The Head and Heart of Writing a?Book

Like many people, I’ve thought about writing a book. I have a history of writing?—?comedy sketches, sudden fiction, blog posts, story slams— but only casually explored book writing. Because the idea still pings around my cranium, I’ve read a few books on the subject. If you’re also interested in writing a book or reading books on writing, I have two for you to read to understand the journey, the challenges, and, hopefully, the joy of that experience.

The closest I came to that joy was outlining a book on the life and business lessons learned through improvisation?—?having studied and performed it for many years?—?and a friend and I discussed a book idea on customer research interviews?—?some of which I do to pay the bills—in enough detail that I bought a domain name for it.

Yet, no book. Yet.

The books on writing books I like the most are “You Should Write a Book,” by Katel LeDu and Lisa Maria Marquis , and “Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life,” by Anne Lamott. I think of them as the yin and yang or the head and heart, respectively, of writing books. The former is a manual, the latter somewhat of a diary, but both are easy to consume and worthy of your time.

“You Should Write a Book” is an excellent soup-to-nuts, how-to book built on the experience the two editors/authors have working at publisher A Book Apart, which also published the book.

“We want to support your writing quest, whatever that may look like. No matter your writing style, experience level, or career path, we share a common goal: one day, you should write and publish a book.”

The advice is clear and focused on walking you through the experience, as I imagine they have to do with every new author. In Chapter 3, “Choose Your Own Adventure,” LeDu and Marquis offer advice for creating an elevator pitch.

“You’re trying to keep it conversational, yet promotional, in three sentences or less. If you find you’re meandering, or it’s hard to get to the point, or the person you’re sharing with doesn’t seem intrigued, that may be a signal to revisit your thesis. Circle back to your argument and think again about why you care about your topic, and?—?crucially?—?what problem you’re trying to solve.”

The guidance they offer is focused and honest, as in the chapter on the editing process.

“The moment you finish that first draft, you may be tempted to break out the champagne and swear off writing forever. And for sure, we support celebrating?—?you’ve just hit a huge milestone! But you’re certainly not done with writing, not by a long shot. (Our condolences).”

From “The Truth about Publishing” to “Launching Your Book,” LeDu and Marquis provide a solid step-by-step resource for your book-writing goals, told from the experience of having worked with many authors.

While the authors’ experience at A Book Apart is mostly technology or technology-adjacent books, they include advice beyond the scope of their work.

“Although this book mainly covers writing about technical and professional subjects, we hope our guidance will help you pursue book-writing regardless of your topic, background, or publishing goals. We speak to the way we do things at A Book Apart, but with an eye toward alternatives, such as approaching other publishers or self-publishing.”

When you are comfortable with the process, you need to read Anne Lamott’s “Bird by Bird.” This is a book I’ve seen on many “If you want to write a book” lists because it’s just such a enjoyable, funny, and insightful read about writing, publishing, and life.

Immediately, Lamott’s writing reminded me of Erma Bombeck, whose books my mother read and shared with me. Bombeck was a columnist who wrote about life and parenting and did so in a way that made me (and many others, I’m sure) laugh out loud. In particular, “The Grass Is Always Greener Over the Septic Tank” and “If Life Is a Bowl of Cherries, What Am I Doing in the Pits?” were books important to my early comedy education.

Lamott understands comedy, too, but blends it with personal, emotional stories of her struggles and triumphs as a writer and the reality of the publishing business.

“The very first thing I tell my students on the first day of a workshop is that good writing is about telling the truth. We are a species that needs and wants to understand who we are. Sheep lice do not seem to share this longing, which is one reason they write so very little.”

“I tell my students that the odds of their getting published and of it bringing them financial security, peace of mind, and even joy are probably not that great. Ruin, hysteria, bad skin, unsightly tics, ugly financial problems, maybe; but probably not peace of mind. I tell them I think they ought to write anyway.”

The humor is balanced appropriately with strong writing advice. In particular, having gone through a period of perfectionism, a passage from the chapter “How Do You Know When You’re Done?” resonated deeply.

“…you’ve gone over and over something so many times, and you’ve weeded and pruned and rewritten, and the person who reads your work for you has given you great suggestions that you have mostly taken?—?and then finally something inside you just says it’s time to get on to the next thing. Of course, there will always be more you could do, but you have to remind yourself that perfectionism is the voice of the oppressor.”

Perfectionism raises its head again in the chapter on “Letters.”

“When you don’t know what else to do, when you’re really stuck and filled with despair and self-loathing and boredom, but you can’t just leave your work alone for a while and wait, you might try telling part of your history?—?part of a character’s history?—?in the form of a letter. The letter’s informality just might free you from the tyranny of perfectionism.”

There’s so much to take away from Lamott’s book that you may want to read it first. And if you’re ready to tackle the emotional roller-coaster that is navigating the publishing world, get “You Should Write a Book” and take each step of the journey toward your goal.

Even if you don’t write the next great book, understanding the practical and emotional paths of doing so are worthwhile, if for no more reason than recognizing what your favorite authors had to do for their words to reach your head and heart.

…

ps. As I was finishing up this review, we walked to our local library and I found this on the “gently used paperbacks for sale.” It’s mine now.?:)