So, you want to write a book? All right.
The first thing you need to establish is, what will your book be about? What story needs to be told? What story is interesting enough to not only keep your readers going for 300+ pages, but also to keep YOU going. It's going to be a lot more work writing the thing than reading it.
One question that will need answering: fact, or fiction? Or a colorful combination thereof?
Another question: what tense or person will it be written in?
I personally have a hard time inventing something more interesting than my own sphere of experience. Others have inner lives that are so creative and colorful that the pages of their stories are canvasses for things we could never experience otherwise. Either way is fine, as long as it's what's real to you. But what is real to you? How do you write at your most fluid, and real? When the ink of your pen becomes your own life-blood, what general style do those words embrace or reflect? That will need to be established before you even set your first word on the first page of your first book.
That's the voice you need to capture: that's the voice that will tell your story in your book.
However, the biggest problem most aspiring writers face is in fact, what will they write their book about?
This will be the first, and possibly even the most important, hurdle for us to confront and conquer, as all future actions in this course will depend on having successfully discovered what story most needs to be told.
We still start by brainstorming.
Think about these questions, and answer them completely:
1. Is there something you obsess over mentally? Is there something you keep coming back to in your thoughts? I am not talking about those little "demons and voices" many of us have that warn us or act as naysayers. Forget about them. They will be shut up and silenced as a result of your book. No, I am talking about the recurring thoughts, questions, ideas that you and only you have that seek to find a voice and to be heard. I am talking about your dreams, your desires, your hates, your loves. I am talking about that thing inside you that you keep coming back to because it wants to be expressed fully. I am talking about the collection of experiences you've had that seem to reflect you more natively than anything else. I am talking about the experiences you treasure, you abhor, the ones that you consider have helped shape you and your viewpoint more than any others.
Write them down. Don't think too much. Don't worry if your thoughts go all over the place. We are not looking for anything more than literal brainstorming here. What are the thoughts you keep coming back to? What are the ideas that form a central theme in your life? Stop thinking: just write. We don't care about grammar, tense, person, manners or form. We'll have a look at where theses ideas are heading later. For now, just get them out of your head and onto the page.
2. What areas of life are you an expert or authority in? For example, you may have some technical training or background which makes you an authoritative voice on that subject. However, this is a VERY limited example for this question. What I'm getting at here is this: what area of LIFE can you weigh in on with the experience, background or closure required to fully understand it? We are looking here for areas that you can say "I KNOW about this"; or "I can OWN this; this is MINE". Areas you may personally consider mundane or even uninteresting, if only because you are so used to it that you don't recognize it may be of interest to others.
I want areas of your life which are preferably NOT works in progress. I want areas that you can speak about with full knowledge and depth of understanding. To use an extreme example, let's say you're a cancer survivor. You've seen the battle through, from beginning to middle to end. Now you're done with it and you've moved on. Good. That's an area you KNOW about, from the inside out, an area you can own from start to finish.
Another example might be taken from where or how you grew up. Or from your experiences in the auto or sales industry. Or a string of crap relationships or behavioral patterns that you've managed to identify and get through and over with. I want any areas of your life and experience that you are an authority on, because you've been there and you've lived the life and you understand it and you have real insight and knowledge of.
Don't judge yourself while you write these down. That will come later. For now, any areas that are unique to YOU, your viewpoint, your understandings and experiences with, that you can authoritatively OWN. These areas may not even be that interesting to you, but they may be interesting for someone else. We'll decide that later.
You are the only "you" in the world. What can you bring to the table that is authentically yours?
No comments:
Post a Comment