Writing Fever

Looking forward to leading the upcoming writer's class on May 9 at the Indiana Conference offices (Writing with a Purpose, 9 a.m.-3 p.m.).  The class will be a mixture of information, encouragement and, hopefully, inspiration.

This past week, in reading tidbits from Isaac Asimov's autobiography, I picked up the following.

Asimov is generally regarded as the most prolific author in history (more than 450 published titles) but he did not land a book on the New York Times bestseller list until he was in his 50's (his fourth Foundation title: Foundation's Edge).  Up until that time some of his books sold well, but none were bestsellers.

This bestseller status did not attend Asimov's way until after he had published more than 240 books!

At one point, Asimov signed a contract to write 32 books (and wrote most of them in the coming 12 months).

Asimov's yearly published output (in book form) during his writing years was an average of 13 books a year . . . more than 1 book per month.

Asimov was a college professor early in his career (Chemistry) and never wrote on "company time".  He wrote before work, after work, and on weekends only and yet managed to produce a prodigious number of books.  He had written more than a hundred books before he was able to earn enough to work as a full-time writer . . . and he taught for 17 years until he could support himself and his family from his writing alone.

So . . . for anyone looking to write, take a lesson from Isaac.  Write every day.  Don't quit your "day job".  Write before and after "work".  Remember: bestsellers may never come, but that doesn't mean you can't write for fun, pleasure, or even some profit. 

Hope to see some friends on May 9!