Question: I’ve always wanted to write a book, but when I go to a bookstore and see all of the books that are already out there, I just wonder how I could ever compete with all of those and give up. How do you get yourself to keep writing?

I did a book signing in a bookstore this past Saturday, and spent time again this morning in a bookstore. And, yes, there are a LOT of books in there…and a huge number of them are either Suspense/Thrillers, or books for early readers, which is what I have been writing. There have been times I’ve just stood in a place like that and thought, “How in the world can I compete with this?”

But then I remember that it’s not about competition for me. I am not in competition with other authors, regardless of the genres they write in. Someone asked if I felt more like I was in competition with myself, and the goal was to keep making each book better than the last. But, nope, that’s not why I write either. Competition isn’t the deal for me. There is a huge stack of books out there in the world, just like a huge stack of television shows and a huge stack of movies. But the reality is that there is always room for another good story. I just write stories to write good stories.

I write stories because it is what I do. For many years I told stories. I told them to groups of adults, kids, healthy people, sick people, dying people, I told them on radio, on television, anyplace that I could somehow tell a story…I told stories. I often say that I grew up in a family of storytellers and liars, and I spent most of my time growing up trying to figure out which was which. My brain was wired for stories. It is what I do. It his who I am.

I love talking with other writers. I don’t think I could do that if I believed we were in “competition” with each other. That would be sad because I would miss-out on a lot of great conversation.

So, my answer would be to ask you, “Why have you always wanted to write a book?” If it is because you always wanted to write a book better than anyone else had ever written a book, well, I would wish you ‘good luck’. If it is because you want to write “the book”, become “rich and famous”, well, I would also wish you “good luck”, but probably with a <sigh> in my voice. And, either way, if those are reasons you want to write, I would encourage you to also think about growing tomatoes, or peppers, or something like that as well. That way, you would at least get the results you are after.

But, if you want to write that book because it is already living somewhere in your mind or heart, and it simply will not stop pestering you and asking, “WHEN ARE YOU GOING TO WRITE ME?”, or if you simply want to hold that book in your hand someday and smile, then, then, I would just say to stop wanting to write that book. Just sit down and start telling that story. Don’t think about it anymore. Just let the words out of your head and watch them show up on the screen or paper.

That is why I write.