I want to write a book series...the complete list of topics

Join me for my series I want to write a book.

In this series I walk you through the process from finding an idea to what to do once you've become a published author.

Below are the links to each part in the series.  

Enjoy!

Part 1: Writing Prompts

Part 2: Puke it out

Part 3: Edit just once

Part 4: Determine your publishing path

Part 5: Let’s get rejected

Part 6: I got a contract offer

Part 7: I’m published, now what?

Bestselling Author Bernadette Marie is known for building families readers want to be part of. Her series The Keller Family has graced bestseller charts since its release in 2011, along with her other series and single title books. The married mother of five sons promises Happily Ever After always…and says she can write it, because she lives it.

When not writing, Bernadette Marie is shuffling her sons to their many events—mostly hockey—and enjoying the beautiful views of the Colorado Rocky Mountains from her front step. She is also an accomplished martial artist with a second degree black belt in Tang Soo Do.

A chronic entrepreneur, Bernadette Marie opened her own publishing house in 2011, 5 Prince Publishing, so that she could publish the books she liked to write and help make the dreams of other aspiring authors come true too. She believes her journey into the publishing world and onto bestsellers lists is one to be shared and enjoys teaching others how to make their own success happen.

I want to write a book Part 7: I'M PUBLISHED, NOW WHAT?

Now that we are into 2013 it is time to pick back up where we left off with the I WANT TO WRITE A BOOK series.

So we've looked at getting started in writing. Editing. Rejection. Now let's look forward a bit. You're published. First book? More than likely it is if you're reading this series. Well, guess what. The advertising budget in any house doesn't include a lot for you right now. The house is banking on you to do a little work too.

Once you're book is out you have to do some promotion on your own too. A publishing house telling people to buy a book just isn't going to cut it. Again, we go back to the one in a million book that someone picks up and says, "WOW...let's make 7 movies out of this." This doesn't happen to most of us. On that first book you're lucky if everyone you've ever met buys it.

So where do you begin? Well, get out your check book.

Hosting your own signing is a great way to expose yourself to those you know. Host this in your house, your church, a community center, or wherever you're comfortable asking your friends to come and buy your book. And, yes, sell them your book. This shows them your intent to be serious in your profession.  You'll be surprised too, many of them will buy multiple copies to give away. They are proud of you.

Build a following. This advice needs to be followed from the moment you begin your journey into writing!!!  So if you're still working on that manuscript pay attention.

A great way to build a following is to get online. Twitter is HUGE when it comes to meeting new people.  Begin following authors and interacting with them. Networking is a very important part of this job. If you support other authors they will support you when the time comes.  Be personable. You're not the only fish in the sea, so don't get a big head. Every voice and every genre deserves your attention. Host other authors on you site. Interview them. Give them guest blog appearances. Guess what... they will promote their interview on your site, diving their readers to you. See how this works? And, they will more than likely give you a chance to visit their blog too.

Blog. You might not have a book in your hand right now, and again start this before you're even contracted, but giving the public a chance to see your writing voice is very important. They'll know if they want to read you or not by what you have to say.

And what do you say? You have plenty, I promise you. One thing you can start with is what you've come across in your writing. You're an expert on things that you've researched or things you might know from your everyday life, and that is going to come in handy for someone else.

For a couple of dollars you can book some great blog tours. You'll find promoters of these especially on Twitter. A decent blog tour will run you $45-$100 and can sometimes include reviews. You can also set up your own by networking.

Now Twitter and Facbook are not the only social networks out there.  There are many more.  Goodreads is a must as well.  Do some research, but get your name out there.  This is crutial.

Depending on how big your publishing house is, which you've signed that contract with, you might need to contact stores for signings in your area. Make some relationships with the managers here. The like to have authors there, it gives them reputability too.

I, personally, am not a big book store signer. Oh, I've had some great signings! But with so much of the world reading digitally, this is where I believe so much of your time should be spent...on the internet. And, for the most part, it's free.

Aside from promoting, which you're going to do from here on out. (And on a side note, if you think your publisher is going to do it all and you're going to sit back and take the easy route...you're wrong. Get busy.) But the next step...write another book. And another... and another!

The biggest mistake you can make, if you're planning on being an author for a living, is to only write one book. If you are lucky enough to have built a following, they are going to want more and more and more. It is best that if you have something ready to go, you can begin submitting, or get on publishing your next masterpiece.

