A series of posts dedicated to the journey of writing my first book, UNSECURITY. This is the first in the series.

So, I wrote my first book. You probably know this already. What you don’t know is what writing a book is like, unless of course you’ve written one yourself. For me, it was one helluva journey. Like I said in the opening of the UNSECURITY book:

This is the first book I’ve ever written. Writing a book is a bitch.

This isn’t entirely true. I didn’t lie, but I didn’t tell you the whole truth either. There were parts and times that were a bitch for sure, but there were also parts and times that were amazing, almost glorious. Probably more amazing than bitch, but bitch sounded better at the time.

Why do I want to write this series?

The simple answer is to inspire and encourage people. I want to share my book writing journey with you to inspire you to write your first book, and to encourage you if you’re (maybe stuck) in the middle of writing your first book.

Sounds corny, I know. Whatever, it’s true, so let me tell you more.

People are amazing! People are also frustrating and mean, but this is maybe a topic for another day. For now, people are amazing. Along the book writing journey, I’ve learned a lot about people, and I’ve learned that there must be something special about book writing.

How so?

Because almost everyone I’ve talked to has been intrigued by it. While writing the book, and even after publication, people seem to open up when they hear about it. They share comments like “I’ve thought about writing a book before” or “I’d like to write a book someday”. The conversations about book writing often end up being wonderful discussions about all sorts of deeper topics. Refreshing, when so many conversations today are of the surfacy sort of “how you doing” variety.

From the conversations, I’ve come to believe that there are five types of people when it comes to book writing:

1. Those who will not write a book. Several reasons, but they just won’t, ever.
2. Those who have some desire or interest in writing a book someday.
3. Those who will soon start writing a book.
4. Those who have started writing their first book.
5. Those who have written a book. Maybe even more than one.

If you’re the first type, maybe you’ll find some entertainment in this series, but I’m not writing these posts for you.

If you’re any one of the types 2 through 4, you’re the bullseye, I am writing for you!

Type 5ers, you might empathize with what I’ll write, if you’ve got the time to read what I’ll write. I hope you enjoy.

Quick. I think there’s a lesson here already. Target audience. My target audience is defined. Now I’ll write to you. I think this is important in book writing. Always keep your target audience in mind. I like to think that I’m speaking to my target audience face-to-face. I don’t know if this makes the book any better, but it does make it easier to write!

If you have a desire or interest in writing a book someday, will soon start writing a book, or have started writing your first book, I hope that sharing my story will inspire you and/or encourage you! If you just want to know what it was like for me, that’s fine too.

I intend to write a few posts/week until I’ve completed my journey with you. My journey is packed with more struggles, triumphs, and personal drama than you’ll be expecting. I’m sure of this. The personal part of the journey will make it more relevant and fun.  I didn’t start with any plan, and I have no outline, so I don’t know how many posts this series will end up being. It will just be what it will be.