Appreciating Other Writers
Recently, a dear friend of the family wrote and published her first book. It took me a solid day to stop smiling about it!
Only someone who has written a book can fully appreciate what an accomplishment that is. I know that when I started my writing journey, I had no idea. I thought that it was all about "simply" having a good idea and the imagination to put it all on paper. Or monitor, but I like saying "paper" better. It sounds more traditional.
But I digress. Writing is so much more than imagination. There's understanding the craft of writing, and creating a story that makes sense. Above all, and I wish I had known this years ago, it is about work ethic and commitment. Words can come spilling out of my head rapidly, but the art of writing comes in the editing process. I never imagined I could spend ten minutes arguing with myself over a comma, but ...
Wendy will always hold a special place in my family's heart, but she has an even more special spot in mine. She was the first person to ever ask me for my insight into writing and publishing (they are two vastly different concepts). A few years ago we sat down and I rambled on about craft and process and self-publishing vs. traditional publishing.
The other day her daughter shared her joy at her mother's accomplishment. I looked at that and started my smiling marathon.
I then got a little deeper into my head and started thinking about the history of books, and appreciating those who impacted the business. Thank you Johann Gutenberg, for the invention of the movable type printing press! Before 1850, books were written out by hand before being bound. Yikes. Guttenberg's first major production was, of course, the Bible. The few remaining copies of that work are among the most valuable books in the world.
Many years after the printing press came along, computers and the internet changed the game. I've seen pictures of the drafts of George Orwell's "1984," first his hand written one, then one that's typed out and includes editor's marks. My stars, I know how difficult the process is now; back then would have been a whole lot more challenging. If I don't like a word, I just move my cursor and delete it. If I want to move a paragraph: cut and paste. By no means is it easy, but compared to even 50 years ago, it's a lot less complicated.
Publishing now is vastly different, too. 30 years ago, a book nerd named Jeff Bezos opened a company to sell books online. He found a business model that works, nurtured it, and now Amazon is one of the world's largest businesses. But what's lesser known is how he impacted books. Remember- he's a nerd at heart.
Amazon allows authors to self-publish their books. It is amazing technology at work. When you think of "publishing," you think of going to a cute neighborhood bookstore or the big chain store and seeing shelves upon shelves of books for you to look at. Amazon is different. An author can upload all their text and cover art and whatever. Amazon does their magic. Then when someone wants a copy, Amazon presses a couple buttons and prints one copy, which is then sold.
Now, whether or not that's a good or bad thing a topic for another day.
In the end, the real magic comes from the sweat and tears (and maybe blood from a paper cut) of authors. It's far more work than anyone ever imagines. So kudos to anyone who goes down that road. And my smile has returned thinking about Wendy and what she's accomplished.
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