Is writing a book easy? Do you have to be a creative genius to write a book? Where do your ideas come from? How long does a book need to be? What does point-of-view mean? These are all questions that new writers ask. They are questions that readers ask, too.

First, writing a book is hard work. Most writers that I know do it anyway, because writing is in their blood. It’s something that they love doing, even though at times they beat their heads against the wall. They question whether they’re any good at it. They question whether their newest book is as good as their previous books. They question whether they should give it up and find something else to do with their time. They almost always get past those questions and keep writing.

You don’t have to be a creative genius. We all have something to say. We have our own unique imaginations. It takes time to learn the skills that one needs to write, but you can learn them if you really apply yourself.

Ideas can come from inside you, from your dreams, from TV, from listening to the news, from history, from almost anywhere.

Books can vary in length. Shorter books can be novellas. Extremely long books can sometimes be divided into several books.

When discussing point-of-view, it’s about a scene being told from within one character’s mind–what that character sees, hears, smells, tastes, thinks. For instance, when there are multiple people sitting around a table, talking, they each have their own point of view. They may all hear the same conversation, but their internal thoughts will be different. One may be tuning out much of the conversation because she is thinking about her upcoming trip. Another may be agreeing with comments made, but inside is criticizing her friends and passing judgement. So, the scene would vary greatly, depending on which character is the viewpoint character.

For some authors, re-writing or editing is the hardest part of writing. For others, like me, it’s writing the first draft that’s hardest because it’s creating something out of nothing–starting with a blank page and writing 250 or more pages, without knowing for sure that what they are writing will turn into a good book or not.

Probably for most writers, though, the truly hardest part is promoting/marketing their books and getting reviews. That is a totally different skill that doesn’t come easy for many.