The craft of writing can be a solitary endeavor. If you have a day job and a life outside of writing, like most authors, writing a book can also be a lengthy process. Personally, it took me five years to complete my book To Love and a lot of alone time.Â
I had people helping me
However, I did not write To Love in a void. Yes, I wrote and edited a good chunk of the book in my room or alone at the coffeehouse. There was also a good chunk of time that I wrote with a friend. He worked on his project as I worked on mine. This helped me stay focused and motivated, especially in the beginning.
I also had my sister, who is a fellow writer and my editor, as needed support and help. I could turn to her to talk about aspects of my book and get early feedback.
It was with all my friends and family members that I wrote, illustrated, and published my memoir To Love. Even though writing is a solitary hobby or career, it goes smoother if you have other people to help you achieve your goals.
I had God on my side
Another thing you will need is faith. You need to believe the book you are writing needs to be a book. Your story or knowledge needs to be out in the world for others to read.
I write about the faith it took to write To Love in the book. I talk about the journey the book itself is on. The book changed and morphed from a collection of thoughts into a memoir focused on love. With every change I had to have faith, it was what needed to happen. At points the faith I had faltered, which was okay because it always came back.
One reason I regained my faith in writing the book was because I had faith in God. I was confident He called me to write this weird book. Being a writing is who He called me to be, and this book had to be my first proper book. It was just how it needed to be.
With To Love I learned a lot, grew as an author, and God taught me a few things. It was tough, but I am grateful that I had God and my loved ones on my side.
Want More?
To Love is sold on Amazon and if you would like to read more excerpts you can go the To Love Updates section of this site. I also created some fun promotional videos on Youtube.