is required if you want your book sold in bookstores and wholesalers, or held in libraries and universities.

Why Purchase an ISBN

ISBNs tend to be purchased in batches, even when an author wants to publish a single book. Going back to the point on versioning, a single book can have multiple formats: paperback, hardback, audiobook, and multiple ebook formats (ex: MOBI, ePub, and PDF) for starters. If you wanted your book to exist as a paperback and in two ebooks formats - KDP and B&N Press (MOBI and ePub, respectively) - that would require three different ISBNs for one book.

For books published in the United States, ISBNs are sold by Bowker, the official vendor.

I purchased a batch of ten ISBNs and currently assigned three to my upcoming novel, leaving me with seven unassigned ISBNs. This isn’t a bad thing, at least because I intend on writing more books over time. You see, ISBNs never expire and they are yours forever once they are assigned to you.

Did I mention these ISBNs are assigned to you? This is important, particularly where choosing where you want to sell your book comes into play.

Free ISBNs: What’s the Catch?

As mentioned earlier, you don’t have to purchase ISBNs to get your book listed for sale online - at least if you want to sell ebooks. Amazon uses their own method of book identification, called an Amazon Standard Identification Number (ASIN). Whether you have an ISBN or not, an ASIN is automatically assigned to any ebook that’s to be sold on the Kindle platform. More importantly, Amazon will give you an ASIN for free as part of allowing them to host your ebook.

Barnes & Noble offers a similar solution, except that instead of using their own unique ID, they outright assign you an ISBN for your ebook, for free - if you don’t have one of your own.

On the surface, this sounds great. For the cost of simply allocating time to complete the ebook registration forms on their platforms, you wouldn’t spend a dime on getting an ID for your ebook. However, being assigned a free ISBN or ASIN doesn’t mean it’s yours. The owner of that number is the publisher - in these cases, it’s Amazon and B&N. This could become an issue if you ever decide to change where you’d want to sell your novel.

This is particularly true of paperbacks. For example, because I own the ISBN for my book’s paperback format I’ll be able to apply that one ISBN across all print-on-demand retailers like Amazon, B&N, and IngramSpark.

In addition, since any assigned ISBN is restricted to the place of origin, it makes it hard for you to track sales metrics across multiple retailers.

ISBNs: Conclusion

Knowing this, it is worth knowing where you want to sell your book as this will determine the direction you wish to go. It’s also worth thinking about how much you care about potential book sales and understanding that data. If you believe you’ll be selling your book solely as an ebook format, perhaps the free solution is the best way to go - and there’s nothing wrong with that. However, if you intend on getting your book sold in bookstores or distributed in physical formats, the justification for owning your own ISBNs increases.

Speaking of selling your book in stores…

About Barcodes

A barcode is required if you intend on having your book sold in bookstores or sold by distributors to retailers in a print format (paperback, hardback). If you require a barcode, you also require an ISBN.

The numbers on a book’s barcode today have 13-digits, referencing the ISBN associated with that barcode. These numbers are comprised of the following:

European Article Number (EAN) - 978 - the prefix added as part of the 13-digit ISBN. Currently only 978 and 979 are in use.

Registration Group Number - 1 - this represents the language the book is in; “1” is for English.

Publisher Number - 402894 - the number assigned to the publisher/imprint that’s printing the book.

Book ID - 62 - provides details such as the book title, genre, edition, and format.

Check Digit - 6 - part of a mathematical formula designed to prevent errors and ensure that all ISBNs are unique.

(It’s worth mentioning that the numerical breakdown above doesn’t match all books. Barcodes are funny that way.)

An important detail regarding barcodes: They store your book pricing information as well. These are the numbers on the upper-right of the barcode.

Currency Designation - 5 - the currency the book is to be sold. “5” is for US Dollars.

Book Price - 0495 - how much the book is to be sold for. “0495” equals “$4.95.”

