Who are the writers that actually get published?

Starting a book? That is the (relatively) easy bit. Keeping going is a bit harder.

You start off with a bang, writing every day, working on your plot. But as the months drag on and the going gets tough you start to make excuses. Work is pressing, kids are demanding, too much travel, family coming to visit. No time. You will do it later…. Now is not the right time for you. Next year…later in the year.....

What really happens? The hard reality of writing a full book starts to reveal itself.

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Why? It is darn hard to write an 80,000-word book. That's a long time you need to spend in front of a computer screen. The muse does not always sweep you along. The plot does not always flow. The discipline is not always strong. The force is not always with you.

Who wants to sit alone in front of a keyboard while everyone else is out playing. Facebook is waiting.  Maybe a blog would be more achievable than a whole BOOK? Maybe a short book?

The writers that finish their books are not necessarily the ones with more ideas, more talent or more skill. They are not necessarily any better writers than anyone else.

But they get one thing right – they simply keep going. They move beyond the first month of enthusiasm. They move through the long, hard middle of the book. They keep going. Word after word. They just keep writing. It’s that hard, and that easy.

Most writers will tell you, realistically, that it takes a minimum of a year to write a book and get it to a point that you are happy with your draft.

This year is not all spent simply writing of course. Once you have your first draft down your task is more about tweaking, refining and fixing.  That’s why we want to get your first draft out as soon as we can.

Then you can go back and make it better, fix errors and refine your work.

My advice if you want to get published..... The sooner you start the better.

BTW - I do have a a whole load of video lessons - you can watch them here