Remember, people will follow you if they like you. And if you're a bit accessible (virtually) they eat that up. They want to be part of something big. So give them something big... even before you have anything at all.

Happy Writing!
Bernadette Marie

I want to write a book Part 6: I GOT A CONTRACT OFFER

So you found your muse, puked out your story, edited once, had others edit, chose your publishing path, got rejected, and now you have a contract offer. Good for you. Let's take just a few moments to look it over.

I am not an expert on contracts. This point is clear in the mistake I made with the first contract I signed! So I'm not going to have a whole lot of info for you here. But, my biggest piece of advice is sleep on it.

You're going to get a call or an email that says we want to publish your book and you are going to be bouncing off the walls.  You're going to want to call every person you've ever known and tell them. You're going to post it to Facebook and Tweet all about it. But before you sign that document let it sit for a day or more.

Tell the contracting party that you'd like to show it to your lawyer to look at. Okay, you might not have one, but you're going to have it looked at.  You're going to go over each and every paragraph. Read it aloud because then you'll hear it. Then if you do have a lawyer ship it off to them to look at. Show it to your spouse, best friend, and even better...another contracted author.

Most contracts are going to be standard. You're going to let us publish your book. You have to have this,that, and the other thing to us by this time. We get say in the title and cover. Here is when we think it will come out in print and in digital. Here is what you will make... you get it. Basic.

However, look for these things. How long is this publishing house going to keep your book? I warn against Lifetime Rights. Do you know what that means? You're never, ever, getting rights to this book back. Also watch for Right of First Refusal. What you want is the option to publish books in multiple places if you want. Do you really want to put all your eggs in one basket? Maybe you do. I'd like to think my authors would want only me to publish them, but that isn't usually the case. Those of us who are in this for the long run have books coming out our ears! Even Nora Roberts had to create J.D. Robb so she could put out more books than they'd planned for her to.

Do some research on royalty amounts. This is going to be all over the boards! However, digital royalties are usually higher. Also, find out what they think they'll charge for your books. Realistically, a new author right out of the gate isn't usually worth my hard earned $9.99 for an eBook.  This can hurt you in the long run.

Above all, check the reputation of the publishing house! I can't stress this enough!

Predators and Editors is a great site as well as Absolute Write. Make sure these guys are legit! AND keep in mind, no matter how flattering it is, a publisher shouldn't come to you and ask for your manuscript. A publisher should be much too busy, if they are any good or reputable at all, to be soliciting you for your manuscript.

Email some of the other authors listed on that publishers website. (Note...you don't always want to be the first author for a house either. Think about that.)  If the house is a good one, you're going to get praise back. Likewise, if the publisher seems to have forgotten to pay out royalties for two months, and has a million excuses, and their books aren't where they are promised they were going to be... you don't want them.

You're books are your children. You named them, created them, nurtured them, and now you're asking someone to take care of them. Make sure the right person is taking care of them. As you probably can tell, this part of my series is personal to me. I did sign the wrong contract with the wrong house. I'm not getting paid and my books are selling because I have become a bestseller with other books. So someone else is reaping my benefits while I sit here and curse myself. Don't be that person. Do your homework. They'll wait a few days for you to go over the contract if they are reputable. If they come looking for you they're too anxious and that just isn't a good sign.

I want to write a book Part 5: LET'S GET REJECTED!

I think this is my favorite part! We've found our muse. Puked out the story. Edited once and let other read it or edit it. We've decided which path we are going to take on our publishing journey. Now we have to let them read it and reject us!

Well now that just sounds mean, doesn't it? To those of you who are that one in one million person who gets a book deal, or signs with an agent right off the bat, Congratulations! For the rest of us... let's get rejected.

Why do I say you're going to get rejected? Because query writing and synopsis writing and following directions are a learned skill.

Let's start with the query.

In a query you have to tell the publisher/editor/agent who you are, what you've written, what your credentials are, and you have to make it sound competent and like you're someone they'd want to work with. You need to have your voice in there and you have to follow their specific guidelines as to how many words they want you to tell them all that info in. Got it? Yep...see why this is a learned skill? You will over do this. You will send it with spelling errors or missing items and then curse when you've hit send. It will happen!

