Some time ago, a friend walked up to me and he was like, "Anox (that's my nick), i wish to write a book."
I was like, "Start up, what you waiting for?"
He was like, "I have only typed CHAPTER 1, and nothing else."
I was like, "Do you know what you gonna write on."
He was like, "yessss, i do, but i'm kinda stuck at the moment."
And i, stroking my beardless jaw said something like: "i will share an article with you that i think will help you out".
After much thought, i think i should like just share it here,
*THIS IS AN ARTICLE by Okechukwu Ofili : 7 Things You Must Do Before Writing a Book @ ofilispeaks.com
HIS WORDS:
One thing a lot of people don’t know about me is that I am a full time engineer working a typical 9 to 5 job. But
despite the craziness of corporate life, family life and running 2
entrepreneural ventures, I have been able to complete 2 books within 24
months.
If you cull anything from the title of my next book How
Laziness Saved My Life, it is that I am one of the laziest people in the
world (I kid I kid). I really like finding the most optimal way to get
things done and one of them was how to write a book despite a crazy and
busy schedule.
After meeting many authors with unpublished
manuscripts (I once met a girl that had 5 completed manuscripts but no
book), I realized that the greatest obstacle to writing is not the
writing itself but rather the mental approach to writing.
So based on my
2-book writing experience I came up with a list of things that everyone
who has ever dreamt about writing a book should do. It is called 7
Things You Must Do Before Writing A Book.
NOTE: You might still not believe, but writing is one of the least important things in writing a book.
Surveys show that 80% of people want to write a book in their lives, but only very few people get to realize their dream of writing.
#1 Tell Everybody You Are Writing A Book
I mean everybody. Your co-workers, your
parents, your ex-girlfriend(s), your teachers, facebook…everyone! I
know this might seem a little bit pompus at first, but trust me…it works
and here is why.
When you tell people you are writing a book, it puts
pressure on you to actually get it done. Your book is no longer stuck in
your head where it is prone to excuses and nonchalance but is now stuck
in the minds of other people. And this helps drive you to completion,
because everywhere you go people would ask you how your book is coming
along and this serves to push you hard to get it done. I remember once
when I was slacking on my first book, I attended a party and some
individual asked me how my new book was coming along. I bluttered out a
few excuses that I can’t remember. But that experiencing jolted me and
that night (same night) I completed an entire chapter. So tell everyone,
the more people the better.
HINT: For months I called myself soon
to be published author of __________ even though I had not put
_____________ on paper. Do the same.
#2 Design Your Book Cover
If you thought telling everybody about
the book was crazy. Then skip this step, because it is about to get
crazier. The single most important step of completing your book, is
designing the book cover before you write anything! This step is so
important that I created a supplemental video to explain SEE VIDEO
Simply put, designing your book cover
(nothing fancy) is a very important step in writing your book. Some
might scoff at the idea, but trust me it works. When you design your
book cover, you have created a mental image of the book in your mind.
Your book becomes even more palpable and more of a reality. If you have a
picture of yourself that is even better! But you would also need to
show people the book cover you have designed (see step #1 to know why).
Post it on facebook, twitter, your companies restroom
, your website and any place you can find.
One of the crazy things I
used to do when I was writing was carry the A4 design of my quasi book
cover to the local Barnes Noble bookstore in Houston. I would place it
on the cover of a book and just visualize my books on the shelf, like
the above step this motivated me to get my writing done. Which brings me
to step #3
#3 Steal A Book
OK OK not literarily. If you get
arrested you are on your own! But you would need to find a book that is
closely written in a style of writing that is quite similar to yours.
This is simply a book written by another author that writes like you.
This is not to be confused with your favorite author. My favorite author
for example is Malcolm Gladwell, but his writing style is too
complicated and detailed for me. Simply put we write very differently.
