Reading time: 1.26

338 words

Hey Reader,

In 1831, Victor Hugo huddled naked in his room for several months, having given away all of his clothes and possessions, in order to finish The Hunchback of Notre-Dame before his publisher flipped a table.

Or so legend has it.

In the early 1800s, Henry David Thoreau built himself a cabin in the woods, into which he disappeared for weeks at a time to write.

The Romantic poets swanned around Europe partying with opium and writing ghost stories at their leisure, while bored during the volcanic wintry summer of 1816, and Frankenstein was born to Mary Shelley.

I don’t know about you, but it wouldn’t be entirely practical for me to lock myself away for weeks at a time to write my book. I need to pay the mortgage.

And the good news is: we don’t have to!

There’s this pervasive myth that in order to write a book we have to be willing and able to dedicate months at a time to it, to the exclusion of all else.

Which is fine and dandy if you’re independently wealthy or, ya know, you have a wife at home to do literally everything else.

While it’s a lovely idea and if someone handed me enough cash to take a year off and do nothing but write a book, I’d bite their hands off… it’s not necessary.

You can write your book in the time you have. You just need to be organised and disciplined about it.

Octavia Butler was a potato chip inspector, among many other temp jobs, while she wrote her classic sci-fi novels.

Harper Lee was a ticket agent for Eastern Airlines while she wrote To Kill A Mockingbird.

J D Salinger was activities director on a cruise ship (yes, really) while he wrote The Catcher In The Rye.

Countless other authors wrote famous books in the spaces they created around everyday life.

Writing a book isn’t just for “those people over there,” it’s for you, too. If you want it.

TTFN,

Vicky 🫡

p.s. Know someone who might enjoy this email? Please forward it to them and get them to sign up here.