Synopsis. Usually 3-5 pages telling the acquiring party all points to your book. That's right, you have to downsize your 250 page manuscript into 3-5 pages. Can't do it? They don't want you.

Now, let's say your query is just right and you've managed to perfect the 3-5 page synopsis, can you follow rules? Did they ask for it all at once? Did you send it to the right email? Did you send it in print? Were you suppose to do that?

Let me tell you what happens to your manuscript if you don't do all things right. I have talked to agents who have authors send them unsolicited (which means unasked for) manuscripts. Do you know how much money it costs to send 250+ pieces of paper to New York? It isn't cheap. And do you know what an agent will do if you have done this? They will accept it from the mailbox turn and throw it into the trash. I have heard it from more than one agent's mouth! That's right. You can't follow rules, they don't want you. Likewise, for my house we ask for things differently. We really want to hear your voice come through in your work. But if you start sending me the attachments for your whole book...delete! We want to see your skill, beyond a synopsis and a query (because we know this process sucks!) so we ask for the first chapter, in the body of the email. Don't do that? Delete! Oh, and if you send it to the general email assuming you're bypassing the slush pile and you're going to catch the eye of an editor...delete.

Here's one for you... A submission sent to me in all caps!...delete! How about one that is full of spelling errors...delete.  Same author sent it back and highlighted all the areas they had made mistakes in the first time to show me she fixed them...delete!!! Don't make a fool of yourself.

So maybe a contest is a better way to get your name out there or to get feed back. Sometimes that would be a great thing! Decide how you want to spend your money.

I'm not saying contests are wrong. They are wonderful. They will get you recognized. And they will get you feedback and you will feel rejected.  Here is an example. Early on in my writing, my serious I'm-going-to-get-published phase, I did lots of contests. I sucked! I had 35 pages of what? I write romance and the hero and heroine didn't meet until page 54. They should be having sex by page 54...okay page 100, but you get my point. But it was pointed out to me that they really should be on the same page within the first 5-6 pages. I also suck at commas! My editor will probably attest to this as I notice that is what is added most often when I get my edits back. But, someone sent back my very low scores and said, "If I bought you a box of commas would you use them?" Another very helpful comment to a contest was, "Your heroine is a bitch. I hate her and I would never buy you." Well now...helpful. Those two comments came in the same contest with this gem (perfect score too.) "I love your work." Well now that's helpful! NOT!!!  But I was rejected!

Most contests aren't that mean. You WILL get feedback even if you don't like it. Be open minded. Also follow up. I found out after a contest closed that I was a finalist! Yep...never knew. They didn't send me a certificate or an email or anything. Shrug...hard to be proud, but I'll take it.

So do you feel confident about sending out your work? Remember to follow directions and do your best. I have been rejected from Mills and Boone, Harlequin, Wild Rose Press, and countless others as well as agents. My books go bestseller on the day they launch or during presale. My name rides with Nora Roberts and Debbie Macomber to name a few. I sucked...and to some I still suck! But I got rejected...I got over it... you will to. But you'll never know what you're capable of until you get rejected!

Did you know in sales you have to make 10 calls to get 1 sale? It isn't much difference in the writing world. Go get rejected so you can get on with your life of being a bestselling author!

I want to write a book Part 4: DETERMINE YOUR PUBLISHING PATH

Okay, you found your muse. You puked out your book without looking back. You did a read through and an edit. You passed it off to others to edit. You're considering your publishing path. What is the right move?

Here are your options. You can go big time, big school, and try to get into one of the big houses on your very first book. You can opt for a small press house who is, perhaps, a little more open to ideas, but doesn't have quite the backing of the big houses. Or, you can go it alone.

Let's start big. If you're feeling adventurous, and I'll admit I think you should start here, look into some of the big houses. Do your research. Avon, Simone and Schuster, Penguin... oh, you know them. You're in this to get published. First things first, you're going to find most of them do not accept unsolicited submissions. What does that mean? It means don't query them, don't send your manuscript, don't waste your time. If you're sending printed material it will end up in the trash, if you query them via email they are going to send it to the delete folder. You're going to need an agent.

Now you have to find an agent who represents your genre of book, is taking new clients, is taking clients who have never published before, and one you can get to who is legit. There are many a website to guide you in the right direction here. Many of them will surely tell you who NOT to go with.

