The Writing Process Demystified

"How do you write a book?" I get asked this constantly. And the honest answer is: messily. There's this myth that real writers wake up at 5 AM, brew artisanal coffee, sit at a perfectly organized desk, and channel pure inspiration for three hours. That's not writing. That's fantasy.

What Writing Actually Looks Like

My writing process involves:

• Staring at a blank screen for 20 minutes
• Writing 500 words
• Deleting 400 of them
• Getting distracted by research that leads me down a Wikipedia rabbit hole
• Writing another 300 words
• Realizing I've been writing the wrong scene
• Making coffee
• Writing 1,000 words in a burst
• Rereading it the next day and wondering who wrote this garbage

And that's a good day.

The Myth of Inspiration

Beginning writers wait for inspiration. Professional writers show up and work.

I wrote six books. Not one started with a lightning bolt of inspiration. They started with:

• A vague idea
• A character I couldn't stop thinking about
• A question I wanted to explore
• Sometimes just "I should probably write something"

The magic doesn't happen in the inspiration. It happens in the revision.

My Actual Process (Unglamorous Edition)

Step 1: The Messy First Draft

I don't outline much. Some writers swear by detailed outlines. I write discovery drafts—I figure out the story by writing it.

My first draft of Threads of Resilience was 120,000 words. I cut 40,000. Entire plotlines disappeared. Characters I spent weeks developing got merged or deleted.

That's normal.

Your first draft's only job is to exist. It doesn't have to be good. It just has to be done.

Step 2: The "What Was I Thinking?" Phase

I put the manuscript away for at least two weeks. Sometimes a month.

When I come back, I read it with fresh eyes. And I'm usually horrified.

• Plot holes big enough to drive a truck through
• Characters who contradict themselves
• Scenes that go nowhere
• Dialogue that makes me cringe

Good. Now I can fix it.

Step 3: Structural Revision

This is where I tear the book apart and rebuild it.

I look at:

• Pacing — Does it drag? Rush? Where do readers lose interest?
• Character arcs — Do they actually change? Grow? Learn something?
• Plot logic — Does the story make sense? Are motivations clear?
• Theme — What is this book actually about?

For Threads of Resilience, I moved the climax 30,000 words earlier. The entire third act was restructured. It was painful. It was necessary.

Step 4: Line Editing

Now I care about sentences.

I read every line out loud. If it sounds clunky, it gets rewritten. If a word feels off, I change it. If dialogue doesn't sound like something a real person would say, I fix it.

This is slow. Tedious. Essential.

Step 5: The Final Polish

Proofread. Fix typos. Adjust formatting. Make sure character names are consistent (I once had a character whose name changed spelling three times).

Then I ship it.

The One Question That Changes Everything

When I'm stuck, I ask myself: "What would make this scene matter?"

Not "What happens next?" but "Why does this scene exist?"

If I can't answer that, the scene gets cut or rewritten.

Every scene should:

• Reveal character
• Advance plot
• Build theme
• Or create tension

Ideally, all four.

Dealing with Writer's Block

Writer's block is usually one of three things:

1. You don't know what happens next

Solution: Write anyway. Even if it's bad. Discovery happens in the writing, not in the staring.

2. You're writing the wrong scene

Solution: Skip ahead. Write the scene you're excited about. Circle back later.

3. You're afraid it won't be good enough

Solution: Write it badly. Give yourself permission to suck. You can't edit a blank page.

What About Creativity?

Creativity isn't about being struck by genius. It's about:

• Showing up consistently — I write most days. Some days are 200 words. Some are 2,000. Both count.
• Consuming widely — Read outside your genre. Watch documentaries. Talk to interesting people. Creativity feeds on input.
• Connecting ideas — My books mix entrepreneurship, psychology, history, and fiction. Those connections create something new.
• Iterating — First ideas are rarely best ideas. I brainstorm in volume, then refine.

The Truth About "Good Writing"

Good writing isn't about fancy words or complex sentences.

Good writing is:

• Clear — The reader understands what you mean
• Engaging — They want to keep reading
• Honest — It feels real, even when it's fiction
• Purposeful — Every word serves the story

That's it.

You don't need an MFA. You don't need perfect grammar (editors exist for a reason). You don't need to be "talented."

You need to care about the story and do the work.

How Long Does It Take?

The Lean Startup Blueprint: 4 months
5-Minute Miracle: 6 months
Threads of Resilience: 8 months
Echoes of Defiance: 6 months
Forgotten Geniuses of Mesopotamia: 10 months (research-heavy)
Flavors of the Motherland: 7 months

Each book got faster because I learned my process. I stopped fighting myself and started working with my natural rhythm.

Some writers draft in weeks. Some take years. Both are fine.

The only timeline that matters is: Are you making progress?

Your Turn

If you've been thinking about writing but haven't started: start badly.

Write the messy draft. Embrace the chaos. Let it be imperfect.

The difference between writers and people who want to write is simple:

Writers write. Even when it's hard. Even when it's bad. Especially then.

Your first draft won't be your best work. It'll be your foundation.

And that's exactly what it needs to be.

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