And… here… we… go.

I’m standing on the diving board, about to cannonball into writing another book.

Which means I’m about to voluntarily spend the next several years questioning my intelligence, my talent, my life choices, and whether anyone gives a shit about the story I’m trying to tell.

So, naturally, I’m excited.

Here are a few things I’m keeping top of mind as I start my next book.

Doubt is part of the process.

Doubt is a bitch.

It’s also unavoidable.

Because when you start writing a book, you’re essentially trying to build an entire world out of thin air.

So your brain starts asking questions:

Is this idea even good?

Am I actually a good writer?

Will anyone read this?

Am I capable of finishing this?

The answer to all of these questions is:

Who the hell knows?

And that’s the point.

You’re not supposed to know.

You’re doing something that doesn’t exist yet. Of course you’re going to doubt yourself. It’d be weird if you didn’t.

So don’t waste your time trying to eliminate doubt.

Learn to work with it so it doesn’t slow you down.

Progress is what matters most.

“How do you write a book?”

“One word at a time.”

It sounds cliché, but it’s true.

When I was a younger writer, I’d set aside an hour to write. Then I’d procrastinate for 40 minutes and finally sit down with 20 minutes left.

And I’d think:

Well, there’s no point now. I’ll start tomorrow.

And the problem with tomorrow is that it’s always a day away.

My tomorrow is sometimes three or four weeks from today.

And this obviously makes finishing a book take much longer.

The truth is, you can make progress in 20 minutes.

Hell, there were days when I only wrote one sentence, and I felt good about it.

Because that was one less sentence I had to write.

And that’s how books get written.

Not through heroic bursts of inspiration.

Through boring, consistent progress.

Write scenes.

Don’t write chapters.

Write scenes.

I’ve learned that I can only really hold one scene in my head at a time.

If I have a scene in my head, I can usually see where it needs to go, so it’s far easier to write.

But if I start thinking about the next three chapters, my brain basically freaks out, I drink too much coffee, get the jitters, and hate myself.

So I stopped trying to write books.

I just write the scene in front of me.

Because when you really think about it, a book is nothing more than a bunch of scenes that someone decided to put in order.

Be intentional.

The worst version of me as a writer is the version who writes when he feels like writing.

Because I’m human.

And humans are incredibly talented at finding reasons not to do things they know they should do.

I don’t feel like writing.

I don’t feel inspired.

I’m tired.

I’ll do it tomorrow.

Because tomorrow is going to be much more productive.

But spoiler alert:

Tomorrow is usually a lot like today.

So when I decide I’m writing today, something changes.

My productivity multiplies.

Because the truth is, you don’t need to feel motivated.

You need to decide what you’re going to do and then do it.

Entertainment is your golden compass.

This is a writing hill I’ll happily die on.

Fiction is supposed to be entertaining.

And you can break every writing rule in existence if the reader is having a good time.

You can write weird sentences.

You can use fragments.

You can start in the middle of the action.

You can make your protagonist an asshole.

You can do whatever the hell you want.

As long as you don’t bore the reader.

Because people read fiction because they want to feel something.

They want to laugh.

They want to cry.

They want to escape.

They want to find out what happens next.

So if you’re ever unsure whether something belongs in your story, ask yourself:

Is this entertaining?

If the answer is no, you probably know what to do.

Plotting makes your life easier.

I’m a pantser.

Meaning, I don’t know what happens in my book until I write it.

I actually like writing this way.

There’s something exciting about discovering the story alongside the characters.

Sometimes the characters surprise me.

Sometimes they take the story somewhere I never expected.

And sometimes they completely fuck up the 30,000 words I already wrote.

That’s the downside.

Writing this way means you’re going to spend a lot more time on developmental edits.

So, for this book, I’m trying something different.

I’m going to loosely plot the story.

Get the skeleton in place.

Then follow the characters.

I’m hoping this gives me the best of both worlds:

Enough structure to keep me from wandering into the wilderness, but enough freedom to let the story surprise me.

Start marketing earlier.

This is probably the biggest thing I learned from writing Letters From Jasper.

If people don’t know your book exists, they can’t read it.

Wild concept, I know.

But I treated marketing like something that happened after the book was finished.

I was wrong.

With social media, people actually want to watch the journey.

They want to see the ugly first draft.

They want to hear about the characters.

They want to know what you’re working on.

They want to feel like they were there before everyone else discovered it.

So let them in.

You don’t need a finished book to start talking about your book.

You just need something worth talking about.

Follow the character.

One of the biggest differences between good and great dialogue is this:

Good dialogue is what the writer wants to say.

Great dialogue is what the character wants to say.

Your characters shouldn’t exist to deliver your opinions.

They should have their own opinions.

Their own fears.

Their own agendas.

Their own bullshit.

Let them talk.

Your readers will love it.

The first 15 minutes suck.

The first 15 minutes of writing almost anything sucks.

Your brain is warming up.

The words feel awkward.

Everything sounds stupid.

And your phone looks pretty damn tempting.

Deal with it.

Because after the first 15 minutes, the fun begins.

Be emotionally honest.

This is probably the scariest part.

Because if you’re doing it right, writing will feel revealing.

You’ll put things on the page that you’d rather people not know about you.

You’ll write about fear.

Grief.

Jealousy.

Regret.

Love.

All the ugly little things we pretend we don’t experience because we’d rather look like we have our shit together.

And then someone will read it and say:

I’ve felt that, too.

And that’s the whole fucking point.

The things that make you feel most exposed are often the things that make your readers feel most connected to you.

So get used to being uncomfortable.

There’s freedom on the other side of it.

Have fun.

Seriously.

Writing a book is cool.

You get to sit alone and make shit up and somehow turn those imaginary people and places into something another human being can experience.

That’s pretty amazing.

So yes, doubt yourself.

Get frustrated.

Write terrible sentences.

Delete 10,000 words.

Question your entire career.

Then write another sentence.

And another.

Because someday, if you stick with it, you’ll look back and realize you actually made a book.

And that’s a pretty damn remarkable thing to have done.

Please like, comment, share, and tell me what you think.

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR SUPPORT! My new book, Letters From Jasper, is out. If you’re looking for a funny and sad read that will make you laugh and cry – please check it out. PLOT:A dying father hits the road to reconnect with his estranged son, but things take a turn when he gets falsely accused of being his kidnapper.

Perfect for anyone who likes humor and heart reads or has ever had a dead parent. Here it is: Amazon.com: Letters From Jasper eBook : Winn, Anthony: Kindle Store

P.S. If you enjoyed it and left a review, you would make my entire ass day!

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