Hats off to all authors! Don’t Quit writing, remember why you first put pen to paper and keep going!
When we read a great book or stumble on a good article that keeps us glued to the pages we often wonder how did the writer do it? How did they manage to capture our attention past our many sea of distractions
We do not often think about the actual process of how the complete book landed in the bookstore.
Until recently, I had quite a limited knowledge of the amount of work an author has to put in to write the story, complete it and publish the book!
I recently embarked on a journey to tell my story by writing a book. It was during my 2019 family vacation in Dubai that I felt the urge to put my thoughts together on different aspects that impacted my leadership journey. I strongly felt that I needed to reach out and give back through writing.
Brainstorming and putting all my thoughts on paper was a good start I thought – and for sure I did that and was able to complete some thoughts.
What I immediately realized was that it was important to have peace, quiet, calm and collected thoughts when you embark on a journey to write. One needs to search the soul very deep in order to bring out the real emotions that go with the story you are trying to tell. Post brain storming however, it was time to quickly get back to my real world of running a bank whilst managing my family, children and community dynamics. And it was at that point that I understood with no doubt why most authors start writing and then give up completely. It was a bit like building a house and when you get to roof level or the ‘grey finish’ as my young sister @Natasha Chiumya would call it then you stop! Your heart is in the right place but the time, family and work demands will not allow you to even get the pen to continue writing.
Well I realized that if I ever gave up on what I had started then I will definitely be placed on the roof level category which is not acceptable for me. I could not lose out the ability to claim that I managed to put pen to paper against all odds!
Unless you complete your book, the world will never know what your thoughts are! As an author, only What you complete and publish gets read!
What is clear when you embark on the journey of writing a book is the importance of prioritizing and giving up some activities just to continue being effective in what I do best and at the same time create time to write. What I thought was important In my life moved down the priority list very quickly. I gave up every going ‘no where tasks’ just to complete what I had started. My Saturdays were filled with writing and researching and more writing. Just when I thought I had finished, a new wide world of publishing was revealed. A world I did not know existed! It is a big complex world and unless you have true authors and mentors who have walked the journey before, it will not be possible to brave the odds that came with the writing and publishing!
Indeed we learn and grow and I truly have a lot of respect for all authors. Anyone who ever started writing, completed and went on to publish a book and put it on the shelf deserves real acknowledgment. This acknowledgment goes out to you all regardless of how small or big your edition is. There is no such thing as a small edition, the process of writing and publishing is exactly the same.
Thank you to all authors for Braving the Odds to complete what you started and reach out to your audience! You deserve a lot of respect for adding your voice to the world. Thank you🙏
Hats off to all authors! Don’t Quit writing, remember why you first put pen to paper and keep going!