According to Bowker, once you’re set a book price for your barcode, the price is permanently linked to that barcode. Therefore, if you want to ever change the retail price of your print book you’d have to purchase a new barcode.

I ended up purchasing a batch of ten ISBNs - one of the first major financial decisions made once I moved to self-publishing. It set me back $295 (the package was for 10 ISBNs and 1 barcode), but I believe it’s worth the investment. Which direction did you go regarding ISBNs and barcodes? Did you purchase your own or use what was provided by businesses like Amazon?

Self-Publishing - My First Forty-Five Days

When I commit myself to something - anything, really - I have a habit of going all-in on that commitment. All of my being is directed toward the cause and seeing it succeed. This was true of aiming to be traditionally published and it’s true for my new goal of being self-published. You could say that both of those things - and the change from one direction to the other - are part of the same ultimate goal: to be published. At first I wasn’t thinking of it in that light, but it makes sense. In the end, one of my lifetime goals is to be published - how that happens is in my hands.

Of course, just because I’m now self-publishing doesn’t mean I’m taking the easy way out, nor does it mean I’m any less committed to seeing my book appear as a paperback on your shelf or an ebook on your Kindle.

There is much to do when you decide to strike out on your own. Let’s explore what I’ve done so far in the month-and-a-half since I’ve shifted gears.

“Publishing a book is like stuffing a note into a bottle and hurling it into the sea. Some bottles drown, some come safe to land, where the notes are read and then possibly cherished, or else misinterpreted, or else understood all too well by those who hate the message. You never know who your readers might be.”

— Margaret Atwood

My Book Cover was Designed

One of the first major decisions I committed myself toward was the creation of my book cover. I viewed this as a big deal for a few reasons, the biggest of which was that once I dropped money on the cover, there was no going back in my mind. They say that you aren’t really invested in a project until you’ve committed one of two things into it: your blood or your wallet. Since my novel took a decent amount of blood out of me, my wallet stood tall as the remaining holdout. It was time to knock that pillar down.

Using 99designs, I created a contest page to advertise my desire for a book cover, a brief describing in great detail my goals, wants, and needs in detail. The website was great because it allowed me to compare lots of different design concepts by those that interpreted my brief in different ways. It was a fascinating process, though my wife was quick to point out that anyone that doesn’t win my business effectively work for free. Her being in the design world, sites like 99designs aren’t viewed too favorably by her because of business practices like this, a subject certainly worth exploring in greater detail. However, we both agreed that we would’ve never encountered my winning designer without it.

It took about three weeks, but in the end I chose my top designer - Anamaria Stefan - and her cover which was beyond amazing. You all will see it soon enough!

My Typesetting was Designed

Upon the completion of my cover I quickly hired Anamaria to also handle my novel’s typesetting. A novel’s typesetting, for those that don’t know the term, is the book’s interior - which fonts are used, how chapters and scenes are formatted, and so on. It’s as critical as the cover for it impacts the readability of your book.

Much like my book cover, the typesetting went through many iterations before I settled on something that was simply beautiful. Beautiful and functional, the unicorn of design experiences. There are many ways a writer can design their typesetting without spending much money, but after seeing what Anamaria delivered my way… well, you know the saying: “You get what you pay for.”

If you’d like to learn the finer details of typesetting, I highly recommend this article for future reading!

All Sorts of Book Registration Business

One aspect of self-publishing that many authors don’t always think about is what I’d call the “back-end” of the process. More specifically, I’m talking about ISBNs, barcodes, and optional stacks of paperwork like getting your book entered into the Library of Congress.

While I made decisions on my book cover design I also focused on submitting for various book registration forms which I’d have to complete in order to sell my book in multiple outlets. The first of these was getting a block of ISBNs - “International Standard Book Numbers.” An ISBN is used to identify a book’s specific format and version as well as the publisher. Having an ISBN is beneficial if you intend on selling and efficiently marketing your novel to not just readers but businesses that sell, loan, or distribute books. During this same process I purchased a barcode which is all but required if you intend on selling your book in physical bookstores or similar businesses.

