1 Why Trust this Guide?

Quintessa had written all her life. From the time she was a child, she had taken every spare minute to find a quiet spot to plumb her soul by writing. As a child, Quintessa would write when other children played. As an adult, she would write when other adults watched television or scrolled social media. For all her writing, though, Quintessa had never taken a writing course or otherwise studied writing. Writing felt too personal to her to take another’s direction on it. Yet later in life, Quintessa felt the pull to share her writing, as if she might have something to say that others might want to read or hear. And she realized then that she would need to learn the conventions of writing for publication. Quintessa didn’t need much. She only needed a quiet and sound guide. 

Guidance

Writers can benefit from a guide. Writing is intensely personal. Writing comes from deep inside the writer, like turning the writer inside out, revealing what the writer is thinking. But writing must also be social. The writer must share enough of our common consciousness to connect the writing with the reader. A chimpanzee can tap a keyboard, producing gibberish. So can a poor writer. The gift of a good writer is to make the right connection with the reader, not too mundane but also not too eccentric or profound. Thus, while writing seems intensely personal, writing is simultaneously intensely communal. We might journal for ourselves. But to write for publication, to write to share, is to write for the reader as much as the writer. To write for readers is not so much to reveal what’s inside the writer as to reveal what lies between the writer and reader, the communal things that writer and reader can both grasp. A gentle guide can help a writer locate within a reader’s grasp the things that the writer wishes to say.

Conventions

The package in which a writer delivers a reading is a big part of that project of connecting with readers, to share communal things. A writer must deploy writing conventions skillfully, if readers are going to engage the writing. Every writer knows it. Every writer knows that a poorly honed writing skill won’t produce what readers wish to read. In that respect, writing is little different from other crafts. Whether you are a carpenter, cook, or kettle cleaner, you’d better know your craft if you wish regular employment. Writers, likewise, don’t get a pass. Readers instantly know, and generally avoid, poor writing. And good writing isn’t just sound spelling, precise if not also expansive vocabulary, and correct grammar. Good writing can also depend on organization, length, pace, tone, voice, topic, and structure. Good writers need to know writing and reading conventions, even if they may stretch and challenge conventions. Because writing for publication requires the skill of knowing writing and reading conventions, or in other words what readers want and expect from a writer, writing for the reader can take a sound guide. 

Authenticity

The challenge for novice writers may indeed be to master writing conventions. Sound spelling, punctuation, and grammar are the foundation for writing. A writer, though, must add to that foundation a rich vocabulary, keen mind for the subject matter, original voice, clear enough narrative structure, good character development, realistic dialogue, and other writing conventions. Mastering these conventions can go a long way toward making a good writer. Yet writers can have distinct gifts, some greater gifts, while others lesser gifts, but some also just different gifts. Each writer is a unique person. While writers share linguistic conventions through a common consciousness, and thus may write much more alike than unalike one another, writers nonetheless each have a unique self deep within them. You are not a person, in this instance a writer, with a soul. You are instead a soul projecting a persona, in this instance as a writer. For your writing to be more than acceptably conventional, your writing needs to be authentic. To write authentically, with your own voice and majesty, you must listen to your soul. A good writing guide would frequently remind you so.

Errors

Writers can also make common errors by which they lose their audience and thus lose their way. Writers, like others pursuing a fine craft, must either learn from their errors or learn from others who have erred and can caution them away from those errors. As precise as writing is, and as evident as the writing product is on the page or screen, writing errors may be more common and obvious than the errors of others engaged in a profession or craft. A lawyer or even a doctor can make a small mistake, and no one may even notice, especially if they can quickly correct it in the matter’s course, as is often the case. Lawsuits and medical maladies go this way and that way before their final resolution. A professional misstep here and there, although always regrettable and never courted, often goes without impact or larger consequence. Not so with writing. Even the smallest error remains on the screen or page in perpetuity. Writing requires attention to detail and strong skills at the craft. A perceptive guide can point out common errors before they take up permanent residence on the page or screen.

Editors

Editors can help writers correct errors but come at various costs to the craft. The more you rely on an editor, the less you own your own craft. Editors don’t just correct a writer’s mistakes. Editors also influence and can even alter or control the writing outcome. If you’ve worked with editors, then you know that the writing you submitted for editing isn’t the finished writing you and the editor produce. And that’s fine to a point, especially if your writing needs substantial editing to reach and connect with readers. But depending on substantial editing makes writing less of your own craft. It may even make your writing someone else’s work, not what you desired or intended. Good editors can also be hard to locate and harder to employ. You may have a skilled spouse or other relative, close acquaintance, or colleague who is a fine editor and willing to help you out, giving you a rare opportunity for help. But even if so, don’t abuse the offer and wear out the offeror. Let a sound guide help you strengthen your own craft and reduce the need for substantial editing. 

Experience

Writing can also benefit from long experience or from a guide who can share the guide’s own experience. Writers can be a bit like fine wine, growing better rather than bitter with age. Read writer biographies. While some writers find fame and fortune with a first piece, they are generally the rare exception rather than the rule. Most writers write a lot before they reach a level of mastery. The great medieval scholar Boethius, for instance, wrote his masterpiece in his mid sixties, as his last work while in prison awaiting his execution. Most everyone knows the 10,000-hour rule, that mastery generally arrives only after that many hours of dedicated practice at any craft, whether as a musician, machinist, weaver, woodworker, professor, or programmer. That’s five years of full-time practice, forty hours a week for fifty weeks every year. For a writer, that’s around two-million words. And unless you’re getting feedback of one kind or another on that 10,000 hours of writing, you’re not honing your craft. Seek a guide who has substantial writing experience. 

