Writing a book has been one of the most reward and the most frustrating process I have ever experienced.
Writing a book is like trying to write out a movie word by word, action by action, onto a page and have it all make total sense. It is like finding missing pieces to a hole in the plot while taking a shower at 4 AM. Writing a book is about learning new things about yourself.
In writing my book, What Happened in Jackson?, I learned that I am an impatient person. I learned that I have to write in 5-minute sprints or I won't have anything worth using in my works-in-progress (WIPs). i learned that I have a difficult time putting to detail a simple scene. I don't like trying to create a hundred words out of ten (even though sometimes it is necessary to do so). I'm the type of person who is probably best suited to writing short stories, but the concept of a short story scares me more than writing an actual book.
Which is why I have second thoughts about publishing all the time. I have this amazing, 17,000 word novella that I want to publish as soon as possible. I want to let all of my friends and family read it.I want to share in the riches of knowing that I wrote a book that at least one person has bought, even if it is just in a digital copy.
In order to display my book for everyone to see immediately, I usually take the self-publishing route through Amazon Direct Publishing (KDP). I've tried it once before, but the struggle of introversion led me to some not-so-good results: not a single person bought the book. I released that book in 2015 and I still don't think a single person has bought it. In my heart, I want to publish to prove to everyone that I can publish, but at the same time, I don't want to make the same mistakes again.
Writing is a very interesting time: it's filled with excitement over a new idea, depression because the idea isn't turning out as easily-written as you'd hoped it would, that sense of relief when you get that last word out and you have said all you are going to say. That feeling of swelling pride when you reread a scene and you know that in your heart you've created something so powerful that you almost cry.� Writing produces the type of feelings that you won't feel in too many other places, and I envy people who are able to be vulnerable with their writing and who are willing to let everyone in the world read their minds and hearts, gauge your feelings and state of mind.
The art of writing is an art that I will never forget. I have this amazing book that I want to share with the world, but I will most likely keep it safely tucked away just so I can say, "Yeah, I've written a book, and I edited and published it by myself."