As of today I have three unique ISBNs and a single barcode, covering the paperback version along with two different ebook versions - one for Kindle and the other for Nook.

Check out this very detailed article on ISBNs and barcodes if you wish to really dive deep.

The second order of business was optional, but something I just had to do: obtain a Library of Congress Control Number (LCCN). The LCCN is needed if you want your book to be integrated with the book coding system in libraries across the United States. To put it another way, if you want your book to be freely available to library-goers you must have an LCCN. To begin the submission process, click here (it’s free, believe it or not).

Finally, I’ve set up project pages on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and IngramSpark in preparation for selling my novel across those platforms. Of course, I couldn’t complete the process in all cases because as of this article’s posting I still don’t have my finalized typesetting. I still could complete the vast majority of product pages without it, however. I’ll be selling the ebook version of my novel via Amazon and B&N while IngramSpark was chosen to handle all paperback printing and distribution.

Created a Press Kit

I hadn’t considered the possibility of needing a press kit for my novel - or myself as a writer. My non-opinion on the matter quickly flipped when I realized the benefits of having a digital press kit outweighed the time it would take to make it. In summary, a press kit is designed to make it very easy for those I want to market my book to understand who I am and what my book’s about on a single page - whether it’s for promotional purposes or to convince them to buy my book in bulk. As I near the monumental task of running my own marketing campaigns for my book, the press kit will be a lifesaver when I start approaching bloggers, YouTubers, and other prominent book reviewers.

“Lack of direction, not lack of time, is the problem. We all have twenty-four hour days.”

— Zig Ziglar

Are you in the process of self-publishing your novel? Share your experiences and advice in the comments below.

A New Publishing Path

“Courage is the most important of all the virtues because without courage, you can’t practice any other virtue consistently.”

— Maya Angelou

A lot’s gone down on my side of the screen.

Life is good at throwing curve balls and otherwise turning an uneventful year into one full of activity. Isn’t that what life’s all about? The ebb and flow of entropy all around us, both real and imagined, forever trying to keep life from becoming truly mundane? My wife and I always kick off a new year with a proclamation: Let’s aim to keep this new year as uneventful as possible. At this point, I’m pretty sure we only say it in jest because whenever we made this statement to the universe the exact opposite happened. 2019’s been no different in defying our words.

In truth, I've just been adjusting to this new chapter in my life: returning to a full-time job and rebalancing all of my free time to reflect the shift. You would think that it'd be easy enough to go from being a writer full-time at home to being back in the tech world full-time in an office. At least for me, you'd be wrong. The good news is that I really love my job, what I'm doing, and who I'm working for. On top of that, I have a lot of flexibility over my hours. Finally, my co-workers, boss, and boss's boss are pretty great folks to be around and work with on a daily basis. I am pretty sure I struck gold with the position I've landed. I couldn't ask for a better re-entry to full-time work.

At the same time, I've admittedly fell into old, pre-writing activities which kept me entertained back when I worked full-time before as a consultant. Couple that with a toddler who demands all my remaining waking time while she's awake and you have a recipe for making it easy to come up with excuses why I shouldn't write.

That isn't to say I wasn't being creative and flexing my writing muscles. Two short stories were written and the plots for a handful of others are lying in wait for me to sit and expand upon them. I've also been pushing my CP along in her endeavors while planning joint trips to writing conferences later in the year.

However, there was a growing, nagging voice in the back of my head once I started working full-time. That voice slowly questioned what I was going to do with my first book. Granted, I've submitted it to a bajillion (about fifty) agents, many of which I've heard back from at this point. However, with my new stream of income came a question in my mind that quickly gained traction despite my previous position on the matter:

"What about self-publishing?"

