31 Dec

Resolve to Put YoursELF on the SHELF!

Jena Henry A Sexagenarian's How To's, Blog 7 0

On the Shelf!

Here’s the Best New Year’s Resolution- write and publish your book

in 2016. It’s that time of year when you will be nagged to make your New Year’s dreams come true; you will be prodded to lose weight, get in shape, quit smoking, be more grateful, or adopt a kale plant. But what will make you happy and fulfilled this year is to finally write YOUR book!

During the month of January, I will be posting about my writing journey and showing you how you can succeed, too. Are you like me- if I met someone at a party and they told me they were a writer, I would bounce and bubble, “Oh I’ve always wanted to be an author.” I would blurt, “Someday I am going to write a book.” One day my husband looked up from his football game on tv and said, “Well then do it.”

So I did. And I am here to encourage you to get started, keep going, and complete your book. The first thing I did after I accepted my husband’s dare was to research to see how long a book had to be-I assumed more than 15 pages. I was right- a publishable book should be around 70,000 words. I told my husband, “Ok, well a book seems daunting, but I will get started and see if I can write that many words.

I decided to write 1,000 words a day. My previous writing experience had been mainly expository, not creative. I managed to generate a decent story arc, but soon realized I would need to expand, open up, and percolate more ideas to get to a “real” book length.

Every morning I wrote 1,000 words. Then one day, while I was checking the online thesaurus…

Yes, I will tell you about that soul-searing, life-changing moment in upcoming posts. For now, pretend you are at a party, and when I say, “I am an author,” get excited, and I will sip my wine and launch into a lecture about everything you ever wanted to know- how to create, publish, and market a “real” book.

You’d better refresh your drink; we will be covering:

I wish you and yours the same thing, too. In 2016- Put YoursELF on the Shelf!