So often I hear aspiring authors say to me that they really, really want to write a book, but they don’t know what to write about, or where to start.
I remember feeling that pain. I felt that way for years. Decades in fact.
The inability to answer that question is a silent frustration for many writers who long to become published authors but they just don’t know what sort of book they should be writing.
If they knew what their book was about, they could get on with writing it and get it done, and they could realise their dreams of becoming published.
But they can’t get started because they can’t even answer that first and most important question: what is my book going to be about?
Today I am going to help you with one way to answer that question for yourself, so you can get on with what you came here to do: become a published author.
Let me tell you about Kaley.
Kaley was born and raised in Hong Kong and came to Australia to pursue an education and other opportunities in 2007. However, with all her friends and family more than 7,500km away, her confidence diminished; she became reserved, timid and shy.
In 2018, as a direct result of her shyness, she found herself extremely embarrassed and humiliated and she knew something had to change.
Kaley committed herself to a new and exciting challenge: to have lunch with 100 strangers and overcome her shyness. When she finished her challenge, she realised that not only had her confidence grown enormously, but this experience had completely transformed every single aspect of her life.
She has since written and published a book about her journey and she is now speaking all over Australia to motivate others to step out of their comfort zone, connect with people, and live a more fulfilled life.
Now let me tell you about Jill
Jill is the author and creator of the program Shop Your Wardrobe. She used to spend a lot of money on clothes…and shoes…and accessories. She loved clothes so much that she converted a bedroom into a walk-in wardrobe to prove it.
Jill challenged herself to go a year without clothes shopping and it changed her life, so she created a program to help others develop a healthier relationship to their shopping, their wardrobe and their wallet.
Then she wrote a book about it.
Can you see a pattern here?
What I find inspiring about Kaley and Jill, and so many others who have challenged themselves to overcome barriers in their lives, is that they didn’t just set a goal to work through their challenges bit by bit.
They challenged themselves in a big way and smashed right through their struggles with actions that elevated them to a whole new way of being.
And in terms of becoming published authors, they didn’t wait for a story to come to them. They literally created a story to tell, and they were big stories with bigger outcomes than either of them could have imagined.
So, let me ask you, what have you struggled with in your life, and what have you done to overcome it? Perhaps you already have a book in you just based on your answer to that question.
What about challenges you haven’t overcome yet? What could you do to smash through any barriers that keep you from being all you could be?
What sort of challenge could you set for yourself that would not only help you in your life, but would help others when you chose to publish your story?
This is a great formula for writing a book:
- Identify what you struggle with,
- Consider who you would be and what you would be doing if you didn’t have this struggle, and
- Come up with an innovative approach you could take to overcome your struggle in a powerful and victorious way.
The super exciting thing about embarking on a journey such as this is that when it is time to write your book, you will know exactly what your book is about, and you have all the content you need.
Everyone loves a story where the main character wins in the end.
If you made yourself the main character and gave yourself an interesting challenge to carry out that brought about massive, tangible, positive results, you would have the bones of a great story that you could publish.
You could then repurpose your story, turning it into a coaching program and a keynote presentation that you can use to help others.
That is it from me for today. I hope this has inspired you to get into action and start brainstorming how you can create your own big story, with big outcomes that you can turn into a best-selling book.
If you would like some help along the way we’d love to have you join us in the authorpreneur’s bootcamp where we help authors to write, publish and promote their books. You can go to www.disruptivepublishing.com.au/jointheclub to find out more about that.
Or you can book in for a free information call with me by going to calendly.com/disruptivepublishing/freeinfocall and we can help you determine the best way forward for you as an author.
Or, if you have an idea for a compilation project, tell us about it. We might be able to work together. Email: deb@disruptivepublishing.com.au
Authorpreneur’s Bootcamp
We are here to help.
Bye for now