I've written about the pros and cons of traditional vs self-publishing in the past. Though I didn't take a solid position in my article, I've frequently shared with friends and other writers that I was committed to getting traditionally published. The position was not just about seeing my book slapped with a Del Rey or Tor logo on the spine. If I were to be honest, there was a certain amount of stubborn pride behind the choice. To get through all the hoops required for traditional publishing - to fight through the endless no's before reaching multiple elusive "Yes’s" several times before your book reached bookshelves - there was a lot of value that I placed on that process. I still think that it's a viable path for novels, as we see books being released by traditional publishing houses to this day.

Though I still believe traditional publishing is a part of my writing career... that won't be how my first novel will be published.

I've decided to self-publish my novel.

“Did you hear about the rose that grew from a crack in the concrete? Proving nature’s laws wrong, it learned to walk without having feet. Funny, it seems to by keeping its dreams; it learned to breathe fresh air. Long live the rose that grew from concrete when no one else even cared.”

— Tupac Shakur

I must admit, I spent an increasing amount of time reading more about the self-publishing path. Talking about it with my CP. Watching YouTube videos of writers who got their first book published on their own to find varying levels of success. Authors like Larry Correia and Andy Weir started their writing career by self-publishing, only to hit bestseller lists and find his subsequent novels traditionally published.

The stigmas against self-publishing, though still persistent, are weakening as more and more authors are finding success when striking out on their own. Combine the incredibly low cost of entry for getting stories published with the fact that more people are reading today than ever before and you have a recipe for getting stories in welcoming hands…

…Provided you work for it.

Though you’re all but expected to contribute to the marketing of your novel when traditionally publishing, you are required to handle marketing plus everything else related to your book. I won’t retread all the things that fall on your plate when self-publishing since I’ve done that already, but I’ve been very excited about the idea of handling every aspect of my novel, from cover design down to how I market the book. And, of course, choosing my own launch date!

“Unless commitment is made, there are only promises and hopes; but no plans.”

— Peter F. Drucker

I’ve embraced self-publishing as the path for my first book. It’s been over a month since I’ve made this decision, but I feel I’ve accomplished half-a-year’s worth of publication work in that time. My next post will dive into the details behind what’s been done so far - and what is coming!

My Writing Life: A New Chapter

Wow, I feel like it’s been an eternity since I’ve written a post!

For those few remaining souls that were waiting with bated breath for something new to read, I have a bit of a doozy for you. Without any further delay, let’s begin, for there’s no need to beat around the bush regarding what’s been keeping me so busy to the point where I’ve lost the ball on writing consistent blog posts and actively post on my social accounts.

I will be reentering the tech world.

After two years of writing full-time, I went through the process of researching and applying for jobs in the Salesforce space, the tech arena from which I stepped out of back in 2017. Not to harp on my professional skills and history too much, but the time it took to land a job offer wasn’t long - just 32 days from applying to receiving the offer via email. I officially begin my new job as Senior Salesforce Administrator on March 4th.

Why am I returning to work? The answer is quite simple: I made a promise to my wife, Kim, that if I wasn’t published within the two years that I dedicated my life to only writing I’d return to work. That promise was made before I learned just how slow the traditional publishing industry is, from landing an agent to landing a publisher to actually getting your book on store shelves. Womp womp… Nevertheless, a promise is a promise. In late-December I started my research into the Salesforce job market to see how it changed since I stepped away. January was when I started applying for positions and working with a recruiter. A handful of interviews - both over the phone and in-person later, I’d found the company and position that best suited my reentry into tech as much as the company and it’s staff found me.

To be honest, I’m very excited to return into an office environment and to be getting my hands dirty in the world of Salesforce once again.

The Future of (My) Writing

With my returning to a full-time job that isn’t writing, what does this mean for my writing career?

The majority of those that write and are unpublished hold full-time jobs which makes writing novels and short stories something they do on the side - at night, on weekends, whenever free time enters their life. Much like how my journey into writing began, I will return into those ranks. Therefore, I’m not going to stop writing because I hold a full-time job. However, it does mean that the amount of time that I can commit to writing will be drastically reduced when compared to the amount of time I’ve committed to it in the recent past. This will, without question, impact the amount of time it will take to complete my latest novel. However, I’m never going to stop writing - I can guarantee you that.

