I’m going to go out on a limb here and assume that most of you have read the Harry Potter series. Next, I’m going to guess that, while doing so, many of you had an experience similar to mine. After finishing the last chapter of Deathly Hallows, I closed it with a resounding thud, a readers’ high, and a new dream: write a book series like this! 

Yeah…

That hasn’t happened. Chances are it will never happen.

BUT: it wouldn’t have happened to J.K. either, if she hadn’t worked her butt off – or if she had given up after yet another rejection from a publisher.  

Always Use Your Full Ass

Writing a book is hard. Finishing a book is even harder. It’s not for quitters. It’s not for half-assers; you need to use your full ass – always. I’d like to think that I’m a full-asser. Half-assing is not my style. For example, when I go for a run, I cannot simply go for a fun, relaxing run. I need to be faster, better, go further. It’s the way I roll. It’s a curse.

For my writing, however, it may be a blessing.

The truth is, if I’d known how difficult and messy writing a book would be, I might never have started. But I did. I’m in the thick of it now. It’s exciting and scary and chaotic and my thing. I love my story and I want others to read it and love it, too. I’ll take my cue from J.K. and work my butt off for it – this is a full-ass undertaking. 

Do Not Be a Quitter

I recently got a cute new laptop. My old MacBook surrendered to the Grim Reaper of Apple Batteries. While transferring some old files, I came across my very first attempts at writing a novel. Oh, my poor eyes!

It was horrifically terrible: somewhat coherent sentences, massive plot holes, clichéd characters, one-dimensional villains – the list goes on. Still, they were my semi-coherent sentences and my plot holes, and my crappy characters. 

To my surprise, these first attempts dated back almost 10 years! This means I have spent a decade learning, improving, and – most importantly – not quitting! The WIP on my cute new laptop now has 95,000+ words. It has decent sentences. It has a beginning and a middle and an end. It has characters with ghosts and moral needs and self-revelations. It has an inciting incident and a point-of-no-return and a dark-night-of-the-soul. It has red herrings and twists and a B-plot. It even has fiery dialogue. 

Of course, I still have a long way to go. My WIP is not ready for submission – not by a long shot – but I will work on it. Revision after revision.

No quitting or half-assing allowed!