Several years ago, a fellow called me and asked for advice on writing a book. I told him I would be glad to help if I could. He said, “I have been writing this book for three years and I’m about a third of the way through. I hope to be finished in another five years.” He went on to ask the question he wanted to ask, but I couldn’t stop dwelling on that part.
“Eight years to write a book?” I asked. “What are you doing, writing one sentence a day?”
“No, I’m just making it perfect as I go.”
“That’s not possible,” I said. “And that’s not how you write a book.”
I came up with this analogy on the spot and have used it ever since. If someone gave you a block of clay and asked you to sculpt the Empire State Building, how would you do it? Would you mold the first floor right down to the windows, sidewalks, bushes, etc.? Then would you create the second floor perfectly and sit it right on top of the first then repeat that process 100 more times? How would it look in the end? My guess is awful. It’s not possible to stack perfect floors on top of each other any more than it’s possible to write perfect chapters and stick them together.
No, you would begin my shaping it into a tall silo-looking blob. That’s your first draft. Then you would spend a lot of time shaping the corners, removing lumps, filling holes, and adding windows, doors, ledges, etc. That’s the editing process. Then you would finetune everything right down to the trim work and moldings. There’s your proofreading phase. And when you’re finished, you will have a sculpture of the Empire State Building.
Here’s another metaphor. This is what I ask attendees at my writing workshops. If a friend were to show you a plot of land and ask you to build them a house right there, what would you do? Most people would probably look at their friend like they were crazy. That’s way too big a job that involves a lot of different construction skills. In short, it would seem like an impossible task. Hence, you would never even begin.
But if you ask a contractor to build you a house, he’d say, “Okay.” Because to him, it’s just a series of easily achievable steps. First, he would level the land. Then he would run some plumbing. Next, he pours the concrete for the foundation. Then he builds a frame, adds a roof, adds interior and exterior walls, and everything right down to the faucets in the master bedroom. Now he moves on to build another house for someone else.
You have to look at writing a book the way a contractor looks at building a house. It’s just a series of easily achievable steps. Build your foundation (first draft) and continue with each step until your manuscript is complete. Send it to your agent or publisher or publish it the way most authors do now through the Indie route, and while you’re waiting, sit down and start writing another book. One step at a time.
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Neal Wooten is a contributor to the Huff Post, columnist for the Mountain Valley News, author, artist, and standup comic. His new true-crime memoir, With the Devil’s Help (Pegasus Crime/Simon and Schuster), is being made into a miniseries. He is also the creator of the cartoon, Pancho el Pit Bull, which is being made into an animated series in South America.