“It is difficult to say what is impossible, for the dream of yesterday is the hope of today and the reality of tomorrow.”
Robert Goddard (1882-1945)
Some things—arguably many things—require deadlines (a daily blog being one of them); but many do not, I’m delighted to say.
Book writing, especially if you are bypassing traditional publishing, is one of the latter. That can be a very good thing indeed because then you can focus on getting it right rather than getting it fast. Indeed, I hate to think what WAR & PEACE might have been like if Tolstoy had been writing to some publisher’s schedule. As it was, he spent ten years on that one book—and produced a masterpiece.
I remember reading it first in my early teens and being completely stunned by it. It changed my life. After reading it—though I did not know it at the time—I had no chance of eventually becoming anything else but a writer.
True, I started in business, and have had a considerable involvement in military matters—some of which I can talk about and some of which I can’t—but all roads led to writing in the end. I give thanks for that every day. It’s an endlessly challenging, totally fulfilling, entirely wondrous occupation.
A writer today has to do a great deal more than just write if he or she is to be successful. It has taken me some time to adjust to this, but now I love blogging and am beginning to enjoy the many other aspects involved in building an author platform. Ironically, it has brought me full circle. After graduating from university, before I became a writer, I trained in branded goods marketing.
Today, an author has to be just that—a brand.
An impossible task—I hear you cry! Only a small number of Best Selling Superstars backed by the resources of the very largest publishers can manage that.
The impossible takes a little longer—and requires fortitude--but it can be done.
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