My third book

I've written the first 10 chapters now of my third book, and will have another 27 to write in the weeks and months ahead.  This is the third and final book of the series I've been working on called Heaven, Hell, and the Planet In Between. 

I published my first book, The Uniter, in 2013.  200 pages, available on Amazon.com at: www.amazon.com/Heaven-Hell-Pla….  And I published my second book, The Papal Visitor, in 2014.  256 pages, available on Amazon.com at www.amazon.com/Papal-Visitor-S….

This past week, I was a guest speaker for two classes at my local college.  For about an hour for each class, I spoke about what it's like creating characters, scenes, and plots for my stories.  These were reading-comprehension courses, so it was great for me to help the students understand the books they're reading from the author's side, and not just their own.  I explained how I came up with my character's names and why I made some of the choices I made, and I took them through some of my notes for my third book as well.

One question a student asked me was, "Why do you do it?  Why do you write?"  I started going through a few different answers for him, saying it was fun for me to tell myself a story, and fun to create a reality that doesn't exist right now on the earth.  I kept saying this and that, trying to answer his question for about a minute and a half, when the teacher, who'd invited me to speak, interrupted.  "What I'm hearing Sean say over and over here is the word 'fun'.  That's what I keep hearing, that it's just fun for him to do this."  I smiled and agreed completely.

Why do you write?  Is it a job for you?  Is it for money?  Are you hoping to write books to make lots and lots of money?  If that's your goal, I can't tell you it won't happen, but I can tell you from my experience, you're doing it for the wrong reasons.  Writing is about fun.  It's about going to town with your stories, and saying whatever the hell you want, because that keyboard or pad is in front of YOU right now, and no one else!  You can write a 10-page story about knights and princesses, or you can make it a 300-page book about mushrooms.  It doesn't matter what your topic is, as long as you are fully enjoying the process!  If it feels like work to you, it'll probably feel like work to your readers too.  And those kinds of books are just awful to trudge through!

So I guess what this whole journal entry from me is really about is just to let you know I'm writing my third book now, and I'm having lots of fun with it!  I can't wait to see how it ends, not just the book itself, but this 3-book story, and I know I'm having a lot of fun in the process of creating the finished product.

Here's wishing each of you lots of FUN in your own writing journey.  I wish you lots and lots of money too, by the way, but most of all, just have FUN!!!

Sean