Credentials

You can trust this guide in large part because across four decades, I’ve done a very large amount of highly varied writing, in multiple formats and genres, for several different audiences and several different publishers, with multiple different co-authors, contributors, and editors. I wrote and edited on law review as a law student, wrote for practice and publication as a lawyer, wrote much more for publication as a law professor and dean, and wrote even more for multiple clients as a professional writer. I’ve written everything from Supreme Court briefs to articles, essays, book chapters, books, blogs, and abundant educational web content. I’ve written textbooks, legal treatises, short stories, mystery romance novels, stories for children and youths, historical fiction, faith books, and self-help guides like this one. I’ve co-authored books and articles with lawyers, judges, professors, seminarians, business analysts, financial advisors, psychologists, and pastors. I’ve published books with academic publishers like Carolina Academic Press, professional associations like the American Bar Association, practitioner presses like the Institute for Continuing Legal Education, and commercial presses like William S. Hein & Co. I also self-publish books and publish books for others. I currently write and edit for a professional writing firm. So, on the whole, I may have a few helpful things to share about writing. 

Roadmap

A guide should offer a roadmap before starting out. This guide begins with some basics about writing including what it is, who should practice it, and why practice it. The guide continues by describing some writing forms and genres, and the purposes they serve, to help you decide what forms and genres might be for you. The guide then discusses how to write in those different forms and genres, before moving on to the major portion on book writing and publishing. That major portion includes whether to write a book, how to choose a book topic, how to start and finish writing a book, how to pitch a book to a commercial publisher, how to format a book for self-publishing, and whether to write a second or subsequent book. Other chapters address whether to co-author a book, how to work with editors and publishers, and how to market a book. The final chapter suggests what makes an especially strong writer. Each chapter begins with an illustration and ends with reflection questions and a bullet-point chapter summary. 

Use

You could do well by reading this guide from start to finish, cover to cover. Its organization hues generally to the writing process in its start-to-finish order, from author fitness, writing choice, and writing conception, on through writing execution and publication, all the way to marketing. You may not need such a full view, though. You may instead have specific questions about the writing or publication process. If so, then the chapter titles and section headings should guide you to what you need to read. If you’re not sure from the headings, then read the bullet-point chapter summaries. Whether you read the whole guide or only certain chapters, take a good look at the reflection questions at each chapter’s end. The questions summarize each chapter’s content in a way that encourages you to assess your own writing practices. The questions should help you focus on where you may need to change your approach, focus your time and energy, or improve your practices. You are not reading this guide purely for pleasure. You are instead hoping to learn and grow as a writer. 

Obstacles

Every journey faces obstacles. Writing, especially writing and publishing a book, is no different. A good guide generally lets you know, when you’re starting out, some of the obstacles you may face. Knowing some of the challenges you may encounter may help you prepare for them or may convince you that you’re not up to the journey. Writing, for one, is generally isolating. The hours you must spend to write a book or anything else of good length can be lonely hours. Be sure that you shouldn’t instead spend those hours with others. Be ready to forgo writing time to love, serve, and enjoy others. Writing can also be captivating, fostering a writer’s obsession. You may find yourself thinking of nothing else, when perhaps you should be thinking of other things and, moreover, thinking of others. Be ready to let your writing go. Writing is also so precise and technical that it can feed into one’s perfectionism, combining obsession with compulsion. If you’re already a perfectionist, prepare yourself to accept a degree of imperfection, or you’ll never let your writing go to publication. Also, lots of writers write a lot with little if any financial return, fame, or other attention. If your plan is for fame and fortune, consider pursuing something other than writing. Your writing might make you both rich and famous, but your chances may be better doing something else. Write, instead, for its inherent satisfaction.

Reflection

What writing education or training have you had? How well has that education or training served you? With what writing subjects or issues do you need help? How strong are your basic writing skills, around spelling, punctuation, vocabulary, and grammar? How much do you know about and how much practice have you had with more-advanced writing issues like theme, organization, clarity, voice, and pace? Do you know yourself well enough to recognize your own, authentic writing voice? Have you had a writing mentor? Have you worked with insightful editors? Do you have a friend or family member who is an avid and strong reader who would be willing to read your writing to give you helpful encouragement? Do you come from a family of writers and readers? If not, what is the source or inspiration for your writing desire and gift? What is your biggest obstacle to writing? Do you have any fears or lesser concerns about writing that make you hesitate to put more time and effort into your writing?

Key Points

• Writers can benefit in their craft from having a sound writing guide.

• Writing has many conventions that writers must generally follow.

• Writers must also write authentically from their deeper perspective.

• Writers must generally avoid the many common writing errors.

• Editors can help writers but come at various costs to the craft.

• Writers can benefit from the experience of a seasoned writing guide.

• This guide’s author has substantial relevant writing experience.

• This guide addresses the writing process start to finish.

• Read the whole guide or only the chapters and sections you need.

• Writers can face obstacles, about which it helps to know up front.

Read Chapter 2.