The process to obtain an agent is much the same as trying to get through to smaller publishing houses. But that is the next discussion. The dreaded query and synopsis. They are going to be working for you, so remember they aren't working for free. But they are your ticket into a big house!

Back to houses. With a big house you're going to get exposure. They are in with the big stores and your book will be on a shelf. Isn't that what we all want? You might get an advance even. It is all very exciting.

However, is this your first book?

You might want to look around and get your feet wet first.

A small press publisher isn't going to have big deals with book stores. Chances are they will do mostly eBook publishing, but really that's the trend, right? You're going to be only royalty base paid, no advances, but you're going to be a bigger fish in a smaller sea.

Small presses usually print books on demand (POD.) That means when someone orders a book it is printed and shipped out. Still the same quality as any other book. Sometimes small presses can even offer bigger royalty percentages. With a small house you're going to have a lot more say in your book. The title might stay the same as the one you labeled it. If you're not cookie cutter in your genre, a small publisher is more likely to accept an "off beat" book.

Now the downside. You need to do your homework! Small presses come and go. They are a dime a dozen. Some of them are not upstanding at all. Have someone look over the contracts! I once signed a contract for lifetime rights to a publisher who never put the book out on more sites than Amazon and their own. They also haven't paid royalties. (So I digress, you can imagine I have a battle brewing.) But my point is ask around. People are happy to give you their opinion of what they think when it comes to their publisher.

A small publisher is going to give you a lot more freedom to get the book you wanted to put out in the first place, but you're going to have to do some of the foot work. (Promoting yourself is another topic coming up.) They're not going to have marketing firms working for them. They are going to be working their tails off for you and you'll need to work your tail off too.

A small publishing house is not usually going to require you to have an agent either, so your royalties will be yours and you won't have to share them with an agent, but you're going to have to cover your own back. If things go wrong, be prepared to fight the battle on your own.

Now, and very popular, is indie publishing. Going on your own and publishing your own book. With ereaders and sites like Kindle Direct Publishing, PubIt (Barnes and Noble), Smashwords...just to name a few... indie publishing is easier than you could have ever imagined!  POD is well within the reach of every author out there and very reasonable when it comes to cost. Create Space will let you upload yourself, or for a price, they will do every part of your book.

You might imagine with so many indie publishers out there there are lots of professionals looking to cash in too. Editors. Proofreaders. Cover designers. File converters...you name it. If you need guidance in any of these areas there is someone you can pay to take care of it. But go wisely. Do your homework. What good is writing a great book and having someone else wreck it?

Again, I stress, if you go this route, be professional. Have a good cover and edit your book.

Going indie offers you all the freedom in the world. You get to launch when you want. You get to ask the price you want. You make all the profit. Now remember...you do all the work. You upload all the books. You are in charge of the success or failure of your book and you can't blame anyone else.  Indie authors are in an enormous sea and they are tiny little fish. But with the right attitude and a good book you can make it! You can be a bestseller. And you can make a living.

Each avenue offers its own rewards. But start big and go for the big houses and the agents. I want you to be rejected! Tune in tomorrow and find out why.

I want to write a book Part 3 EDIT, JUST ONCE

So you found your muse and you have a story.
You took my advice and you puked out that story without stopping and editing your work as you go.
Now... You get to edit, but just once!

Once you have your book it is time to go through, page by page, and edit your story. Editing will come in many forms. You will be looking for punctuation and grammar as well as content.

When reading you want to make sure you have your action beats in front of dialogue. Not every line needs a he said or she said. (bleh!) You're looking for past and present tense, and making sure they are not intermixed. Most editors do not like head hopping. Make sure your POV is always solid.

Once you've finished your story, you know it better.  You know your characters better too.  You're going to find places you want to add details and scenes. This is okay here. This is a great time to do that, but remember you can get stuck in this process too.

Just like the puke it out stage, don't work too long on this edit process.  Keep making forward progress and go forward, not backward. Do a page at a time and move on to the next.

Normally I would say, you only get one edit chance. So let me preface that with, if you've added considerable amounts to your book do this process twice, but no more.

Once you've made it through the whole book DO NOT KEEP GOING BACK. Why edit six times? You've seen the words so many times you'll be amazed at what you're really missing.  Now comes the hardest part of writing a book, even harder than writing the book. You have to pass it off and let someone else read it.

