How the Hell Do You Write a Book?

<p><span>I wrote my first book when I was in middle school-when I was maybe nine or ten years old. It was a mini-masterpiece that book in my memory. It had chapters. Pictures. A story. It even had covers and a binding of sorts.</span></p><p><br></p><p><span>I discovered before I ever heard of the wonderful Sir Terry Pratchett that writing is the most fun you can have by yourself.</span></p><p><br></p><p><span>I have no idea what happened to that book but I do know this: it kicked off a lifelong love affair with writing. So obviously I didn't write another book for more than twenty-five years.</span></p><p><br></p><p><span>I spent a lot of time thinking about writing a book and talking about writing a book and not writing a book...</span></p><p><br></p><p><span>Until one day I stood in front of a roomful of other business owners and boldly declared I will write a book all about my business and how I can help my customers. And not only that I will write it in ninety days! Hiiiiiiii-ya!</span></p><p><br></p><p><span>(Imagine me performing an overenthusiastic karate chop and beaming like an elephant with a hosepipe.)</span></p><p><br></p><p><span>Funny thing about saying stuff in front of people you respect and admire-you kind of have to deliver on it or risk looking a total twit. So three months later I turned up clutching my shiny new book in my sweaty little hands-which is when the real work began.</span></p><p><br></p><p><span>Because my fine feathered friend we're not in the business of writing books for the sake of it.</span></p><p><br></p><p><span>I don't teach business owners to write books only to help you get your name in print (although it is pretty gorram amazing when your books arrive).</span></p><p><br></p><p><span>And I'm not doing it only to help you get published either. Nope; I help business owners write books because I know if you write your book and use it to its fullest potential it could change your world.</span></p><p><br></p><p><span>Words change worlds. Books change lives.</span></p><p><br></p><p><span>I want to help change your life for the better when you write your book and I want to help you change your clients' lives for the better too.</span></p><p><br></p><p><span>Great deeds begin with one word and one step. And great books start with one word and one sentence.</span></p><p><br></p><p><span>Changing the world doesn't always mean the act of stopping a war (or starting one). It doesn't mean solving world poverty right now. It doesn't mean changing an unjust law overnight. All those things do transform the world for sure-but they start with one tiny beetle step. Maybe with a book something like the one hibernating inside your head.</span></p><p><br></p><p><span>Maybe by changing one person's life in a small way you can set off a chain of events that'll change the world in a bigger way. What do you think? Worth a try?</span></p><p><br></p><p><span>I reckon so.</span></p><p><br></p><p><span>Start here. Start today. I've got your back grasshopper.</span></p>