1. Come up with a great idea. Congratulate yourself on your brilliance.
2. Write a fantastic first page. Show everybody who loves you. Especially show your mother. Congratulate yourself on your brilliance.
3. Show your work to that friend. You know, the one who has no qualms about telling you when you’re full of shit.
4.Go back to the page and do better. Congratulate yourself on picking your friends well.
5. Write. Write some more. Write again. Forget to do laundry. Eat take out. Generally abandon everything. Remember* to take a shower.
* Remember to thank all the kind people who encouraged you, especially the people who wondered what happened to all the clean underwear and towels, and the people who read mediocre drafts and said do better, and people who never read a word and said you can do it, and people who bought you mojitos and laughed, and the dog, who thinks you’re brilliant, no matter what.
Hilarious 5 steps.
Fell off my chair!!!
LOL. Thanks!
Steps 1, 3, 4 and 5, check. Shoved it in a drawer, where it has sat for 4 1/2 years. Today is the day, 2015 is the year, that I pull it out of that drawer and repeat step 5 until it is polished and ready for press. My family knows that they will be washing their own stinkin’ underwear.
Do it! Yes!
“… and the dog, who thinks you’re brilliant, no matter what.” <3 😀 !!
Otis. He’s Special.
!! <3 Soo sweet!!
keep on keepin on an at da’ end of winter a book might surface out of the “cold blue” huh…. ! take care …… one Day @ a Time 🙂 Q 😎
Indeed, at the end of the year a book just might surface. Come back and check. Often 🙂
second one is the key… a cup of tea with dear mother 🙂
Tea with Mom! She always knows what’s good.
I save the hard liquor for number 3. Or perhaps in the next week or so, some champagne.
well, cup of tea around midday in town/city centre and then some champagne for the evening 🙂
Is there a step for going out and finding yourself a brilliant editor, to assure you that you are indeed an equally brilliant writer? Or is she the one who pays for mojitos?
everybody needs a sugar momma. you’re mine.
MUAH!
aw… *blush*. Right back atcha!
There is, I fear, a step missing in my process. #1 is missing. I have too many demons that never congratulate great ideas. Brilliance eludes me, even in my own eyes. But I’ve had exactly two friends as you describe in #3. Both were wonderful and gentle with me. I think both intuitively knew about my problems with #1.
Oh the lighter side, I’m wondering if I need more mojitos in my life. You know, for writing purposes. And I hope that if I’m ever in the situation of being #3, I remember about the mojitos, big time.
Congrats on making your deadline. Looking forward to all the good things to come.
Ha! Mojitos in key west?
Marvelous! What did they say about writing? Something about it being easy, all you do is open a vein and bleed?
that about covers it.
Brilliant!!!!!
number 5 had me laughing – and I have been there a few times ( I wrote 3 books years ago – nothing major – but I really know your list is right on – ha!) anyhow, thanks for this
My pleasure. I’m on my last load of laundry right now.
Thank God for the dog.
Hahaha. Yes. Yes.
I get to ignore laundry if I’m writing? How come nobody told me this! (off to start my first page and say goodbye to my clean clothes)
Lol. Not recommended…especially when the underwear thing becomes a problem, LOL!
Great tips Maria! I shall sure use them this year in an effort to write/finish my book. Ah yes, thank goodness of the dog.
get cracking..I mean writing!
Ha ha ha …I like 5. . Write. Write some more. Write again. Forget to do laundry. Eat take out. Generally abandon everything. Remember* to take a shower.
That’s the only way how to write your book and get it published. I published mine last year. Cheers 🙂 Irina
What about the ones who listen and then say, “Yeah, I thought of writing a book myself” as though anyone but the geniuses that you (obviously and me (not so obviously) are! And yes, I do know that some people think that genii is the plural of genius but I prefer the English translation of the Latin to the Latin plural.
Lovely humourous piece, and like all good humour has its basis in fact. Keep it up.
Hahaha! I loved this! The dog would be the only one to like my book. 😀
Cool! Great advice – probably gonna need it. Lol. M.
don’t forget: write. write. write! right?
This is great! It seems I get to “Step 1” and then repeat 1,000 times.
Thanks for the smile 🙂
move on to 2 and 3. repeat some more.
I can relate! And I don’t know whether to laugh myself right off my chair or cry because it’s all so true. Thanks for the giggles.
Just spreading the joy ;-P
Awesome tips 🙂 , I’m on the 3rd step still thinking of how to get to the 4th…lol
What a pleasant thought; just 5 steps.
I run out of gas after page 6.
Focus. Focus. Focus.
Focus!
Fun list! 😀