Tuesday's Inspiration - Edgar Rice Burroughs

I will admit to reading the Tarzan series and the John Carter books when I was much younger than I am today. In fact starting at age 4 when I discovered the library, I read and read. When there was nothing new to read, I re-read books. My mother used to say, "You don't read, you inhale." What does this have to do with Edgar Rice Burroughs? Twice in the past few weeks I've come across the same quote of his and today this has inspired me

"If you write one book, it may be bad; if you write a hundred you have the odds in your favor."

Interesting thought. What does it mean to a writer. I have several friends who have written just one book, over and over again. They are striving for perfection and somehow they never find that goal. I have other friends who have written a hundred books, some less and some more. What the quote means to me is to become an author a writer needs to write more than one book. There many things that can be learned by a constant plunging into something new. I also believe a writer to become an author is to read and read in a variety of fields.

 That one book a writer produces may gain publication and success or that one book could languish in a drawer forever as version after version is produced. The writer of many books may come to a delightful discovery. Every book they write is better than the one before. Those first few attempts may be shoved into a closet but suddenly the writer becomes an author. One learns by doing and honing the bits and pieces of writing that can be learned.

What about you? Are you a one book writer or one who writes until the craft of telling stories helps you beat the odds?