3 Things I Didn’t Expect in the Journey of Writing my First Book

And what everyone can learn from it

One of the most common questions I got during the last few years of writing my book was, “How was it?”

They want to know how the process of writing a book was. I guess not many people have friends that have written a book. So if you’re a subscriber here, here’s your tell-all!

So I’ll share 3 reflections that I didn’t expect to have from the book writing process.

1. Writing a book is really hard

One of the earlier attitudes I had when I first started writing was, “This is going to be a piece of cake!” I thought of myself as a decently good writer. I felt like I had good depth. And also, I had been writing in some shape or form like this for over 20 years.

However, as I dug down into the process, I realized something. This was hard. I mean really hard.

It turned out to be literally the hardest thing I’ve done in my life. This is even after having a Master’s education.

One of the things I learned is that it’s easy to write. Anyone can write the length of a book. What’s hard is writing a good book. A good book isn’t just thoughts that come from my brain onto the page. It is writing in a way that allows people to read, understand, and receive its message.

It required me to think about writing completely differently. I had to learn new skills, and fail at others.

So yah, writing a book is really hard.

2. Our Output often requires our Own Change

One of the things that I thought about was…”Why did it take so long for me to write this book?” The process took about 2.5 years. I honestly thought I’d be done at about 6 months in.

But around the 1.5-year mark, I felt the Lord give insight into why it took so long. He said–It isn’t that the book took this long to write. It’s that it took you this long to change in order to become the person to write this book.

In those years, I really became a really different person. I learned how to be more empathetic. How to be more pastoral. How to come down to people’s level better. This weakness was evinced in my earlier drafts. It was not just a writing problem–it was a character problem. It was something I needed to grow in.

This is true for every adventure that God puts us on. It’s often not the task that requires the greatest work. It is us. It is the change in us that he is trying to produce that he is concerned about.

3. We are a product of the people around our lives

The most important asset I had in the writing process was perseverance. It is the ability to not give up (You need that if you’re writing a book!)

The second most important asset was the people around me during the whole process. I had friends from close and afar constantly give me encouragement, feedback, and consolation during the process.

Of course, the MVP of this was my wife. There were many dark nights when I felt like giving up or felt like I had nothing important to say. But in those times, through the Holy Spirit, she would encourage me.

The people that God has placed in your life is absolutely critical in doing the things that God has called you to. For me, my wife was one of those critical people.

We need people like that in our lives. We are not meant to go through our calling and the adventures that God puts us on on our own. Central in that journey will be the people he has placed in our lives. These people are here to shape us, encourage us, and mold us to become the people that God is calling us to become

Conclusion

So that’s it! Those are 3 reflections from the book writing process.

Do you ever want to write a book? Is there a project that you’re working on that reminds you of the process I went through?

Let me know in the comments!

You were made for greatness,
Phil