How To Write And Publish For Free: Really Simple Writing & Publishing, #11

Introduction

Time for some inspiration.

Learn these two statements:

Act as though it were impossible to fail.

Dorothea Brande

We become what we think about.

Earl Nightingale

Once you've internalized those 2 statements, you now know how to become as successful author and writer as you want to be.

It might take you 30 seconds, a few days, a week, month, or a lifetime. However, from here on out, you are a writer.

The rest of it is just SBIC – Sit Butt in Chair.

It's not hard to write, to publish, to succeed. This book tells you the simplicity of learning how to.

And this book – as too many of these that I find myself writing, editing, publishing, marketing – comes from the muse on your back that is pushing you constantly to get something published and out there in order to help others, some how, any way.

As I cover in one of the chapters included, the entire reason for writing is to quiet that muse who perches on your shoulder and keeps nagging you to get that story out of your head (or wherever it lives.)

In this particular case, it wouldn't leave me alone until I cobbled this together and sent it out to you. Even though I had many other things planned and was working on.

Because that is the life of inspired writing, and also the hard-earned craft of writing.

In this book, I lay out all the various styles and forms you can write in. The excerpts here are interviews I've done and parts of books which were published otherwise.

There is a ton of stuff here which simply needs to be assimilated.

None of it is perfect. Feel free to throw away all that isn't useful. Or even get a refund if you want.

But rest assured that you will be haunted by the ideas you've just read from here on out.

It's just the way life is.

You picked up (or downloaded) this book because it called to you, struck a chord, piqued your interest – whatever phrase fits.

That you're reading this just proves that you were already heading in this direction in one way or another.

Funny how life works.

So let me get out of your way and let you get into what is hopefully an amusing romp through various styles and applications of writing.

I'm sure we'll both learn something along the way if we are willing to keep our minds open.

Good Hunting!

Robert C. Worstell

August 12, 2013

Why It's Hard to Write – and Other Lies

I've been self-publishing since 2006 and have gotten a couple hundred books up there for myself and others. Some have sold well and some haven't.

That doesn't mean squat to you, as you're the one that's got the book to write.

What is does mean is that I've gotten over the blocks people think are there that keep you from writing and publishing.

But this book is about you, not me. I've already been there, done that. Now it's your turn.

Out of all the homework and research, there's one missing point in all those books.

That one point not covered is how to start at all.

Consider this a tough-love advice essay. (Snowflakes need not apply.)

Writing isn't easy to start with. It does get easier the more you do it.

Some people have the idea that they want to become an author from before they could hold a crayon. For others, they find the idea comes later in life.

There is a lot of data out there which discourages any author from starting. (Unless they want to pay someone a lot of money.) And you've probably heard of people who simply paid a ghostwriter to put it all on paper for them. (As well as several editors, proofers, and formatters.)

This book is talking to any person out there with a story to write.

It's that story which is sitting like a muse on your shoulder, asking you to write it all out and meanwhile nagging, is it done yet?

The trick in writing any book is how to get started, and how to get it done.

I cover elsewhere in this book about how simple (and free) it is to get it published.

The point where we are at right here is how to get started at all.

There's a myth out there that you have to be good at writing, or have spent 10,000 hours mastering your craft. That's a load of cow dung.

All you have to have are two things:

1. A story.

2. The ability to make yourself sit in a chair and write it out.

The story doesn't have to be perfectly formed. It just has to have a start, and a middle, and an end.

There are a lot of books which are supposed to motivate you to write and encourage you and improve your self-esteem and all that.

Frankly, they are also mostly cow-dung.

Sure, some people need to be propped up. But they don't need a