Have You Thought About Writing a Book?

It's quite easy now for anyone to publish a book digitally, and it is my intention at some time to start writing and selling my own ebooks.

I enjoy reading fiction, but I would never attempt to write a full length novel. I read a lot of non-fiction and that is what I feel my target should be.

I've already written more articles and blog posts than would fill a single book, but attempting to write a complete book from scratch is something I keep putting off.

If it is your ambition to write a book, what would it be about?

 

I've probably written the equivalent of War and Peace as forum posts but putting everything together in a book is something I've only given passing thought to.
I like writing anecdotes and funny stories based on experiences but there's already plenty of that stuff out there. I find it hard to write fiction. I got started on some great idea but lost the plot a few pages in and dumped the whole thing.
I don't think I have the attention span to write more than short stories. ( ... and long rambles.)

 

I have always wanted to write a romance novel when I was in high school. Then I wanted to write a sci-fi. I loved sci-fi and romance novels back then. Often now when I think about writing it is about my life experiences or important subjects about life's ups and downs. As Val mentioned there are so many of those already written but it's nice to know that I could contribute if I really wanted to.

 

Always wanted to write a sci-fi thriller but it is much, much harder than it looks. Everyone who thinks that writing a decent book is easy should try it, definitely not an easy feat to accomplish. As for me and my sci-fi thriller, I gave up after reading the first couple of pages that I had written. I cringed at the thought of anyone else reading it and quickly got rid of it. Maybe I'll try again at some point but needless to say it was a wake up call and now I appreciate a good piece of writing much more.

 

I've never heard of this about Kindle and Amazon. I'll have to check it out.

 

I'd love to write an ebook. My problem is that I have a very short attention span and never seem to be able to write anything very substantial. However, having recently discovered that Amazon sells some really short books for Kindle, I'm starting to think I might be able to do it. Now if I can just come up with the right idea...

 

That's me exactly. I would love to be able to write a wonderful book that would get people thinking, something that was thought-provoking. I've come up with some good ideas, and in my mind, it works so well. Then I start to write it and it sounds so flat, dry and colorless. Writing stories that have characters we really care about is extremely hard. Oh well, I'll just have to settle for reading a well written, thought-provoking story!

 

I have wanted to write a book for a very long time. I have done chapters and even an outline for a book I think would be grand. The thing is.... I have the will I just don't have the full vision. I had this problem when I was a graphic artist, I can create wonderful things when the creative energy flow, but when it isn't it takes a bit of effort. I find most days i am just struggling at keeping the lights on. There's not much left after the week finishes.

Right now I have been focusing on my photography again. I have plans to do a shot on Feb 3rd. In the very beginning way back in the early 70's I decided I wanted to be a photo journalist. I got half my dream, well actually more then half, I have had both my written work and creative work published, I just have never had a photo published. Or a photo and a story both... so for me it's like a goal.

I used to be in total awe of the art that would be on album covers. I thought Technicolor was the greatest invention ever, the images and animation was so wonderful, the way the colors played off each other and everything remained balanced. That's why i started as a graphic artist, to try to capture some of that beauty. Little did I know that being a graphic artist meant being a mind reader and seeing what was in someone else's head.

 

A book does not need to involve a lot of writing. Someone with talent like you have could publish a book of photos. If your profile pic is an example, you could produce a gift book of cute kitten photographs. You might also consider using your graphic art skills to produce books for children.

 

Shhhh. I didn't want to make the locals nervous. (I found a new one to use here but didn't get around to putting it up, maybe later.)

It's a bit awkward working with Amazon from here, I long ago stopped buying stuff from them, the shipping costs are astronomical, and I can get most of the same thing locally or 'pirated versions' from HK or China really cheaply sooooo, so long Amazon. Kindle is still accessible though I guess but I haven't come close to doing any serious writing so haven't thought about it.

 

There are people selling information on how to write your own Kindle all over the internet. I have not had the desire to write a book so I never pay any attention to what they say the process is. It does not seem to be to difficult. I have a church member that helps people publish a Kindle book to help grow their business, they may not make much money from the book but it does give them credibility as an expert in their niche.

 

I've thought about doing a book about Sign Language for kids.. I even have a friend who does illustrations for a living... I just have to get myself working on it for real... It's one of those things that I always mean to do until life gets in the way...

 

I've actually printed, bound, and "published" blog yearbooks (for sponsors only, and they get to pick the type size and whether they want pictures and/or linked text). And a very short picture book for beginning readers, and a longish short story or short chapter book for school-aged children. Also, a chapter of a computer manual back in the 1980s, and in the 1990s I put together an anthology that was bound and used as a textbook at Berea College (I should hope somebody's done a better one by now). And I've applied for a grant...if I get it I'll be obligated to write a full-length novel. (Which, as stipulated by the grant, will be "speculative fiction"--character-focused, but with hypothetical science in it.)

 

Dittos the "not an easy feat" part. In 1997 (I think) a friend read a short book on a topic she knew something about, wrote to the author, and proposed to help with a revised and expanded edition. They got a grant and interviewed hundreds of people and came out with, in 2002, a real encyclopedia on their subject. (There's been at least one second edition, and the last time I checked the web site the book spawned was still active.) You can't rush quality...unfortunately, the payment they got was ludicrous in comparison with the work they did.