You’ve been thinking about it for years. Now, you’re finally going to face the question: Should you write a book?
If this question is plaguing you, the answer is yes. Don’t believe it? Here are five reasons you should stop thinking about becoming an author and take action.
1. It’s on Your Bucket List
One reason you should write a book is because you’ve wanted to do it. Why put it off any longer?
According to the New York Times, more than eighty percent of people want to write a book. How many actually sit down and start writing? Not many.
The good news is that you don’t have to be one of the dreamers. You can be one of the doers. All you have to do is start typing.
Next thing you know, you can mark “Write a book” off your bucket list.
2. You Should Write a Book to Help Others
Every book has one thing in common. Whether fiction or nonfiction, poetry or prose, written for children or adults, every book says something.
And whatever your book says, someone needs to hear it. Keeping it to yourself does someone out there a disservice. So, yes, you should write your book. Then get it out there where readers can find it. Market your book well, and your ideal reader will find it—the reader who needs your message.
3. Writing a Book Helps You Know Yourself
If you’ve not started writing yet, you may think no one out there needs your book. That’s okay. You should still write. Because as you do, you help yourself.
It sounds odd, but writing forces you to make sense of all the noise going on inside of your head. You should write a book to learn the following:
- How you really feel about your upbringing.
- Why you believe people who think differently than you are wrong.
- What you expected your life to look like at this point in life.
- Much, much more!
4. You Want to Establish Your Authority
Whatever world you live in during your nine to five, authoring a book establishes your authority. It shows that you know enough about your world to write an entire book about it.
This is most obvious with nonfiction works—business books or Christian doctrine books. However, you gain authority with any book.
Take, for example, Dr. Shalini Manchanda’s Ready . . . Set . . . Dream! Her sweet children’s book teaches good habits for healthy sleep. As a sleep medicine physician, this book is a natural fit for her. It also establishes her authority with parents looking for help getting their kids to sleep better.
Of course, you don’t have to be a physician to have and establish authority. Catherine Tally’s Charlotte the Shark Won’t Go to Sleep proves that.
5. You Should Write a Book as Your Legacy
Life only lasts so long. Once you’re gone, all that’s left are memories. By writing a book, you document memories in a way that won’t be forgotten.
For example, you can write a memoir or autobiography to document to true events that occurred throughout your life. That’s the most obvious way to create a bookish legacy.
But you build your legacy with any book you write.
From a sci-fi rom-com to a poetic children’s book, publishing your words gives loved ones and fans a way to know you a little bit better and remember you for years to come.
Struggling to put words on the page? The Southern Ghostwriter can help. And once your story is ready for publication, Argyle Fox Publishing is here to get it off your computer and onto bookshelves. Submit your manuscript for consideration.