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Getting An Idea For a Book
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by Nick Daws
So you want to write a book, but
can’t think of an idea? No
problem! Here are just a few
suggestions to set you on the
road to your first best-seller!
Start by thinking about your job
(and if you’re a student, a
carer, a home-maker, a full-time
parent or an unpaid volunteer
worker, that counts as well).
Think about whether there are
there aspects of this which
would be of interest to ordinary
people, or people who do similar
jobs to you (or would like to).
Remember, you don’t have to be
an ‘expert’ now – you can always
research what you don’t know
later. But clearly it helps if
you already know something about
your subject. And by the very
fact of doing a certain job, you
already know more than the great
majority of the population about
this subject.
Suppose though your job doesn’t
suggest many ideas – or you
simply don’t find it interesting
or exciting enough to inspire
you. Try thinking about jobs you
have done in the past. Think
about your hobbies and leisure
interests – from baseball to
gourmet cookery, astronomy to
foreign travel. Could any of
these provide the inspiration
for a book?
And think about experiences you
have gone through in your life.
The topics below have formed the
basis of many thousands of books
already. How many of these could
you write about from experience
yourself?
• Getting Married
• Having a Baby
• Bringing Up Children
• Living With Teenagers
• Dealing With Bereavement
• Being A Student
• Coping With Divorce
• Buying/Selling a House
• Learning to Drive
• Buying a Car
• Extending Your Home
Remember, the experience itself
is just a starting point. From
the list above, take ‘Being a
Student’, for example. Here are
just a few ideas for books which
this might inspire:
• Leaving home: a guide for
young people
• Study skills for students
• Improve your memory
• How to work your way through
college
• Cooking for cash-strapped
students
• The Internet for students
• Making the most of student
life
Hmm. I might have a go at some
of these myself! Seriously, the
point I’m making is that most
people have the seeds for
hundreds, probably thousands, of
books within them already. All
you need do is spend a little
time thinking about your life –
things you do now and things you
have done in the past – and
consider how your knowledge and
experience might be of interest
to others.
And here’s a further idea to
make your idea even more
attractive to potential readers
and publishers: develop your own
technology round it! And no, I
don’t mean you have to produce
some clever gadget to accompany
your book. By technology I mean
a plan or system around which
you can structure your book (or
part of it).
An acronym is a good example of
what I’m talking about here. For
those who don’t know, an acronym
is a word made up from the
initial letters of other words
or phrases. It acts as an aide
memoire for the words concerned,
and in many cases forms the
basis for a set of guidelines or
instructions. For example,
advertising copywriters are
often taught that any ad they
write should meet the AIDA
requirements. These are as
follows:
1. ATTRACT the reader’s
ATTENTION
2. Arouse INTEREST
3. Create DEMAND for the product
or service
4. Prompt the reader to ACTION
So how could you apply this
principle to your own project?
Say you’re going to write a book
about bringing up teenagers (a
subject I know nothing about, by
the way). A few moments’ thought
gave me the acronym RAILS, made
up as follows:
Set RULES
Make ALLOWANCE
Show INTEREST
Don’t LECTURE
Give SPACE (or SUPPORT)
An acronym can also help provide
the title for your book. In the
above example, one obvious
possibility would be Keep Your
Teenager on the RAILS. I can
easily imagine this climbing
high in Amazon.com’s Top Sellers
list. I don’t think I’ll be
writing it myself, even so – but
if any reader wants to pick up
the idea and run with it, I’ll
be happy to settle for 10 per
cent of your royalties!
Finally, suppose you want to
write fiction rather than
non-fiction. The same principle
applies – use your own
experience as a starting point,
and build on it using your
imagination and research. For
example: a friend of mine writes
detective novels from a police
perspective; they’re called
police procedurals by those in
the know. He doesn’t have a
police background himself and
wrote his first novel entirely
from his own imagination, aided
by research from books. He
particularly treasures one
glowing review from a police
magazine which congratulates him
on the authenticity of his
characters!
Of course, the real point is
that people are the same the
world over, whatever the
occupation they happen to work
in: some are conscientious,
others slapdash; some are
sociable, others solitary; some
court trouble, others aim to
avoid it. The same would
doubtless be true in medieval
times, the present day or the
far future. All writers have to
do is start from their own
experience of the world and the
people in it, and extend this.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Nick Daws is a best-selling
British author, and creator of
the popular “How to Write ANY
Book in 28 Days” CD course. You
can learn more about Nick Daws
and purchase his writing
philosophy at the following
link:
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