“You can be anything you want to be, if only you believe with sufficient conviction and act in accordance with your faith; for whatever the mind can conceive and believe, the mind can achieve.” ~ Napoleon Hill

I just finished reading ‘The Man Behind The Da Vinci Code” – “An Unauthorized Biography of Dan Brown” by Lisa Rogak.  This was by no means an earth-shakingly good book, but it did give me some good insights into how Dan Brown became the mega-successful author that he is today.  I love to read autobiographies whenever I can, but Dan Brown has not written one yet.  So, this book was as good as I could do.

I read autobiographies and biographies of people that I respect or people that have already achieved some part of what I intend to achieve.  I believe that doing this saves me time and missteps – if someone has already done what I intend to do, and I do the same things that they did, I should achieve very similar results.  (This is a basic tenet of NLP.)  For me, I intend to be a best selling author and Dan has already done that.  There should be a great deal that I can learn from him, even if I write non-fiction and he writes fiction.

So, What Did I Learn From My Study of Dan Brown?

  • Write early in the day when you have no other commitments or excuses.  Dan did most of the work on his first books starting between 4am and 430am.
  • Study your first results and early feedback.  Dan used each of his books as an exercise in learning what attracted attention and sales and what did not.
  • Find a job that supports you while giving you time to write.  Dan worked in LA and back on the East Coast as a teacher while working and publishing his early works.  Self-discipline must be one of his keys to success!
  • Find a supportive mate or best friend.  Dan very wisely hooked up with his wife-to-be while he was a musician in LA and from what I gather, she is still a great source of help and guidance and belief.
  • Study the competition.  What is selling or not selling and how did they do that – I believe that Dan spent lots of time here.
  • Carefully plot and plan your work.  Dan had great outlines long before he wrote any significant amounts of his actual prose.
  • Write much more than you need and edit harshly.  I think this is great advice for anyone that writes!

Thanks for the great advice Dan.  Even though I am getting this information from someone who did not actually interview you, I think you would agree with what I have extracted.  And Dan, should you by some miracle read this – I and millions of others are really ready for your next book – call it good and send it out to us – perfection is unobtainable anyhow.

Till next time faithful reader…Jack

“He who has done his best for his own time has lived for all times.” ~ Johann Von Schiller