The Future of This Blog

Given that I won’t have as much time to write, those precious hours when I’m not working or caring for Terra will be more valuable than ever. That said, I don’t want to sacrifice this blog to the gods of time management. Now that my time investment in landing a new job paid off I can now begin the process of rejiggering my writing schedule to accommodate time for publishing new articles. There’s much to discuss and share with all of you. Some examples of future articles:

Sci-Fi Tropes. I barely scratched the surface for this new series of mine. Given that I want to explore tropes from both a contemporary and historical aspect, these articles will take time to craft. That said, I’ve already begun a new article covering a trope that appears in SO many books and movies today: artificial intelligence.

The Writing Zone. After some of my “writing and the law” posts gained traction on Twitter lately, I believe I may spend the next few Writing Zone articles to further explore various legal aspects of the publishing world that new writers should be made aware of. This may also include my take on the writer-agent and writer-publisher relationship.

Day in the Life. I always seem to get spikes in readership whenever my daughter’s mug appears in a blog post. Should I just sprinkle photos of her everywhere instead of writing personal posts, or would you like to take occasional peaks into my life as a dad? Hmmmm…

General writing articles. This can range from my thoughts on different writing styles to concepts that I feel others would appreciate hearing my spinning of it in a post here. That said, if you have any particular writing topics that you’d like to see me discuss, feel free to share in comments below!

I cannot say just how frequent the posts will be, though I do want to be consistent with the timing when I do commit to a timeframe. Once I begin working I am sure I’ll get a sense of what will be most realistic.

I am very thankful for the unique period of time in my life where I was able to commit my entire being to a lifetime goal. Despite not (yet) being published, I accomplished a significant chunk of that goal: to write a book. What could’ve easily taken two, three, or four years was accomplished in one - and that includes all the time spent conducting research on all manners of subjects for my novel.

To my loving - and very patient - wife, I thank you and love you beyond measure for allowing me to pursue this goal so completely.

A New Chapter Begins

Let’s see where this goes…

Change is Coming...

“Nothing is so painful to the human mind as a great and sudden change.”

— Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley

I’m not gonna lie: my creative brain’s been on a bit of a rough road lately. Although I’ve been hard at work with my second novel (over twenty thousand words in so far), much of that’s been done outside of the home with my writing group.

Writing while at home… that’s been much more of a challenge lately. That challenge hasn’t just been with writing my novel, but other forms of writing, too, such as this blog. I’m probably being overly dramatic, but I feel like the motivation I’ve had for writing here has taken quite the gut punch over the last two weeks.

That doesn’t mean I don’t enjoy creating these posts. On the contrary, I find it to be a great way to write differently when compared to writing fiction - another way to improve my craft while sharing my thoughts on the writing profession. I even have a few unpublished posts with clear ideas ready to be expanded upon.

To be blunt, I’ve just not had the motivation at the moment.

I do expect things in my mind to turn around, especially with the holidays coming up - great times to catch up with family and friends. But in the meantime, I aim to publish my next few posts every two weeks, effectively going back to a twice-a-month publication schedule in terms of proper blog content. This should give my at-home brain enough time to buckle down and continue pumping out the quality content you readers expect.

In the meantime, expect my next post to drop two weeks from today. I only hope you will stick around with me during this blog-impacted creative slump.

“Life is a series of natural and spontaneous changes. Don’t resist them; that only creates sorrow. Let reality be reality. Let things flow naturally forward in whatever way they like.”

— Lao Tzu

Expect more from me in the weeks to come.

Thank you, as always.

Out of Memory

My brain’s been fried through the weekend. Despite my best efforts, I’ve been unable to write up a compelling blog post for today. Therefore…

I got nothing for you today! Once all the gears are greased up and I flip the writing switch again, I promise to have something for you to consume.

