How to Survive Writing a Book

When a person wants to become an author, it's a very big decision to make. I was going to make an endeavor into cooking when I decided to write my book and I'm still wrestling with that decision. However, this is not about me. This is about writing. There is many times a day that an author would reconsider their career choice and I've heard that being a writer is a career. Writing a book is nerve-wracking, with the characters and the dialogue and the pivotal moments that one has to write. All of this work can drive a writer insane. Then, there's the pesky writer's block, when the things that sound perfect in your head refuse to come out right on paper. So, how does one stay sane when they are writing? Here are a few tips that help me along in the writing process. I hope that someone can find these helpful as well:

1: Know when to hold them, know when to fold them, know when to run: I think that this may be a gambling phrase, but it also holds true when you're writing a book, given that writing a book is a big gamble in itself. What does this mean, however? It means that when there are characters or scenes that you are pulling for and you know that there is no way that it will fit into your book, let it (or them) go. It will be hard, but it will probably better in the end. If you just can't seem to part with the scene or the character, make it work. You're the writer, you can control what goes on in your book.

2: When in doubt, ask: There may be a moment in your book where you may have to change something to improve it or to make a bad situation seem worse or more pivotal, but you need to know someone else's opinion. Well, ask somebody how it sounds to them. If you don't live with someone or it would pull you out of the writing process to go to the phone, ask someone on the internet. E-mail somebody or go to Yahoo Answers. The latter is somewhat risky, as in you risk some jerk finding your question and answering it in a jerky manner, but you get to hear the opinions from people around the world. So, it might pay off in the end.