“I could put out a better book than that”

September 8, 2014 Discussion 16

Like many of us who spend our free time with our noses in a book (or tablet or e-reader or headphones listening to a book), I’ve often fantasized about writing a book.  I read the stories about how Tolkein built his super rich world and despaired at ever having the dedication and the attention span to do something like that.

I like to finish a book in a weekend (reading) how could I spend months or years writing, re-writing, refining and editing a book?  I’ll just stick to writing 250 word reviews of other people’s work under Pabkins watchful eye.
If you’re considering writing a science fiction novel, give this a gander:

10 Things That Every Brand New Creator of Science Fiction Should Know

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(Tabitha piping in here for a second – I used to think that yah someday I would love to write a book but now a days I’m like uhhh no, never, no way, no how! Think about all that work! And I totally don’t have any original ideas – and I’m terrible at witty dialogue. Essentially I would get ripped to peices if I were to ever try. I hate reading trash books and hell I think that’s all I’d be capable of. Now back to my anime watching….cause I’m sorely lacking in the concentration dept for reading the past two weeks – can you tell?)

Alan

Alan

Father of four, who spending most waking hours working as an executive at a health care company. He is often cranky and sometimes a know-it-all. He has a unique relationship with books. Alan cut his teeth reading science fiction (Niven, Pohl, Asimov, Clarke, Card) stolen from his father's bookshelf. In 7th grade he discovered Anne McCaffery and Piers Anthony which expanded his horizons into fantasy. At 16, a young lady suggested that Anne Rice writes some "hot" books. His beautiful bride Maggie introduced him to PNR (Laurell K. Hamilton). His guilty pleasure is "cotton candy" pulp fiction from the 50s and 60s (Edgar Rice Burroughs).
Alan

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16 Responses to ““I could put out a better book than that””

  5. Mogsy @ BiblioSanctum

    To everyone who has ever said, “Geez, I have all these ideas for a novel and I’d love to write one some day, but I just don’t think I’ll ever get around to it” I always point them to NaNoWriMo. Everyone is in the same boat, and doing it together as a community is a great motivator. No pressure, just 30 days of literary abandon. The point is just to write, write, write – getting words on paper is the most important thing, rewriting and editing can come later. And some participants have actually ended up getting their NaNo novels published.
    Mogsy @ BiblioSanctum recently posted…Book Review: The Vampires of Manhattan by Melissa de la CruzMy Profile

  7. La Coccinelle

    I’ve read a few books lately where I thought I could’ve done a better job. Actually, it was more like, “If they had let me edit this one, I could’ve made it so much better!” If those hadn’t been e-books, I would’ve been really tempted to take an actual red pen to the text…
    La Coccinelle recently posted…In My Mailbox (78)My Profile

  8. Cait @ Notebook Sisters

    I COMPLETELY AGREE. *deep sigh* I’m a writer and seriously, I have spent 5 years editing and rewriting one book (I mean, amongst others, but still) FIVE WHOLE YEARS. And it’s probably not quite ready still. It’s a huge thing and so much work. Which is why I get frustrated when people bash books, because yeah sure they suck, but the absolute effort it takes to get a book out there is HUGE. Still, not ever book appeals to everyone, right?!! So it’s obviously fine to dislike books a lot. 😉
    Cait @ Notebook Sisters recently posted…Falling Into Place by Amy Zhang || woot! for teen authors!My Profile

  9. Mary @ BookSwarm

    I still have hopes that someday I’ll write a book that’s actually worth publishing (yeah, those trunk novels need to stay in the trunk!)…and that I won’t crumble under self-doubt when I try to do it. Until then, I’ll read (and if I ever do decide to publish, I’ll read MOAR!! Heh.)
    Mary @ BookSwarm recently posted…Creative MoJo (2): The Blue VersionMy Profile

  10. Danya @ Fine Print

    Sometimes I’ll read a book and think “this would’ve been so much better if ___________ had happened!” Those moments are the only times I’m ever tempted to write a book. I’m a good academic writer but I cannot for the life of me write fiction. I tried it a few times and thought what I’d come up with was awesome – then when I’d go to read it the next day I’d be completely horrified. Those paragraphs will never see the light of day. NEVER!!
    Danya @ Fine Print recently posted…Review: The Scroll of Years by Chris WillrichMy Profile