Why Do You Want to Write a Book?

You may want to write books for many different reasons.

Writing a book proves a wonderful way to express yourself and to be creative with words. Joy happens when you read back over a well-crafted sentence and it rolls off your tongue exactly right.

You might want to use a book format to record your life experiences, as well as thoughts, feelings, and opinions about a variety of topics. Writing your memoir leaves behind a wonderful legacy for your children, grandchildren, friends, and others. Traditional book editors love to receive a well-written memoir.

You may want to write as therapy. Writing down your struggles and the lessons they have taught you proves helpful to many people. When you can then turn your own troubles and lessons learned out to your reader, you become a kind of “wounded healer” to him. You encourage him with your words and the lessons you’ve learned as you overcame and survived your own personal trials and troubles.

Perhaps you want to make an income, keep flexible hours, work at home, and help your readers all at the same time. You can make money with your writing. Since I became a full-time writer, I’ve been able to travel the world, work my own schedule, take care of my home, rear my children, and make an income. I have found that as I grow older and accumulate more writing experience, I make much more money than I did at the beginning. Writing a manuscript and publishing with a traditional book publisher can be profitable—sometimes extremely so.

Maybe you have a “hot” topic that you want to shout from the rooftops. You figure that writing it down and publishing it in book form will deliver you the “soapbox” you’ve always wanted. I, too, feel strongly about some topics, and I have published them in book form. But we must be careful when we write from our “soapbox.” We never want our words to sound like a hard-hitting lecture that uses turn-off words and phrases like “You should … ” or “You ought to … ” Those are fightin’ words, and they will turn off our readers by the first or second sentence.

All the reasons above are good reasons to write a book. Maybe you write for other reasons. Writing has become my vocation. I cannot imagine not writing. It’s just second nature to me. I believe ink just flows in my veins. I don’t know that I have any special innate “gifts” for writing. Writing is a skill that one can learn. But I know that I feel a great passion to express myself in words. Perhaps the passion I feel is the innate gift I have for writing, and that you may also have for writing.

What do you think when a thought or idea flows into your mind? I seem to naturally think: Would this idea make a good book? It just happens that way. I can’t explain it. Then the idea starts dividing itself into chapters and sub-chapters. Then questions start popping into my mind like: Would anyone be interested in reading this book? And if so, why? Would this book help a reader in some way? If so, how? Has this book idea been written already? If so, where and how? At that point, I’m ready to turn to the Internet and do some research. I often discover that the idea is unique, no one has ever written a book about that topic in that particular way, and I block out a huge hunk of my calendar and start seriously thinking, researching, and planning to make it a possible book project.

Books Can Reach a Huge Worldwide Audience

The great thing I’ve learned about writing a book is this: I reach people I don’t know—lots of people. For instance: When I speak to a group of people, I may reach 2 or 200 or 2,000. But when I write a book, I can potentially reach millions of people! My audience proves unlimited when my book is published and released to the world.

I once wrote a book about how women today can reach out to help society’s hurting and wounded women. I see women all around me every day that could use a helping hand. I researched and wrote the book, and a traditional publisher released it and put it on bookstore shelves around the world. After the book came out, I received a telephone call from a woman I didn’t know who lived in Japan.

“Come to Tokyo!” she said. “We have a group of international women who are studying your book and want to talk to you about it in person.”

I flew to Tokyo, met and stayed ten days with those wonderful women, and it proved a highlight in my life. Over and over again, I’ve received wonderful invitations to travel to different parts of the world as an author and speak, greet, meet, teach, and autograph books. Would I have had those same opportunities if I didn’t write books? Probably not.

Writing Books Most Often Requires Golden Solitude

Writing books means I spend a lot of time alone and in the quiet. Some people can’t stand that. Maybe you prefer to be with people more than you enjoy being alone. Some people call that necessary writing-solitude “loneliness.” I call it “golden solitude,” the kind of quiet/aloneness I find essential to the fine art of creating and crafting words. Some writing days can last fourteen to sixteen hours with a few brief meal breaks. A writer must enjoy working with words because books can take a long time to write. They don’t happen overnight.

My friends sometimes say, “Denise, how can you stand to be alone at your desk all day and write?” I tell them, “It’s harder to try not to write! I’d rather be writing than doing just about anything else!”

On March 25, 1944, Anne Frank wrote in her Holocaust diary: “I want to be useful or bring enjoyment to all people. And therfore, I am so grateful to God for giving me this gift of writing, of expressing all that is in me.”

I admit that I feel the same way. I hope that you, too, if not already doing so, can experience that same fulfillment and joy!

What Makes a Best-Selling Book?

Every writer wants to write a best-selling book. Let’s look at some of the all-time, best-selling books:

The Pilgrim’s Progress (John Bunyon, 1678)

The Book of Common Prayer (Thomas Cranmer, 1549)

What Would Jesus Do? (Charles Sheldon)

The Purpose-Driven Life (Rich Warren)

The Screwtape Letters (C. S. Lewis)

Ben Hur (Lew Wallace)

Left Behind (Jenkins and LaHaye)

Of course, there are many more, but these books are long-proven classics that, I believe, will be read forever.

What do these best-selling books have in common? Some are non-fiction, self-help books. Others are fiction and allegory. Some are written in story form, and others are written in a direct and conversational format.

These best-sellers actually have little in common with each other except that they are helpful, inspirational, and instructive to the reader. Many readers love them enough to buy and read them, and to buy them as gifts for loved ones. Trying to figure out what makes a best-selling book proves impossible. But remember, it’s all about the reader. The reader decides what books will become best-sellers.

Knowing Your Reader

If readers are the ones who decide if a book will be a best-seller or not, isn’t it important to know your reader? It took me a long time to learn that when we write to publish, it’s not about us, it’s all about our reader! Kathleen Norris says, “Just the knowledge that a good book is awaiting one at the end of a long day makes that day happier.”

We write for our reader! Not only can we make a reader “happier,” but reading a well-written book can help change and/or transform a reader’s life. Words are powerful tools. We give it our best efforts and skills.

Know that there’s nothing wrong with a writer writing just for one’s self. If you enjoy this type of writing, fill your journal pages will everything you want to write and read.

But if you are writing-to-publish, know that it’s all about the reader. Traditional publishers will want to know right away the answer to the essential question: “Who is your targeted reader?” and “What will this book do for your reader?”

Readers Buy Books for Several Different Reasons

People today buy books for many different reasons. Here are the top reasons:

* To give as gifts

* To find encouragement in difficult times and situations

* To find inspiration and hope

* To be educated; to be informed; to learn something

* To be entertained

* To “escape” from life’s oftentimes harsh reality

* To be “stirred to action” in some way; to be encouraged or challenged to do

something significant.

You might want to take a few minutes to ponder, answer, think about these questions:

1. Why do you want to write a book?

2. Do you want to self-publish your book or have it published traditionally? Why?

3. What audience do you most want to reach with your book? Why?

4. What do you already know about this targeted audience?

5. What will you need to research and learn about this targeted audience?

6. What type of book do you want to write; in what genre?

Article written March 27, 2021 by Denise George, author of 32 traditionally published books. For more than 50 years, Denise has travelled and spoken internationally to groups large and small, and she leads the popular online writers' community Christian Writers for Life.

As founder of The Book Writing Boot Camp and The Writing Minister, Denise taught advanced book writing courses and seminars at Samford University and throughout the United States. She now offers these masterclasses virtually, making them available to new generations of writers through Christian Writers for Life.