How to Write a Book 

For a while now I've been posting stories here, which I hope have brought a smile to your face and a bit of joy to your day. Over the years a lot of people have asked me how I became a published author. What was my magic formula? Did I know someone in the publishing biz? How did I do it?

There's no easy answer, though I can tell you I started writing about the age of six or seven. I wrote stories about everything. When I was 11 or 12 my parents gave me my first blank book, which I filled with poems and stories. Every year they gave me a new blank book, and after a while, I bought my own blank books.

In seventh grade, my English teacher took me aside and encouraged me to keep writing my stories. He told me I had a talent and the only way to develop it was to keep writing every chance I got. And write I did. Until life came along.

In college, I wanted to make a difference in the world. So instead of being an English or creative writing major, I studied social welfare, followed by a Master's in social work and when it came time to find a real job, there weren't any. I fussed around with various jobs, feeling lost and very disillusioned. I couldn't fathom where I'd taken a wrong turn.

Then one day I remembered what my seventh grade teacher told me. It dawned on me that what was missing in my life was my calling. I wasn't using my talent. So, I bought a new blank book and started writing again. I began writing articles and submitting them to publications. Never mind that I didn't know what I was doing. I just kept it up and got published. I even wrote a cookbook filled not just with recipes, but also stories about the foods and their origins. Through sheer luck, I found an agent who found a publisher. I was kinda astonished and thrilled at the same time. The cookbook did very well. It was a Book of the Month Club selection and a Better Homes and Gardens Book Club selection. Even though I was now a published author I decided it would be a good idea to refine my writing. I enrolled in the Graduate School of Journalism at the University of California at Berkeley. Over the course of two years, my writing improved substantially.

Ever since then, I've been writing regardless of where I've lived. I've held down communications jobs writing medical articles and newsletters, written two novels and a children's book, plus been a contributor to a dozen Chicken Soup for the Soul books. In between, I've written countless freelance articles on subjects of my choosing. And I'm under contract for a new novel coming out in August of 2024.

To get back to the original question of how I came to be a writer, the answer isn't that complicated. In short, I believed in myself and when I got off track, I got back on track. I just started doing what I'd always loved. I figured that if I was the only person who ever saw what I wrote, that would be okay because I loved to write, and doing what I loved wasn't a bad way to live a life.

My message to you is that if you want to be a published author, you can be. The key is you have to truly want to be a writer, more than anything else in the world. But wanting is just the first step; you also have to be willing to put in the work. A lot of hard work. Writing and dedication to the craft isn't easy. Ernest Hemingway famously said that anyone can be a writer, you just have to open a vein and bleed. Because that's what writing is -- putting your heart, soul, and blood into your manuscript. Want to be a writer? Start writing. And write every chance you get. Don't expect everything you write to be perfect because it won't be. Much of your writing will be garbage. I promise you that if you keep it up, eventually, your writing will improve.

Plus, take lots and lots of writing classes. Buy and read books on writing. Listen to podcasts by writers you admire. Become an avid reader, if you are not one already. Read everything you can get your hands on. Join a writers' group where you can meet and interact with other writers. Learn from others. No one ever cranked out a Pulitzer Prize-winning novel the first time they sat down to write. But that doesn't mean you can't write one. You just gotta start putting down one word at a time.