The book I found that worked for me was IGNORE EVERYBODY written by Hugh
Macleod. This is an author that writes in a very light (short for non
complex) and funny style. His books are not biblically long but are
interesting enough to stress the point. I studied his book for weeks,
looking at how he laid out his chapters and transitions. And when I felt
discouraged about the direction or potential success of my book…I found
myself getting encouragement from my stolen book. Steal a book. If you
still feel nervous about stealing then check out The 8 Things That I Stole.
NOTE: The first 3
steps are probably not what you expected…but trust me….it will all make
sense. The greatest obstacle to writing a book is not writing, I have
met people at book readings that have 3-5 manuscripts and no books. The
obstacle is quitting, fear of book acceptance and an inability to
visualize their book.
#4 Pick A Crazy Title that Makes People Say huh!
One of the greatest crimes to commit is
to write a book with a boring title! Unfortunately, I cannot put people
in jail for that…but if I had my way I will. But I digress…
You want to
pick a book title that makes people say “huh” everytime you say it.
Imagine being approached by a stranger and he asks you the name of the
book you are writing. You respond and he says OK and walks off. But then
imagine again, you have a crazy title…a stranger asks you what you are
writing and you say “How the moon caught fire” or “How Great Ideas Have Sex”
and he says “huh” or “tell me more about it” or “that sounds
interesting.” Imagine what that does for your esteem?
Like the above 4
it pushes you to get the book done, because people are already excited
about the title. This inevitably would excite you about your title and
book ultimately. So pick pick a crazy title. Don’t worry about it being
final…if you are anything like me, you would go through 3-4 crazy titles
before settling on one that is super crazy like How Stupidity Saved My Life.
WARNING: Your title
needs to go with your book theme/story…picking a crazy title is easy,
but picking one that works with your theme/story is quite key.
#5 Define Your Book Theme
In one sentence…can you describe your book.
If you get stuck in an elevator with
the CEO of that big publishing company, can you describe your book
before he gets to his floor, without stuttering? Once you are able to
achieve this…then you have created an important foundation that allows
you to write with purpose.
#6 Blog Blog Blog
This step is the only reason I will be
able to publish at least 2 books in my life. And it is simply because of
the power of blogging.
Several years ago I completed a report
for my company in less than 2 months, largely because I had to get it
done or get fired. But the fact was that I had accidentally completed a
30,000+ technical book without knowing it (the average book contains
about 30,000 words). This led me to write this article How To Write A Book Without Writing
Many people have written numerous books
in their lifetime but don’t realize it. For example, if we accumulate
all the comments and articles we have written on our blogs, we would see
that we enough words for a book. However, they have no form as there is
no unifying theme combining our words together. This is why step #5 define your book theme
is very important. With a theme for your book, you can blog with
purpose.
For my second book, I knew that I wanted to write a book on
entrepreneurship and business. So my blogs revolved around
entrepreneurial/business success tips. I put myself on a strict and
disciplined regimen of writing at least one 1500 article every month. I
did this unfailingly starting January of 2011 and at the end of the day,
I had 20+ quality articles chapters and over 25,000+ words in my
book. All based around the theme of business and entrepreneurial
success (not to mention 20+ cartoons and sketches). After a little bit
of cleaning up I was able to complete a manuscript.
One of the other advantages of blogging is that you get the oppurtunity for instant feedback.
That above is the power step to
completing a book despite having a busy schedule. However, the first
five steps are critical in getting you there, because they mentally
prepare you as blogging a book requires time, dedication and discipline.
But as long as you stay focused on a blog schedule, follow all the
steps above and write at least a chapter or more a month you are very
well on your way to completing your book.
Several people who have written their books from blogging include Seth Godin, Bola Essien-Nelson and Hugh MacLeod…so what are you waiting for…start blogging and make your book a reality.
Step #7
The last and final step is to read my soon to be published “How To Publish A Book In 2 Months” and “How To Market Your Book With Social Media” which
ironically I have not written yet. But like step #1 above states, by
mentioning this on a public blog I hope to put pressure on myself to get
these 2 articles done or face the wrath of <insert your name
here>
Victory 'Read, Write & Live' Anosike.
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