Riding On Dragons

52 Years To Write A Book (And Notes Of Thanks)

The two questions I am most often asked as a book author are:
1- How long does it take to write a book?
2- Where do you get your ideas?

52 Years?

My answer to the first question depends on what I have in mind as my starting point. The questioner is usually thinking of the moment that I wrote the first paragraph. But there is a difference between writing a book and working on a book. I worked on each of my books, without being aware that I was doing so, for years before I plunked my butt in a chair to lay down the first words.

Before I made the distinction between writing and working on, when I was asked how long it took to write my first book, I used to answer, “It took fifty-two years.” I was fifty-two when the book was published.

I quit answering in that way when I realized I sounded like a wise-ass author goofing on readers and it dawned on me that each subsequent book would seem to take longer. “This one took fifty-six years.” “This one took sixty years.” You get the picture. I am also less inclined to announce my age as I get older.

Ideas In Experience

The second question–Where do you get your ideas?–is a bit easier to answer: experience. The idea for my first book, Artful Work, came from hanging out with a group of artists who were exploring the creative process together.

The idea for the second, The Art Of Winning Commitment, grew from a chapter that I wrote for a corporate biography. The project was canceled when the company got cold feet after I told them that they ought to tell the truth. I made a book out of that chapter.

The idea for the third, Is Your Genius At Work?, came from twenty years of designing and leading workshops to help people understand their own unique gifts.

Two Notes Of Thanks

All of this is in front of me right now because I have begun to create a proposal for another book. I won’t say much about it now because when I talk too much about a book at this stage I tend to dissipate the energy to actually write it. The wives, husbands and partners of book authors will understand and accept that kind of silence or, if they don’t, will maybe become ex-wives, ex-husbands and ex-partners (The Scout, God bless her, does understand and accept it).

But I do want to acknowledge where this idea came from, anticipating the question, “Where do you get your ideas?” It came from blog posts written by two of my favorite bloggers. Dave Rothacker wrote about a book titled, The River Of The Golden Ibis, which is about Florida’s Hillsborough River. I read the book. Dan Oestreich reminded me of a section of Herman Hesse’s Siddhartha. This particular section is also about a river. Dan’s post set me to re-reading that book, which I read so long ago that I barely remembered it.

While those two posts started me down the path of writing, I probably began working on this book about thirty years ago while fishing for trout on Vermont’s White River. Or maybe when I was eight and my grandfather took me fishing on Philadelphia’s Wissahickon Creek.

So thanks Dave, and Dan. And, “Yes,” this book is about a river.

“I am haunted by waters.”

(Kudos and true admiration from me–for whatever that’s worth–to the first person who knows the source of that closing quote and mentions it in a comment.)

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Tags: Artful Work, Dan Oestreich, Dave Rothacker, Genius At Work, Hesse, Siddhartha, Winning Commitment

This entry was posted on Friday, April 17th, 2009 at 9:36 am by Dick Richards and is filed under Artful Work, Creativity, Writing. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

12 Comments

Dan says:

April 17, 2009 at 10:09 am

I love how synchronicity and genius work for one ready for inspiration. I’ll look forward to your book, Dick….and “haunted by waters,” hmmm, I’ll take a guess and say “A River Runs Through It” but I don’t know for sure and am willing to be surprised!
Dick R says:

April 17, 2009 at 10:19 am

Bells! Whistles! Gongs! A River Runs Through It is correct. Those are the closing words of the book.

Nice how you said that Dan: “synchronicity and genius work for one ready for inspiration.”
dave says:

April 17, 2009 at 1:59 pm

Thank you Dick!

I love this quote: “I won’t say much about it now because when I talk too much about a book at this stage I tend to dissipate the energy to actually write it.” And, I will take it to heart.

Dick, you’ll never guess in a hundred years, how old I am
Dan says:

April 17, 2009 at 1:59 pm

Imagine that! Here’s one for you, Dick.
Dick R says:

April 17, 2009 at 2:38 pm

Dave — I am no good at guessing people’s ages, so I’ll take a pass thanks. But if you want to finally reveal some deep dark secret here on my blog, I’m happy to provide the platform.

And to anyone who has stopped in here, go visit the link Dan gave us above. It is one of the most beautiful blog posts I’ve ever seen–in many many ways.
Lonnie says:

April 18, 2009 at 3:24 am

A River Runs Through It – Norman Maclean
Is this the source of your quote, young man? !!!
Joely Black says:

April 18, 2009 at 3:38 am

I like your answers, although I fully appreciate you might not want to keep adding more years to the first answer!

I never know how to answer these questions. Ideas come from everywhere, don’t they?
Dick R says:

April 18, 2009 at 7:44 am

Not first Lonnie, but right on!

Joely — ideas do come from everywhere and the best have a source beyond our poor human understanding.
Margie Cherry says:

April 20, 2009 at 9:48 am

Dick, I am hoping that the river in question is a metaphor for the fluidity of our life and work…’cuz if it’s just about fishing, I may not get to read it…unless you get Brad Pitt to star in the movie just like Norman MacLean did!!!!
I have no doubt that, citing Siddhartha as an inspiration, this book will be spiritual and life-expanding, even if it stars a talking trout!
Keep manifesting your genius!
Dick Richards says:

April 22, 2009 at 6:57 am

Good to hear from you Margie!

“a metaphor for the fluidity of our life and work”

Something like that. Definitely not a fishing or travel guide. More in the spirit of John McPhee’s book about the New Jersey pine barrens.

Robert Redford bought the rights to A River Runs Through It and produced the movie. Maclean had refused to sell the rights to another producer who wanted to change the plot and give it a happy ending. Redford promised to be faithful to the book.

Sadly, Maclean died while the movie was being filmed.
Kathryn says:

April 23, 2009 at 7:13 am

Oy. I’m often embarrassed by pondering how long it’s taken me to write and work on my book. I comfort myself by telling myself what I have told book clients for years: every book has its own story and its own destiny and its own karma. I could add: and its own purpose. And there are layers upon layers of stories in each of those avenues of thought. So maybe the answer is “it takes as long as it takes.”
Dick R says:

April 23, 2009 at 7:31 am

Kathryn–You told me what you wrote above after my first book was published: “every book has its own story and its own destiny.” I’ve thought about it many times since then and, while I treated it as simply sage advice years ago, it now has the ring of truth. Hang on to it!

And I do have to ask myself whether I am facilitating or impeding the “story and destiny.”