How to Write a Book

I have been given the opportunity by the fine folks at Kings River Life Magazine to contribute an article “pertaining to writing, or your book.” For the record, and so there’s no confusion, my book is a recently released novel of historical fiction entitled Hunting the Red Fox (HRF). My goal with this article is going to be to say something interesting enough to keep you reading while gently urging you to give this worthy literary masterpiece a try. Sorry, that last bit about a masterpiece may have been a little over the top. You can sort of see where this is going though.

Let’s get one thing straight up front. I can’t tell you or anyone else how to write a competent novel, a birthday card inscription, a staff memo or child’s excused absence note. Neither can anyone else. How you write is very individualistic and let’s face facts. Not everyone can do it well no matter how much advice they get.

Therefore, before I wind up this essay with a most subtle sales pitch as it relates to my current novel, HRF, and my other completed works that are ready to go but waiting their turn, I am going to describe, briefly, my writing process which may give some of you hope and certainly horrify others. For those of you who are beginning to get bored already, put this down, go grab a sandwich or cocktail, depending on the time of day or other issues, come back and you’ll be ready to follow along.

A second or two before I typed the very first letter of the very first word of (HRF), which has been describe by the renowned book reviewer Readers’ Favorite Reviews as “a gripping and imaginative blend of historical fiction, crime, and romance that has you hooked from cover to cover…a real caper of a novel. Highly recommend(ed)”, a fundamental question came screaming into my mind: “How do you write a book?”

Having never attempted such a thing this seemed like a perfectly reasonable inquiry albeit misdirected. However, it’s not like I didn’t have any writing experience at this point just none one would think relevant to writing a novel of fiction. Oh, I could make the case, as the owner of a CPA firm for almost four decades, that I have successfully written some of the most compelling and persuasive prose imaginable to the IRS and other similar governmental taxing authorities for years. Obviously none of that was “fiction” (that I would admit to) but it was persuasive.

Naturally, being a CPA, my initial answer as to how to write a book was, “do it logically and draft an outline or plan for the construction of a narrative. Then layer on some details later.” So I took pencil in hand, stared at the pad of yellow note paper in front of me and began to think of a storyline and a few characters. It seemed like a good idea, for about 60 seconds. It didn’t take me very long to realize this is not how my brain works.

For me to write creatively the first thing I have to do is to completely free up and unshackle my mind and let it run loose like a giddy 19 year old skinny-dipping in the ocean at three in the morning after the bars close down (the drinking age was different then). And with that comment you can guess I’m not your typical CPA. I possess a creative side that has been largely harnessed for years because, well, that’s what was expected.

I cannot “plan” to write. The only thing that works for me is to sit at a keyboard and let my fingers do whatever my brain tells them to do. I can’t tell you ahead of time at the top of any single page what’s going to be at the bottom of the page or anywhere in between.

Due to the constraints of space in this forum, which is seriously hampering my ability to throw in some devastatingly witty humor, these are the conditions under which I thrive in banging out acceptable text: an uninterrupted environment, soft piano music without words, the earlier in the morning the better, mostly alcohol free (which will stun a number of folks including myself), one computer monitor dedicated to multiple internet pages of contemporaneous research and one monitor with the manuscript of the moment on it. That’s pretty much it. What happens after assembling all this is a fight to see if my fingers can keep up with my brain. They can’t.

What works for me probably won’t for you. Find your own way. Like everything else, the more you write the better you’ll get. Don’t let anyone saying you stink dissuade you. You might stink but write until you don’t.

Lastly, please give Hunting the Red Fox (huntingtheredfox.com) a look. If it stinks feel free to let me know.