“If you really want to know yourself, start by writing a book.”
-Jodi Picoult
Having a published book under one’s name is every writer’s dream. Holding a paperback copy with your name imprinted gives a different kind of satisfaction. It was a dream that came true for me when I held a copy of my first novel in my hand back in July 2018.
Whether you are a content writer, a blogger or an Instagram junkie, it is most likely that somewhere deep down you have a desire of having your own book. Where there are several reasons to write one, there are several excuses desperately waiting to pound over your dream.
The excuses which kill our dream-
- Lack of time.
- Fear of failing.
- Lack of experience.
- Lack of knowledge and,
- An uncanny habit of harboring self-criticism.
However, I’m a firm believer in relentless hard work. I too once felt that I am incapable of writing a book. But, I was wrong. All I needed was the right nudge in the right direction and I have written two novels, an e book and several short stories since then. My third novel is due by the end of this year. All because, I believed.
Now enough about myself. I’ll dive into the actual heartfelt reasons why you should stop self -sabotaging yourself and actually write your book. Because, writing a book will definitely make you happy.
5 ways how writing a book makes you happy
- Sense of doing something extraordinary- Not everyone can do it. Writing a book involves a lot of reading, researching, pre writing, editing and then publishing. It’s a marathon not a sprint. This is one of the major reasons why people don’t take it up. But once you get the final product in hand, you’ll realize that all the efforts, sleepless nights and early mornings were worth it. Let’s face it. If it was easy then everyone would be doing it. It’s not easy and that makes it a great challenge worth taking up.
- Increased confidence- When you accomplish a daunting task it increases your confidence by ten folds. You realize that you are much bigger than your fears and are capable of achieving things which are not as intimidating as they seem. This confidence reflected in my second book Virago which got published in the same year.
- Works as a therapy- When I started writing I had a lot of bitterness towards alot of people in my life. I poured it out in form of stories. Not only me, great writers like Emily Bronte and Marianne Moore did the same. Writing works as a therapy helping you relieve the negative emotions without hurting anyone.
- A world of our own- Writing a book gives us a chance to create a world of our own. I believe I get to play God when I write a novel. I decide the plot, the characters, the setting the turmoil and I decide the fate of my characters. It’s an amazing feeling to do so. But what adds to that happy feeling is to see your readers’ reaction. Their emotions are the biggest applause I could get. It’s an amazing feeling when a reader approached me once and said she could relate herself with Radhika from Virago. This can happen when you have your own book. This is also one of the major reasons I believe why writing a book makes a writer happy.
- Changed mindset- I became a doer from a dreamer. I became more aware of my surroundings because I wanted to absorb even the intrinsic details so that I could use them in my future writings. I became more focused and slowly I transitioned into a more positive person. Writing a book has a tremendous impact on our minds. We evolve into someone higher than our previous self and that is the right kind of kick I need to jump out of bed every morning.
Writing books makes me extremely happy. It’s creating something out of scratch and presenting it in one of the most beautiful styles ever invented by man. If you are a writer and if you haven’t yet started writing your book then I certainly hope that this article will certainly nudge you in that direction.
Love,
Ritiqa.
