52 You Have a Book in You Sooner or later, your work is going to be critiqued by someone—hopefully by the editor who’s given you a con- tract. It’s in your best interest to have your book in solid shape as soon as possible. Creating a hard copy and read- ing it out loud are essential steps. If You Don’t Write, Don’t Do Anything Else! Raymond Chandler was a trailblazing novelist and screenwriter from the 1930s through the 1950s. Along with a few other writers, he essentially created the mod- ern detective story and the hard- boiled private eye. As it happens, Chandler also had a neurotic personal- ity and found it di昀케cult to complete a project, or even to start one. He was always looking for the magic bullet that would cure his writer’s block. At one point, he was sure he’d found the answer. When he sat down at his desk, he gave himself permission not to write if he really couldn’t think of anything. But he also denied himself permission to do anything else: no newspapers, no phone calls—just the blank wall behind the typewriter. Chandler’s the- ory was that the sensory deprivation would become so unpleasant that he’d eventually start writing in spite of himself. Did it work? Not exactly as he’d hoped, but the prin- ciple is interesting. Some writers are hard- core pro- crastinators. 吀栀ese people really will turn even a slight