Books often start with a simple yearning to explore new territory: fascinating topics, characters who won’t leave you alone, a good story. Writing at this level is sheer fun. It’s a great way to find out what you believe and who you are, to listen to yourself on paper and make sense of what you hear.

Writing a book is one of the most far-reaching journeys a person can take.

But because your book doesn’t always provide road signs, often you don’t know if you are getting anywhere at all. It’s easy to get lost along the way. You may have experienced the excitement of starting a book. You may have also experienced the frustration of stalling out midway through a manuscript because you didn’t know where to go next.

A book is much more than just producing pages. A book demands your belief, your stamina, and strong structure that a reader can follow.

It’s a lot easier with a map.

The summer I turned nineteen, I hitchhiked through Greece and lived to tell the tale. I was sleeping on the floor in a bookstore in Paris called Shakespeare & Company when I overheard some Australian students talking about a beautiful ruined temple overlooking the Aegean. It was August, too hot in Paris, and my college semester didn’t start for three weeks. I decided to see this wonder.

I bought a ticket on an overnight train and peppered the Aussies with questions. In Athens, trying to figure out how to follow the sun south, alone, with little money, no place to stay, I struck up a conversation with a young British couple. We decided to hitchhike to Cape Sounion. Together we would figure out the route.

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