Sweat and Tears

I am almost 3 1/2 years into writing this book and I think the biggest lesson I've learned is that it's a lot harder than I thought it would be. I think in the beginning I had this unrealistic belief that all I had to do was write a book and viola! here comes the money and fame! In reality, writing the book was only the very first small step (and that took 2 years!).

Now I have to rewrite the book because I've found out that I actually didn't know how to write when I started. I cut the prologue and some of the characters, and I've rewritten the first 10 chapters entirely. Of course, it's a lot easier now than it was in the beginning.

This is another reason I am against banning books. It's not easy to write a book in the first place, let alone get published, and then if it's banned that's fewer readers exposed to the masterpiece (or piece of crap, depending on the book). It's hard enough to get a buzz going for a debut author; we don't want to make it harder.

Besides, I need as many people as possible to read my book. The best advertising is word of mouth, and I want to reach as many mouths as possible!