What Winston Churchhill Thought about Writing a Book
Contributed by Evan Swensen
Winston Churchill, the prime minister of the British Empire during World War Two, must have liked writing books—He wrote forty-seven of them. Many people are familiar with his four-volume work, A History of the English-Speaking Peoples.
In 1953, he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature for " his mastery of historical and biographical description as well as for brilliant oratory in defending exalted human values.” But did he like writing? What did Churchill think about writing a book?
One of his better-known comments is: “Writing a book is an adventure. To begin with, it is a toy and an amusement. Then it becomes a mistress; then it becomes a master; then it becomes a tyrant. The last phase is that just as you are about to be reconciled to your servitude, you kill the monster and fling him to the public.”
In other words, Churchill, the writer, was like any other author. He wrote anyway. He knew how his feelings about the project would vary. And he knew how the book would turn out—with writing The End and throwing it out to a waiting readership.
I empathize after writing a couple of books myself. Our authors certainly empathize. You can read some of their stories in Becoming a Published Author.
Now you know what Churchill thought about writing a book. And he kept writing anyway.
We hope you do the same.