As writers we all have friends who want to read what you wrote. So offer them a cup of Starbucks to read it and mark it up! Have your friends go though it and do an edit. Aside from a fresh pair of eyes you'll get your first feed back. Yes, they are going to tell you they loved it. But if they send it back with a million fixes you know that you have some work to do. However, you're closer to letting a professional look at it and offer you a contract or reject you. (By the way, rejections aren't all bad either! This is coming up in the series. Just know you will probably be rejected and this is a good thing!)

For a new author I think editing is crucial. Does an editor expect it to be perfect? No. Every book out there needs a little something more. However, we do expect that it not be crap. Now that might be harsh, but you wouldn't believe the manuscripts I get in my hands, and some of them from authors that have been published. Some of them from authors I've worked with (or my editors have worked with) who refuse to edit their work or take our comments to heart. Blatant misspelled words. Total lack of punctuation (and I'm no expert, but four line sentences might need a coma and you need periods and capitals!) If you are looking to getting into the publishing world consider having your manuscript at least proof read. It's the lesser of out of pocket expenses, but it makes a huge difference. If you can afford an editor, it's worth your money. But find a reputable one. This will take some research.  And of course, if you're going to self pub, please use an editor! You might be one amazing writer, but editing is still a professional addition and don't we all want to appear professional?

If money is an issue use multiple friends to edit. Each one will have a different talent.  This is very useful.

Once you make the corretions to our manuscript put it away. You are done! Congratualtions.  Now you have to choose your method on getting your book into the hands of the masses!

Do you go traditional? Or do you indie publish?  This topic coming in part 4!

I want to write a book Part 2: PUKE IT OUT

Puke it out! This is probably the one piece of advice I give to anyone who asks me. Sure, it doesn't sound pretty, but it.is.the.way!!!

Why do I say it this way? Because what usually happens when someone writes a book, or attempts to, is they keep messing with it. Trust me on this one. I wrote my first book for twenty-two years. I'd write a page or two, go back and edit, and fix, and change, and rewrite, then edit... BLEH!!!  Do you see the problem? Once you start doing that you never finish. And, once you start doing that you lose focus of your story.

So you have an idea. You have a character. You have a path. Now run down that path as fast as you can! Do not stop and look around. Keep your fingers on your keys and write that story.

If you live in the modern day, you have enough technology to give you immediate spell check. Sure, if it turns red fix the word, but don't keep going up to the start of the chapter and edit, edit, edit.  What's the use?

Think of NaNoWriMo. If you are a serious author I'm sure you've taken a shot at writing a book in November. Keep this kind of momentum all year long.  During November, if you're doing NaNoWriMo, you don't have time to keep going back and looking at your work. You have to keep plugging away.

At what point should you go back and look? This is a good question. When you get to the last quarter of your book go back and reread it.  (Now... I didn't say edit, just read.) Why do this? This will give you a good perspective on where you're going to tie up your book. You're going to find out if you strayed from the story. The reason I don't recommend editing here is that you loose your momentum, and really, we're racing to the end. But what I think you'll find is you're right on track.

Make notes in this rereading process if you must. Jot down a page number if you need to go back and look it over.  But don't go messing with it until we hit the editing process.

So this post is short and sweet. Puke it out. Get your thoughts on paper and who cares how raw they are. You might be telling a story and not showing it (I'm a stickler for this when it comes to submissions to my publishing house.) Yes this is something that can be taught, but if an editor has to teach each author this skill every time they contract a book, it gets old. However, at this point of your writing just get the idea down. To be honest, you're brainstorming the book.

When people tell me they want to write a book but can't I assume they haven't tried. Anyone can get words onto a paper, and in this process no one fails. You only fail when you keep second guessing yourself and going back to the beginning and starting over and over and over.

Puke it out.
Get it down.
Free your mind of the story.
Don't stop until you're done.

Next time...let's talk editing.

I want to write a book, part 1 WRITING PROMPTS

Welcome to my blog series I want to write a book. The tips I'm providing are what worked for me. Of course there are many paths to many places, so use these as suggestions on your journey to becoming a writer.

On a daily basis I receive emails from aspiring writers on how to begin the writing process.  Some have penned poems, others have even taken to writing a book, and then there are some that just don't even know where to start.

So, for them, we're going to start this series at the very beginning. Before you write, you need something to write about.

