NO ONE REMEMBERS A BORING BOOK

Writing a book, it sounds so romantic. Sitting at a desk or table watching the sun rise over the ocean, because you do your best work in the morning. A hot cup of coffee, some toast, your favorite music playing in the background. Wow, now it even feels romantic.

You begin and every word in every sentence is perfect. No need to re-read or edit because everything is absolutely, perfect. Sentences become paragraphs then pages followed by chapters and soon 80,000 + words are written by you, the author. 

No reason to find an agent, who needs one, you did it, you wrote the perfect book. Except one minor detail seems to be going against what you pictured would be a happy ending. Other than mom and dad, aunt and uncle, a few cousins and friends, the book is not setting the literary world on fire. Uh-oh, another little problem, no one gave you feed back, no one has told you that they could not get past chapter 4. Why? Sadly the book is boring, the story is the one you always wanted to write and you did. Congratulations! But no one wants to read it.

In today's multi media stimulated world people want one thing, to be entertained and fast. That means when they decide to read a book you need to capture them in the opening few sentences and paragraphs hopefully to the very end. It needs to be "a page turner," with the following statement, "I couldn't put it down!"

Holly shit! Talk about pressure, now as a writer you are expected to write a compelling story that is entertaining, exciting, thought provoking, descriptive, along with interesting characters. I'm exhausted just writing that. Oh, even if that news weren't daunting enough there are over 3,000,000 books available on Amazon alone.

If you are like me you march uncaring into the night and often times take the road least traveled. The problem with that route is that sometimes your timeline gets screwed up and it takes a little longer than you expected. But we're tough, we can do it, and we do. If we keep our eyes open we find signposts and strangers that help guide us on our long, long journey.

I would like to share just a few with you.

These are in no particular order, but collectively they are very helpful.

Sooner or later you will be working with an editor and if they are worth anything they will help push you to a level you were not aware you could achieve. Just imagine what being the "best" at something really means. No one remembers boring and mediocre, only great.

The best way to talk about this book and its author is to copy and paste a sampling of his bio. Pretend for a moment you are interviewing Editors and your budget is under $20. You might consider Mr. Stein's book for the following reason. 

Sol Stein edited the classic work Notes of a Native Son by James Baldwin,[7] selected as #19 of the “100 best nonfiction books of the 20th century”; Elia Kazan’s America America; and Lionel Trilling’s Freud and the Crisis of Our Culture. He was also responsible for the continued publication of Bertram D. Wolfe’s The Fabulous Life of Diego Rivera and George Orwell’s Homage to Catalonia, selected as #42 of the 100 best nonfiction books of the 20th century.

In 1962 Stein founded the New York-based publishing firm Stein and Day with his then-wife, Patricia Day.[9] Stein was both publisher and editor-in-chief of the firm. The publishing house’s first book was Elia Kazan’s America America, which sold three million copies in hardback, paperback, and book club editions. The success of many of Stein and Day’s books was attributable in part to the amount of publicity work that Stein and Day did for each book.[10] Stein worked with Kazan daily for five months on Kazan’s s first novel The Arrangement, which was #1 on The New York Times bestseller list for 37 consecutive weeks.

If you are serious about writing and after reading this book it does not improve your writing skills, then I suggest learning to play golf might be something for you to consider. 

            Become thirsty for knowledge. Read Stephen King's: On Writing, A Memoir of the Craft. Everyone starts at the beginning, even the famous authors. They starved and struggled, but the top ones never gave up.
            Another excellent opportunity, listen to James Patterson talk and teach people how to write a novel. It costs $90 and believe me, if you are serious about writing it is the best $90 you will ever spend. https://www.masterclass.com/

• Take yourself seriously as a writer, even if it is your first novel.

          Money does not make you a writer writing makes you a writer. If you are starting out, do not think about winning a Peabody. Think about writing a good novel.

• If you begin then commit to yourself that you will finish.

          Remember this one. No one ever came in first who quit the race. Do not give up on yourself no matter how much you want to. You have made a commitment. If it gets difficult, slow down, pace yourself.

• Do not succumb to self-doubt it comes with the territory.
• Do not be afraid to fail, it also comes with the same territory.

            Read authors you enjoy and ask yourself why you are drawn to them. Do not plagiarize another author, but don't be afraid to emulate their style. Soon, with time you will find your own style.

These are but a few suggestions. Every writer has particular way on how they go about writing a novel, but these words from Sol Stein and other resonate loudly.

"We as writers have a relationship with our readers. We owe it to them to write the most compelling and interesting stories we can."

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