Chris Beakey
I'll answer this question by recounting a conversation I've had countless times, most often around the publication of my first novel, DOUBLE ABDUCTION, in 2007, and these days as FATAL OPTION heads to press in February of 2017.
Friend: "I really liked this book. I read it in three hours. How long did it take you to write it?"
Me: "About 30 years. Because it took that long to figure out how to do this. That's 30 years of getting up a 5 a.m. every morning and writing for two hours before heading off to the gym and then to my day job as a ghostwriter. 30 years of imagining 'what-if' and then thinking through and writing what came to mind. 30 years of rejections, with a few memorable moments of praise. 30 years of reading everything I could, focusing largely on the work in my thriller/mystery genre . . . reading and also thinking about what made the stories work. And 30 years of talking about this stuff with other writers and editors and agents and publishers. In other words, living the writing life."
You can probably guess where this is going. My advice to people who really feel the need to write and who are dedicated to the craft is to write every day, or at least every day that you possibly can. You'll probably do better if you know your own body clock and are aware of the times of the day when you're most creative and inspired. For me, it's in the early morning hours, before my head becomes to cluttered with the crazy (but fun) amount of writing I do in my 9 to 5 day job. These are the quiet hours when the phone won't buzz and when no one will interrupt my thoughts. I have writer friends who find their magic time in the late night hours because that's when their imaginations and inspirations are firing on all cylinders. What's most important is that you find YOUR time - and commit to writing, or thinking about your writing, every day that you can.
My other advice is to not put too much pressure on yourself in your day-to-day writing life. Some days I'll write 1,000 words or even more, and other days I'll simply sit at the keyboard for two hours without writing much of anything but still thinking, imagining, wondering . . . that's as much as part of the writing process as what you actually put on the page. This is the thought behind one of my favorite phrases "writing is NOT typing." The typing is the means for transmitting what's in your imagination to the page. It can take a lot of imagining before anything gets transmitted.
If you really feel you must do this, you must believe in yourself and commit the time to doing your best. I'll also tell you that I went to college with people who had 10 times my level of talent (which, honestly, isn't abundant) but who didn't have the will. I think they've all done well, but not in careers that have anything to do with writing. I shaped my life differently, making sure I always made the time to do this. That's the main reason it's working for me now. That, and my everyday gratitude for the power of imagination and the support from my family and friends.
Friend: "I really liked this book. I read it in three hours. How long did it take you to write it?"
Me: "About 30 years. Because it took that long to figure out how to do this. That's 30 years of getting up a 5 a.m. every morning and writing for two hours before heading off to the gym and then to my day job as a ghostwriter. 30 years of imagining 'what-if' and then thinking through and writing what came to mind. 30 years of rejections, with a few memorable moments of praise. 30 years of reading everything I could, focusing largely on the work in my thriller/mystery genre . . . reading and also thinking about what made the stories work. And 30 years of talking about this stuff with other writers and editors and agents and publishers. In other words, living the writing life."
You can probably guess where this is going. My advice to people who really feel the need to write and who are dedicated to the craft is to write every day, or at least every day that you possibly can. You'll probably do better if you know your own body clock and are aware of the times of the day when you're most creative and inspired. For me, it's in the early morning hours, before my head becomes to cluttered with the crazy (but fun) amount of writing I do in my 9 to 5 day job. These are the quiet hours when the phone won't buzz and when no one will interrupt my thoughts. I have writer friends who find their magic time in the late night hours because that's when their imaginations and inspirations are firing on all cylinders. What's most important is that you find YOUR time - and commit to writing, or thinking about your writing, every day that you can.
My other advice is to not put too much pressure on yourself in your day-to-day writing life. Some days I'll write 1,000 words or even more, and other days I'll simply sit at the keyboard for two hours without writing much of anything but still thinking, imagining, wondering . . . that's as much as part of the writing process as what you actually put on the page. This is the thought behind one of my favorite phrases "writing is NOT typing." The typing is the means for transmitting what's in your imagination to the page. It can take a lot of imagining before anything gets transmitted.
If you really feel you must do this, you must believe in yourself and commit the time to doing your best. I'll also tell you that I went to college with people who had 10 times my level of talent (which, honestly, isn't abundant) but who didn't have the will. I think they've all done well, but not in careers that have anything to do with writing. I shaped my life differently, making sure I always made the time to do this. That's the main reason it's working for me now. That, and my everyday gratitude for the power of imagination and the support from my family and friends.
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