With the growing numbers of books in the literary realm, with almost all that have reached and impacted many lives, have you ever wondered what it would be like to author a book that can teach and encourage people?
At present, there are already millions of literary pieces that have been successfully written and published. Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom, The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho, The Book of It by Scott Rahn, The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein, Wonder by R.J. Palacio, and Atomic Habits by James Clear are among the best ones in the market. Readers tend to patronize books that they relate to, rely on, and learn from.
Moreover, there are many reasons that encourage an individual to write a book. It could be because of a significant event, random realization, notable person, intense emotion, personal development, underlying principle, and more. The reasons definitely vary from one author to another. So, if you ever considered writing a book that holds much meaning and learning, then you should know what things to consider and tips to apply, like the ones below:
Focus on developing your book idea
You already have a concept running around your mind for quite some time. So, what now? You must take a moment to develop it to bring a particular idea to life and move people. The struggle can be drawing a thick line and outlining abstract thought. All you need to do is brainstorm and plan. List the possible Ws and H questions and provide the corresponding answers. Then, come up with other supporting concepts that can further strengthen your work. You can create a mind map, bulleted outline, or a full-blown timeline to guide you during the actual writing process.
Conduct an extensive research
Whether your goal is to inform, express, or entertain, research still plays an integral role in writing. If your book is fiction, there are still features of the story that are inspired by real-life places, scenarios, or people. Thus, studying how these aspects look and function can help you fictionalize and fit them into your story. On the other hand, when your book is nonfiction, you must read, analyze, cite, fact-check, and apply the relevant information to your work. Your research will serve as another foundation of your book, making the concept and claim stronger and appealing to the readers.
Utilize an appropriate language
Every book has its own target readers. For example, books tagged as children’s literature are written specifically for kids under different age brackets, while stories under the romance genre are suited for young adults and full-grown adults. Thus, you have to expect that the writing style, tone, and language of each work are different. In your writing, make sure to use the appropriate language in which your readers can fully comprehend the central message. It is also one way to avoid losing the interest of your targets, undermine your claims, and stray your readers away from your topic.
Indicate your references to support claims
Have you observed that there are some books with footnotes, such as John Green’s An Abundance of Katherines? What about books with citations like many self-help books? Indicating the source of the information that you’ve mentioned in your work is vital. Apart from it enables you to recognize and give credit to the owner or contributor of the idea or notion, avoiding plagiarism. And, it also backs up the claims and arguments that you’ve raised in your book. The readers will gradually be convinced, and their skepticism will slowly vanish.
Think outside the box
There are a handful of factors that can make a book attain success, and it often depends on the author. Why? The writer of the story has the ultimate power to write, modify, and develop it. That said, it is vital that you should think outside the box to make your book stand out among the million others. Being a better thinker pushes you to come up with new techniques, elevated writing style, and distinctive voice that can radiate to your work because it can enhance the entire story, increase its impact, and give you an identity as an author.
The Damsel’s Files 