Friends……hello there! I’ve been getting a lot of questions on the writing process . . .
Questions like:
- How did you write a whole book? Did you write x words each day?
- Did you always know you were going to write a book?
- I want to write – how do I start?
- How do I know people will want to read my book
- (and many other questions)
First, thank you so much for all the questions! I’ve now written a mini-blog series of my experience with the writing process (Part 2: “The DURING” & Part 3: “The AFTER”) which will be posted in the coming days and weeks ahead so stay tuned. If you have any specific questions, please reach out as I’d be more than happy to help.
Okay, let’s begin. The “BEFORE.”
Question 1: Did you dream of being an author?
Short answer – No! It was not even in my realm of thinking…..not even within a 1000 km radius. I didn’t grow up dreaming of being an author. It was the furthest thing from my mind. In fact, even when I left corporate life and became a motivational speaker, I didn’t think of it. This is despite the fact that many (many!) speaking agencies told me I “had” to write a book. I found it incredibly annoying when they would say, you must write a book.
While I calmly listened to all of these agents, I want to yell out and say . . . “WHAT! You think that I can magically pull a story out of my a****. I am just learning to write a 30 min speech – and somehow you think I can write a WHOLE book! What planet are you living on.” I’d inevitably leave any meeting or phone call in an utterly infuriated state.
Point # 1 – I never intended to write . . . not even in my wildest dreams!
Question 2 – So you must have a degree in creative writing or have writing experience right?
Au contraire my friends! Growing up, my extra curricular activities were mainly athletics. I never thought I had a creative side. My undergraduate degree is in Science (specifically Psychology). So between chemistry labs, learning about flora and fauna in biology or making every attempt to solve complex differential equations in math, trying to write a beautiful articulate sentence was definitely not up there on the list of things to do.
In Business School, there was accounting, case study discussions and about a million slide decks – so besides writing say, a proposal to get funding for a new venture, my creative writing was rather non-existent.
And then work wise – most of my career is in sales. So I’d say definitely I’m more comfortable in Excel or Salesforce. Now that I think of it, I’ve never even had a diary or journal.
Point # 2 – I have ZERO experience writing
Question 3 – What made you decide to write a book?
For me, it was organic. I was watching a chick flick on a Saturday night and the idea came to me. I wasn’t searching for an idea or desperately trying to come up with a plausible story line. As I mentioned above, I was so focused on trying to improve my speeches that I NEVER thought of writing a book.
Point # 3 – It was an idea that came naturally
Question 4 – How did you start?
That same hour on that Saturday night, I leaped off my couch and I literally typed into Google: “How to write a book?” After about an hour of research, I had a list of books and on Sunday, I ran to Chapters Indigo at the Eaton’s Center and picked up the book that I believed would help me understand this new world of writing.
It was “Think like a Publisher” by Randy Davila and devoured it that afternoon. I HIGHLY recommend it because it was easy to read and gave me so much insight into a world I didn’t know – which made me more excited to set out on this mission.
I then made a list of questions and emailed authors and writers to ask for a few minutes of their time to get their advice and insights. I listened, learned, asked more questions, and repeated this cycle many (!!) times over.
Point # 4 – Research, be curious and ask for help
What I hope you glean from this post is that if you WANT to write a book, you CAN write a book. You don’t need experience or a background. What you DO need is: Passion (some idea or story that you are dying to share with the world), a hunger to learn and dedication. I’ll explain more in subsequent posts in this series. Stay tuned.
Surviving Myself will be available worldwide (both eBook & paperback) this summer! More details coming soon.
