Always a Student, Never a Master: The Power of Beginner’s Mind
When I wrote my first book, it was an adventure. Not only was it my first major project, it was the moment I realized just how little I knew about the craft of writing.
I was two years into my professional writing career when I shifted from short stories to my first book. Sure, I’d written “books” before. But trust me, those will NEVER see the light of day. That already made this one different. I was not writing it for fun or because writing is my passion (though both of those statements are true), I was writing it with the intent that it would be published.
A whole book that was completely written by me.
At the time, it seemed like a daunting task. As I sat down those first few weeks, I realized just how much I had to learn. And with three months until the deadline, I didn’t have a lot of time to learn it.
I spent a month doing nothing but research. I had a rough outline and I had a lot to learn to fill in those gaps. I read books, watched crime dramas, read case studies, and more.
And that was just the first book.