The Eightfold Writing Process: A New Creative Workflow to Help You Write Book After Book

Writing can be hard, miserable work. There have been plenty of times in my life when I would have preferred to dig a ditch than finish the book I was working on.

In those times, I would have given anything to be free of the burden.

Like a madman, I kept at it. I ignored the strain. As exhausted as I was, I powered through. I met my daily word count goals. Chapter by chapter, I soldiered forth.

And what was my reward? As my book grew longer, its plot became more tangled. My characters and scenes kept changing on me. I couldn't keep track of everything. I wrote more, I deleted, I tried outlining, I made storyboards, and I wrote some more. The more I wrote, the more I became frustrated.

I didn't understand why this was happening. I had started this book with a great idea. It was sure to be a bestseller. The idea was beautiful. The characters were immensely likable.

I seemed to make progress, yet I sank further from my goal.

I fought to find the secret that could turn my tangled, confusing manuscript into the sleek, streamlined bestseller I had envisioned.

I wrote in the morning. I wrote at night. I did all-day writing marathons.

No one could doubt my commitment. But I wasn't seeing the results I wanted.

I had lost the heart of the book, so I kept changing things around to try and find it again.

I was ashamed at my own inadequacy.

By this point, I had come to hate the sight of my own words. I had come to my wit's end. I was fed up with everything.

Wasn't writing supposed to be easy?

Why had life given me this insurmountable burden?

When I had started writing, I thought it was going to be simple and easy and