See you next week!

The Missing Muse: Why We Write - The Sequel

With NaNoWriMo five days in, it’s worth taking a step back for a moment and think about what you are doing, especially if you’re participating in this amazing (oh wait, we should stop using that word now) challenge. Why you are aiming to write fifty thousand words in a single month. Why push yourself to write 1,666 words every day for thirty days (or 2,272 words over 22 days, if you need some days off).

Even outside of challenges like NaNoWriMo, what are the reasons that you write at all? Why take precious time out of your day - time that could be spent with your family, close friends, zoning out while watching your favorite TV show, or logging some hours in your favorite game?

I feel questions like this are worth exploring from time to time because for all the days we spend jotting down dozens, hundreds - even thousands - of words, there’s always that one day which demoralizes you. Making your efforts seem trivial or flat-out pointless. Making you ask yourself:

“What the heck am I even doing right now?”

“Why did I start this mess of words in front of me?”

“Why am I writing anyway?”

I bring up these particular questions (they take many different forms) because they were swirling in my mind last Friday, the one day that felt heavier than all the recent days I’ve spent writing the first fifteen thousand words of my second novel combined. Demoralizing days tend to do that.

I think when you are unpublished - and are aiming to make writing a proper career and intend on being published traditionally and have already received a fair amount of rejections - those sort of days are especially hard. But even for those that have their work in the wild - traditional or self-published - it’s inevitable that you question your actions.

So…

“What the heck am I even doing right now?”

You’re creating something from nothing. Writing a work of fiction - or even non-fiction - requires taking something intangible and converting it to something that exists in our universe. Not just bringing it into existence, but giving it a form that can profoundly impact others. When reading, one can experience all the senses being triggered. We want to enable others to experience our dreams and nightmares. We want the hopes, fears, triumphs, and failures of our characters to be expressed through others.

When you write you are, in effect, playing god. A universe being born from your fingertips, one word at a time.

“Words can be like X-rays if you use them properly — they’ll go through anything. You read and you’re pierced.”

— Aldous Huxley

“Why did I start this mess of words in front of me?”

To challenge yourself. Writing a story - even a short one - is a monument to perseverance, dedication, and discipline. Like preparing for the Olympics or going into space, it’s not for the faint of heart. Seeing a story to its conclusion is easily one of the hardest projects an individual can assign themselves. To be frank: many people start writing, but few actually finish - and fewer still get published.

But you acknowledge all of that. You know the stakes. That’s why you’re here today, hunched over your desk, the smell of hot cocoa wafting at your nostrils, the cold from the floor kept at bay by knee-high socks collected around your ankles, the sounds of jazz playing from your computer while the rapping of your fingers makes even more pleasant music.

“If there’s a book that you want to read, but it hasn’t been written yet, then you must write it.”

— Toni Morrison

“Why am I writing anyway?”

You have a story to share, and you refuse to stay silent. We all have a unique story as to what sparked the burning inside us that demanded it be written. It might take a few seconds - or like me, a few weeks before deciding to finally accept this one truth: You have a story that must be shared with the world.

However, it’s easy to chalk up the inspiration as just flights of fancy. It’s quite easy to come up with a list of excuses as to why you cannot follow through.

But if that flame is bright enough and strong enough, where your skin tingles and hairs stand on-end just by thinking about the plot for your story as it unfolds in your mind… does that want to stay silent?

Let the world know of the universe that you have in your beautiful mind. Don’t sit on your hands while you ask yourself "What if?”

“There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.”

— Maya Angelou

You’re doing amazing (whoops) things just by writing. Every word. Every sentence. Every chapter. If you have an idea that refuses to be ignored, don’t let it yell and scream from the corner of your mind. Give it a voice. That voice is the written word.

I know you can do it. You know you can, too.

Make it happen.

More Inspiration:

The Missing Muse: Why We Write

Artwork Links:

Earth

Oasis

Absence of Being