The Mood
To My Younger Self: About That First Book…

To My Younger Self: About That First Book…

There’s a Few Things You Should Know

As your future self, I’ve got some good news and bad news. What do you want first?

Younger self:I guess the bad news. Wait, why am I talking to myself?

You’re not. You change by the day, by the hour. We all do, so imagine yourself eight years from now. You’re a new you.

Okay, the Bad News First.

  1. You’re taking this book thing too seriously. It doesn’t have to be your manifesto, or a ten-year masterpiece. Don’t spend years revising and editing and rewriting. Like Steve Jobs said, “Real artists ship.”
  2. Write it for others, not yourself. People read stuff because there’s something in it for them, even if that means a grand escape or life lessons or a good laugh. Do it all for the reader.
  3. Write in a flow state. Edit later. Enjoy the ride. Then, let it go. Don’t look back. Simply start up the next book.

Younger self: It sounds like you’re saying to hurry. I’m an artist!

Oh boy, calm down. No, never hurry. Just don’t be a perfectionist. It was Leo Tolstoy who said, “If you look for perfection, you’ll never be content.”

And Now the Good News…

  1. Even after the new-project-buzz wore off, you kept going. And you’ll finish, even if it’s taking you … ahem … a while.
  2. You shut up and wrote. You didn’t spend hours bragging to people about writing a book. You used the energy to actually write it. Yeah, you shared it with a select few, but only because you knew they’d make the book better.
  3. You joined a writers’ group and gained feedback from random writers. Some of them will become friends and the book’s biggest fans.
  4. You self-published on Amazon and learned a bit of marketing skills. You knew that whether a book is self-published or not, the writer ends up doing most the marketing. You might as well get a bigger slice of the pie.
  5. You told a good story with a redemptive plot and didn’t add to the trash heap of bad literature. It just took you a bit long…

Younger Self: Any other advice?

Yeah, before 2012 ends, grab some Amazon stock. You’ll thank me later.


Hey time traveler, you can see that book here …