I’ve read many authors who said writing their book was like
giving birth. They were both men and women. (I often wondered how men knew what
it was like to give birth, but I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt.) To my
way of thinking, even though I understand the simile, I have to disagree.
Here’s why:
- The process of giving birth, even in the very worst-case
scenario, is over in thirty hours or so. My own book has been about fifteen
years in the writing, about two years in the final stages. Thankfully, my
babies came faster than that!
- The writing of a book is pretty much a one-person job. The
concept, the ideas, the nixing of ideas, the rewriting at least a million
times, the first, second and hundredth edit: all of those things are done by
one person, the author. In my case, of course, that was me. In the case of
childbirth, the main player was me, too, but I didn’t have to do and redo and
change and rethink. There was only one job, and there was only one way to do
it. All the other mothers in the world have done the same thing. Not all the
other mothers in the world have written my book.
- Some may talk about the “birthing pains” of bringing forth
their tome. I’ve not felt pain; I have enjoyed the process. Oh yes, it is work!
But, producing something I believe in, something that is a mission for me, for
an audience I am familiar with energizes me.
- And, the result? When I gave birth to a baby, I ended up
with a new little human being, all soft and sweet and delicate and dependent. I
don’t have my book in my hand yet, but the results of this labor will certainly
not be a human being nor soft, sweet,
delicate or dependent. They will be
satisfying and exciting. I am looking forward to that day. But nothing compares with becoming the
mother of a new baby!
So, I keep working, and my layout genius, Martha, keeps
working. We work together, and we’re almost there! Then, the printing people
get to work on it, and we hope soon to have the finished HIS WAYS, YOUR WALK
for you to read. We’ll let you know
when the birth (Oops! Did I say that?) happens.
We are looking forward to the birth of your new book. Is there such thing as a "book shower"? :-) Ben and Tammi
ReplyDeleteYou hit the process on the nail, girlfriend! What a great description of the writing process. I can sure relate! And, your touches of humor so often make me LOL! God certainly gave you the talent of both discernment and writing (among many other talents) and I'm so glad that you are using both to His glory! Let me know when the date has been set for the Book Shower mentioned above (: Sandra
ReplyDeleteOh yeah, a book shower! Is that where you stand in one place and people throw books at you? I think I'll pass, you guys.
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