What do I write about? If you do not have an answer to this question, then it is time to reflect on the WHY behind your desire to write.
FAQ: I want to write a book – but I’m not sure what book I want to write and where to start.
Great! The “What Do I Write About?” question is the first stage of the Writing Journey. In fact, the Writing Journey is actually a personal development and growth journey. To be successful with book writing, start with identifying why you want to write your book? Why do you want to tell your story?
Simply, the story you want to write or tell is never about “telling” (unless you want to be that dry, academic, self-obsessed bore at the party, in the lunchroom, or up on the stage presenting the facts of their life story).
Writing 101: Show – Don’t Tell
Rather, story sharing is about engaging your audience through the process of “showing” not “telling.” Because when words are your medium, you need to craft them with love and care into a story worthy of the reader or listener’s time.
Learn to use words – adjectives, verbs, nouns, adverbs – and proven writing tools and techniques to “put on a show” and entertain your audience, rather than lecture them. Showing is always more interesting than telling. When someone tells you their story, you quickly lose interest, don’t you? They present you with vague facts and figures and stats and pie in the sky theories. It feels like a lecture, doesn’t it? Especially when they don’t back what they’re saying with real world evidence and experience.
Please don’t be that person!
Rather, be the person who engages their audience, draws them into their story, and takes them on the journey with them, step by step by step. How do you do this?
Live – or Relive – Your Story
Inject life into your story by living, or reliving it. This is all it takes to answer your question, “What Do I Write About?”
When you go on the journey yourself (or go within to reflect on the one you want to tell) you experience all life’s heroic challenges, obstacles, losses and wins. You empower yourself to do things your way, and invite your audience to join you. They’ll eagerly travel with you, and actively feel your pain and emotions, as well as your courage and determination to overcome impossible odds and achieve success.
However, in order for you to be able to bring the reader or listener along with you, you need to first connect with them. But before you can connect with them, you first need to connect with yourself.
And this is where the first stage of writing, or indeed any heroic quest, begins.
You owe it to your audience to be willing to internally reflect on your past, your present and your possible futures. All Heroic Journeys (fact or fiction) are about self-exploration, personal development, personal transformation, growth and evolution.
Begin now. Step out of the external world and step into your own, magical space, where you are the powerful individual in charge of your own thoughts, feelings, actions and communications. You and no one else. And in this magical space you can be your authentic self, and get to know who you really are and get a sense of who you might become.
“And the day came when the risk it took to remain tight inside the bud was more painful that the risk it took to blossom.”
—Anais Nin
Write about blossoming into your best version of “You!”
In order to blossom into your authentic self and write your book, you need to commit to the Heroic Journey ahead. Choose to make writing and reflecting time for yourself, each and every day. This will help you figure out the answer to “What do I write about?”
Possibly this writing time will not focus on writing your book. Ideally, if you aren’t sure what to write about, then you will not waste time working on the book you think you should write.
Instead, work on discovering the book that is hidden inside of you – the book of “You!” Focus on discovering who you truly are and who you really want to be. This is the “You!” who you have been avoiding by signing up to all the doing stuff, such as:
- mind numbing chores;
- social activities that drain you;
- volunteer work that puts others first – at your expense;
- unfulfilling “day” jobs or low paid contract work;
- and so on.
In other words, the busy-ness of going through the motions and pretending all that rat race, materialistic, external approval stuff matters – which it doesn’t.
Without a doubt, what really matters is you becoming who you authentically are, and striving towards being the best human being you can be. I think you will agree that the person who is constantly seeking out ways to develop, grow, transform and evolve has the most interesting life.
The Time to Be Authentic is NOW!
Looking back over the past two years (2020 and 2021) every person in the world has had countless opportunities to identify their values, principles, standards and beliefs. The global events are offering humanity an opportunity to either transcend into a higher level of being, or descend into a much darker and oppressive way of existence.
So which path are you choosing to take? To risk blossoming into the unique, creative and independent being hidden inside you? Or to remain tight inside the bud that is withering and dying?
Personally, I believe there are a lot more people willing to step up and speak out. But it takes a lot of courage to take the risk to do this. Frankly, I know many are like you, looking for someone to inspire them, to give them hope and encourage them to take their next step on this journey
Please join us in the fight for humanity. While this battle has to be done on an individual level, together we can change the world. So stop wondering “What do I write about?” and start investing in your personal development, growth and authorship journey.
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Stop Asking “What Do I Write About?” and Join Us
KESWiN Academy provides a safe haven and supportive environment, as well as the tools and processes you require to become the author of your story. As a result, you will discover within you the book trapped inside. And this is the book that you were born to write!
Additionally, inside KESWiN Academy, you will find the courage to transform your life as well as share your story. And in doing so, you will be an inspiration to others.
As we’ve mentioned, the first step of any Heroic Journey starts with the discovery of what is important to the hero – in this case, you. And in discovering what is important, you will also explore why you need to do all you can do to protect it. In other words, go on a personal development journey.
Because this is the story you are writing and will be sharing with your reader. In order to do this, you first have to live it – or relive it through reflection. In doing this, you will show yourself that there is something worthwhile and of value for others to read or listen to.
So join our friendly, supportive community inside KESWiN Academy. You’ll find everything you need, including like-minded friends who are eager to travel with you as you begin the next chapter of your life story.
What’s inside KESWiN Academy?
The benefits you will receive will be worth many times the price of our membership fees. Membership is a low cost NZ$45 a month (which converts to less than US$29 a month).
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