A lot of misconceptions about books abound out there.One of those misconceptions that has become clear to me is that authors write books to teach.(Or to make money.Ha!)That may well be part of the motivation, but for me, the larger part has been writing books to learn.You see, the frontiers of human knowledge cannot be reached without stretching.Writing a book is a way of learning.Long gone are the days when a person could read every known published work.Indeed, there aren’t enough hours on the clock for anyone even to read all published books on the Bible, let alone the far bigger topics these days.And so writing a book that deals with a biblical topic—let’s say demons—is the ultimate learning exercise.It’s a very humbling one.
I recently read an article where book pirates (yes, there is such a thing!I should explain: there are those who believe authors are ripping off society by getting royalties for their books.These pirates, like those of galleys of yore, take ebooks and make them available for free on the internet.) call authors “elitists” for wanting to earn something from their labors.These folks, I’d humbly suggest, have never written a book.Most books (and I’m mainly familiar with non-fiction publishing here, but the same applies to the other kind) take years to write.Authors read incessantly, and if they have day jobs (which many do) it is their “free time” that goes into reading and writing.They do it for many reasons, but in my case, I do it to learn.
The doctoral dissertation is accomplished by reading as much as possible beforehand and writing up the results quick, before someone else takes your thesis.It is the practice I also used for my second book as well, Weathering the Psalms.The third book, Holy Horror, was a little bit different.Yes, I read beforehand, but much of the research went on after the body of the book had largely taken form.I had to test my assumptions, which are on ground most academics, needing and fearing tenure, tremble to tread.I read books academic and popular, and having been classically trained, often went back and read the books that led to the first books I read.It is a never-ending journey.I could easily spend a lifetime writing because I’d be learning.But like other misconceptions, those who write books don’t lead lives of luxury.They work for a living, but they live for the chance to learn.And that’s worth more than royalties. Besides, the nine-to-five demands constant attention.