You've seen the shows where the therapist gives their patient a word and they have to come up with the first thing that comes to mind. Well, writing is much like that. Sometimes once the creative process starts you just can't stop. But where is your muse? What's going to make you want to sit down and spend all day looking at your computer?

If you have an idea, then my advice is to puke it out. (this is the topic of part 2)

For those who don't have a story idea begin to surf your local internet. That's right. Those who have come before us in this process have generously given us data bases full of names and ideas. Idiot proof, right?

I often use a name generator for my characters. I don't always use what they suggest, but it begins to give me ideas. Not only are there name generators there are promt generators. You can add in as much information as you'd like or as little.  Some even make lists for you and you can begin to weave the tale.

Image source sites are very helpful. You can see pictures of almost anything in the world and a beautiful sunset over the ocean will help any writer.

The interesting part about prompts is that if you give the same image to multiple writers you'll get multiple stories.

That sunset I mentioned before, for one author they might see it as the ending to the perfect romance. You know the kind (like I write), happily ever after. Another might see it as the perfect beginning for the perfect murder mystery. Once the sun sets you never know what might happen on the sandy beaches of Mars (yes...I added some sci-fi.)

A great exercise, and I do this even today, is to sit down and just write out a bunch of words. (Yes, there are going to be generators for this too!) Random is great. Look over your list. I'll bet you start pulling together another list.

I do this with titles. Let's look at my Aspen Creek series. I created a town and gave it a name. Easy! Now, the nice part about a town is it will have lots of different people in it.  Some are going to be life long residents, others are going to wander through and get stuck. There will be families. There will be loners. Someone has to own the store, the restaurant, the gas station. Someone has to work at the bank, the school, the police station. The glory of these small town series are intermixing all your characters all the time.

Again, take for example Aspen Creek. In my first book the two main characters grew up next door to each other. Story! They know the woman who runs the bakery, she has a story! The president of the bank, who they also grew up with, he has a story. Book two in series focuses on a middle school teacher, who grew up with the characters from the first book.  See the glory in it? Just like the relationships in your own life, you can build on these relationships for your characters.

Likewise, now that there is a list of all the businesses you'd have in a small town your mind can have some free range with titles. First Kiss, Last Kiss, a Kiss Goodbye, a Deadly Kiss, Tomorrow's Kiss, Snow's Bitter Kiss... Just making that list I got a few ideas! Bonus for me!

Play with making lists. Keep track of them too, you'll find you come back to them often.

When you get something that just feels right, take some time to write up a little blurb about the story. I'm not a plotter. You might find you are, that's fine. There are many resources for the writer who likes to plan out plots. Take some time to find out what you are. There will be a process that works for you, but unless you try them all, you'll never know. (AH! part 3 in my series!)

Back to the blurb...this is what you'd find on the back of the book. Think about this instant idea you've just had because you put down the words WHEN HARRY MET SALLY. (yeah...I'm pulling from one of the greats! Nora Ephron you're my hero!) So you think, two people who keep meeting and don't like each other, then one day they meet and become friends. And then they fall in love, but don't want to admit it, but then they do. Get it?

Writing the blurb when I have the title or idea fresh in my head has always been a bonus. You're going to need it anyway and once the story is written its hard to pull out these little lines. But, if you start with them they are your guide too.

So, before you dive into writing a 90,000 word manuscript (another one of my topics...all books do not have to have this many words...people know when you're just stretching a story) brainstorm as many ideas as you can. If you just can't come up with anything as your friends. Trust me, everyone has an idea for a book. I think you'll be surprised on how quickly your list will grow. I once sat down and created a list of twenty-eight titles. So far  THE EXECUTIVE'S DECISION, A SECOND CHANCE, FIRST KISS, MATCHMAKERS, and CANDY KISSES have all come from that first list. The only reason there aren't more, yet, is that I write fast...yes a book in 2 months always, but there is only so much time. Likewise, once you pen one you might find it has its own set to follow. THE EXECUTIVE'S DECISION and MATCHMAKERS are fine examples. They were supposed to be single title books. However, THE EXECUTIVE'S DECISION has a family and people wanted to know about these other parts of the family. MATCHMAKERS has a teenager whom people fell in love with. She needed a story. It spawned a series.

Yes, you'll deviate from your list, but in the end you'll always have it to draw from.

Get to writing. You never know when a few words scribbled on a piece of paper might become the next bestseller!

Good Luck!
Bernadette