So, if you want to start writing your book, where do you start? You start by knowing what you want to share. Remember in the last article (you can read it up here - https://sopiensofgod.blogspot.com/2021/08/be-author-challenge.html) we discussed that you can’t have a book without having something to share. And you know that everyone of us has something to share. But the problem most times is that we don’t know that we have something worthy enough to share. And those that know don’t know exactly how to go about it.
If I ask you to share something with me right now, I know you will have a lot to say. What about if I don’t ask you? You may not say anything even though you have a lot to say. But do you know that a book can give you the avenue to express what you have to say, without waiting for someone to ask you? There are many people who have buried their knowledge, ideas, passions, story because nobody ever asked them. They felt nobody needs what they have or they don’t know how to go about it. But the whole of their life and time have never been valued.
Again, some people felt they’ve never been heard. Nobody has ever said what’s on their mind. Their ideas and opinions have never been considered. And it’s just as if they’ve never been human being. And they’ve never been given the opportunity to express themselves. They’ve been looking for who will help them to let out those ideas and communicate them to the world. If you are in that position or know anyone who is, I have a good news – a book can be a good platform to use. That’s why you must consider having a book. It is never a luxury, but an asset. It is valuable both now and future. And generations would appreciate you for it.
If you are thinking of what you want to share, you can look at it in two ways. First, is to tailor it to satisfying your need, that is author-oriented. Or second, is to tailor it to satisfying your readers’ need, that is reader-oriented. I know many people think every book must be reader-oriented. But that’s just one side of the coin. There are some books that are written without readers in mind. The author focuses on his ideas and people still gain a lot of value from it.
A good example is Codex Leicester, a book written by Leonardo da Vinci (an Italian polymath) in early 16th century. The 72-page notebook focuses on Da Vinci’s thoughts relating to water – tides, eddies, and dams – and the relationship between the moon, the earth and the sun. Bill Gates, the Microsoft cofounder, bought the book in 1994 for over 30 million dollars, a price that made the book to be the most expensive book ever sold. I’m sure when Da Vinci was writing the book, he didn’t have Bill Gates in mind, he was just writing his thoughts based on what he had observed and experimented. But Bill Gates found so much value in the book that he had to pay that much to own the book. You can decide to make your book center on your ideas alone, or you can make it focus on your reader’s needs. Both are good, depending on which one you want to share at the moment. The most important thing is – your ideas and thoughts are documented, which can benefit generations to come.
What you want to share can be anything, really. From your story, to your passions, to your knowledge, to your skills, to your ideas, to your lifestyle and so on, the sky is the limit. After you’ve made up your mind on what you want to share, then, you need to organize those things and turn them to a book.
How do you organize those things? First, pour them out. Let everything you know about the subject be articulated. If you like writing, write them out. If you don’t like writing, speak them out. Most people are comfortable with speaking. You can speak by yourself and record it or get someone to have conversation with and record it as well. The whole idea is to get all that you know about the subject out. This process is called mind mapping. And with the help of technology today, you can do that easily. You can also do it with writing. You can write down whatever comes to your mind on the subject and get it organized later.
While you may not bother if you are good with writing or not, you have all it takes to be an author. And that is the fact that you have something to share. You can get someone who is good at any of this to help you out or if not, I’ll make the provision very soon for those who are interested.
All your ideas can be documented and valued. You don’t want people to just celebrate you when you are alive, you also want to be celebrated even after you have long gone. And that is through the legacy that your book would provide. I see you becoming a great author that you had always wanted to be. My regards! Follow this link to read the next article - https://sopiensofgod.blogspot.com/2021/09/be-author-challenge-part-3.html
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Suggested Articles:
1) 15 Reasons Why You Must Have Your Own Book: https://sopiensofgod.blogspot.com/2020/09/15-reasons-why-you-must-have-your-own.html
2) Your Life Is A Principle: https://sopiensofgod.blogspot.com/2020/09/your-life-is-principle.html
