Have you ever thought about writing your life story as a book? Do you have fascinating events in your life to tell that you know would make a bestselling book? Of course you do! And the world needs to hear your story.
I can tell you first hand, as a two-time author, there is nothing better than seeing your own book in print. And when you have the opportunity to actually see your book on bookshelves, it is an absolute dream come true. So what’s stopping you?
Perhaps you don’t know how to start, or maybe you don’t have the time to write it, or maybe you think you don’t have the talent. In this article we’ll discuss guaranteed ways to fight these excuses and get your story told!
Why your story needs to be told
My grandfather, Professor Horatio T. Strother, also an author, died before I had an opportunity to meet him. I wish to this day he had written his life story. I’ll never have the chance to hear it from his own mouth and I urge you to seize the opportunity, to pass on your legacy to your loved ones.
My best friend Benjamin. often talked about wanting to write a book too. He was a funny remarkable guy, but died 3 days before his 26th birthday. He never got a chance to write it. We just don’t know when we’re going to go, so please trust me when I say this: people need to hear your story. And your story, your legacy deserves to be told.
How to get started
Very simply from the beginning, you ask yourself a series of questions such as: 1) What were some of the most dramatic interesting things that happened to you or your loved ones in your lifetime? 2) Who were some of the most influential people who changed your life forever? 3) What did you learn from those experiences?
After asking those questions, you answer them. Whether you’re using a pen and pad or a computer to do it, you write until you cannot write anymore. This is not the time to get to the point. This is the time to elaborate and go on and on. You can always edit later. As an author who can write a draft of a book in under two weeks I can advise you to never judge or edit your work while you’re writing. It doesn’t matter if it’s grammatically correct or if you have misspelled words. Keep writing and don’t stop writing to read what you’ve written. Write until you have nothing else to write about. This is the first draft after all. It’s not supposed to be perfect at all. It’s supposed to be bad. The best writers in the world know that rewriting is where the magic happens.
When you have completed the entire book, you might be surprised at how long it is and how interesting it is. But the real trick is to find out what other people think about it and I’m not talking about your best friend or your family. I’m talking about picking three of the most negative critical people you know (and we all know at least one of those). If that person says the story moved them and was interesting to them, then you know you’ve got a great story. And if they have “comments” don’t defend your writing, put your ego away, take notes on what they said and consider making changes to your book in - continued below ...
