The usual doubts.

I admit, I'm feeling somewhat discouraged.

Do other writers have such doubts? I wonder. They probably wouldn't write if they didn't have a pretty big ego.

Anyway, all I can see is the weakness of the writing, right now. I mean, it's probably no worse than what I wrote years ago and which got published. But...I don't know, it's hard.

What does it take to write a good book?

I was thinking about a rough formula last night.

Talent+Work+Time (+Help.)

Talent, of course. Work, making the effort to do it. Time, giving yourself enough perspective to improve it. Help, this is a bonus if you can get it; editorial help.

So if the novel takes, say, a minimum of a 100 points to be good, how to apportion the different aspects?

Talent+Work+Time. (+Help).

Off hand, I'm going to say Talent is 50% minimum. That's what you start with, and without it, it's pretty hard to get to 100. But, let's say you're supremely talented and it gets you 80% of the way, and a little work and time and editorial help, and you're easily over the 100%. These are the really talented people.

I suppose there are guys out there who can only get say 40% of the way, and make up for it by taking a long time to Work on it. They really work at it, learn their craft, make up for the lessor talent through hard work. They take the time, the years, to learn how to get it done.

And there are people who have such a great concept, or outlines of a story, that they get a large percentage of Help. Their efforts are reinforced because they start strong. For me, this is a recipe for writer's block: waiting around for the killer idea.

Mostly, I think, these days you don't really get that editorial boost unless you are already an established writer -- one of those whose talent takes them 80% of the way.

My own abilities? I'm going to say middling, in the 50% range. I'm willing and able to put another 25 or 30% effort into getting it done, which still leaves me 20% short.

I think this is about where I was years ago. Probably had a bit less craft, and put in a bit more work, but ended up in a similar place. The books got published, I think, because they were timely.

That feels about where I'm at right now.

So what's left? How can I push myself that 20% to get over the line?

Editorial Help and Time, unless I get a talent transfusion. The time element really just means giving myself more time to Work on it. The time to get some inspiration. Some new perspective, some kind of trick to improve it.

I can count on the time, if I give it to myself. So I've decided to do that. I had already given myself a year, but a good third of that was wasted -- it wasn't until my Baker City trip about 4 months in that I got serious. I was hoping to be done by June, but I'll give myself more than that if I need to.

In both the editorial help and time, I guess I'm hoping for inspiration, some method that I can utilize to energize my book.

Editorial help? We'll see. But even if I get a boost from that, it's best not to expect to that to happen again and again. If it's hard work for me, and I'm the guy benefiting, I can't expect other people to do it for me. I know that people will often volunteer, without really realizing what they're in for.

Really, in the end, the writer is responsible for the book.

I'm deep enough in this book that I'll produce it, eventually. I'm want to bridge as much of the gap between the book as it is now and the book I envision, before I let it go.