“Whether or not you get a single word on paper, the sun will rise, the earth will spin, the universe will expand. Writing is forever and always a choice—your choice.”
—Beth Mende Conny
Every moment you’ve lived is part of your story. Each roadblock or victory combines to create your unique personality and understanding. No matter what you do, from housekeeping to leading a nation, your story can have a huge impact on the world around you. Whether you want to share your knowledge, teach others an important skill, or record your life for your progeny, you need to find the right time and place to begin the journey.
Although any time is a good time to begin telling your story, there are a handful of specific instances where you’ll be more likely to finish your goal of writing a book.
1. When You Want to Celebrate Success
When you’ve made a major breakthrough or accomplished a big goal, you might have the urge to sit back and cool your heels. Instead, consider this a great time to reflect on the many trials that made the journey so satisfying. From the vantage point of success, all the problems and tragedies that could have stopped you turn into steppingstones. In addition, you document your successes as they are happening, so you can look back later when things might not be going so well.
2. When You’re Trying To Make A Comeback
Sometimes, you’ve been down so long, you’re not sure how to get back on your feet. This is actually a great time to start your book. Often, reviewing all the reasons that have brought you to a low moment will give you better perspective on them. You will be able to find new meaning in your trials and gain insight that can help you find solutions. Furthermore, writing a book when things aren’t going great allows you to find the good in your situation, and may potentially allow you to gain greater support from readers for your efforts.
3. When You Want to Deal With A Fear or Personal Struggle
Most fears and struggles can be linked to specific instances where mistakes and trauma influenced a person’s life. A book is a great way to work through these traumatizing events without damaging your real-life relationships. Fiction writing that includes your phobias or damaging personal events allow you to face your fears in a safe setting and literally rewrite the ending of your traumatic story. This gives you power over your experiences, and can be a cathartic way to heal from these experiences.
4. When You Need An Escape from Daily Life
While some people read to get away from their daily grind, others write. If you don’t have money to travel, or are dealing with extreme stressors in your daily life, it is the perfect time for you to write a book. Writing a book, fiction or not, gives you a positive outlet for all of your stress and frustration. It can help you work through real-life issues, face real-life enemies in a non-violent fashion, or even give yourself the strength and charisma you don’t normally have.
Fiction is exceptionally good at providing a stress outlet, as you control every element of your world. And, the act of creatively writing engages both sides of your brain in an almost trance-like brain activity pattern. This allows your brain to recharge, release stress, and has been shown to assist writers in other problem-solving tasks.
5. When You Want To Hone Your Creative and Communication Skills
Finally, if you are trying to improve your English skills or your written communication, a book is a great choice. By working every day on an organized book project, your language skills will increase and your writing will become more fluid and understandable. Writing a book also increases your vocabulary and understanding of grammar and punctuation, which makes it a great learning tool for non-native English speakers.
Not only will a book increase your communication, but also your creativity. You will begin to see stories in the world around you, and may find yourself being more engaged and interested in your personal interactions. Writing your book will also often require research and analysis, which keeps your mind constantly working with and evaluating new information. This keeps you sharp, and gives you more mental fodder for creating better stories and participating in other creative activities.
Steve Aedy is a freelance writer and content manager at Fresh Essays. He’s passionate about writing about education and career.
Beautifully put, Steve. Thank you for sharing this article.
Thanks for the encouragement Steve. Definitely will save this blog for future reference.
That advise on how to start writing a novel is really helpful. I have enjoyed reading your post.
You have done a really nice job by presenting that information to us. Looking forward to reading more of your posts.
Thank you for sharing this information Steve. I really like the post.