How do you write a book?

This is a question haunting me for a while. I am groping for an answer. Fundamentally the question of How is secondary to Why does anybody want to write a book? The urge to write comes from a desire to share and communicate. Also I feel the experience of reading and writing about what you have read or experienced in life helps put perspective and a clearer understanding of the subject or experience. Writing is a tool to zoom in and get into intricate details about the subject as well as zoom out and look at the larger picture. All of us are a sum total of multitudes and have experiences or knowledge which are commonplace or even unique. The fear that lurks in my mind as I think of writing is that what seems unique to me maybe extremely common to others and vice versa. 

Good writers possess the ability to write something clearly and in a manner which engages a reader without diluting the content in terms of it's honesty or complexity. This is something worth achieving. Besides, I feel that perhaps there is a book within all of us and the wide tapestry of life creates memories and experiences which remain in our consciousness and make them unforgettable in both pleasant or unpleasant ways. The ability of the written word to translate these experiences and events to convey the feeling or the picture make for good writing. Perhaps, the present blog that I write is the practice that I am putting in before I venture into writing the novel. 

The second confusion is the one about the genre of fiction, memoir, non-fiction books. One basic question is weather anything that we write is really original or is it a mere revelation of something which is perhaps hidden or about which we are ignorant. Fiction also comes from imagination and perhaps an attempt to tell a story which maybe autobiographical but which the author is not ready to reveal so that feelings of persons identified are not hurt. So while a book of fiction seems enjoyable especially if it fits into a predictable but enjoyable genre after a few such reads the novelty wears off and only outstanding authors are able to create books of fiction that are always consistently unputdownable. Such authors too, I am sure are able to do this if their fictional writing retains a freshness and a contemporary flavour. I think that I enjoy a genre which is more faction rather than fiction which is fiction based on facts rather than pure imagination much like science fiction or alien creatures etc. I neither enjoy or would like to write such a book. Non-fiction books fall under the categories of knowledge dissemination by subject matter experts be the in the field of science, commerce, spiritual subjects or even self help books. I have no pretensions to making such a claim and so this category is out as far as I am concerned.  The next set refers to historical books, biographies, autobiographies and memoirs which require a lot of time research and effort to create and that too in an engaging honest non-flattering manner.  Another type of book is Self Help type of books based on say some research and experiential inputs which have given unusual results in life. A book based on a life purpose or spiritual quest which is semi autobiographical can be something worth writing about. As far as a choice is to be made between prose and poetry, I have never been able to express myself as a poet. 

As I researched to write this blog in terms of the multiple genres of books, I realised that fiction is imagination at its highest. Even as I feel that I am a right brained person coming from a place of ideas and imagination, my basic quest is to present authentic truthful experiences and therefore pure fiction based on a fantasy is not up my alley. I do appreciate that fiction authors probably create an end and a beginning and interplay characters to lead to the end. It is a hard task and while I do not know how to write, even a simple blog which I am writing starts with a beginning question and perhaps an answer which I had in mind but it changes based on the middle content. 

In my life right from childhood, comprehension classes were my favourite classes. I modelled my writings on journalism as I quite liked to read the newspaper. Sports journalism, editorials and investigative political reporting were the parts of the newspaper, I instinctively reach out to read. Therefore I started writing in that style. It was as yet an imitation exercise lacking originality as it was based on imagination but not far from the truth. As I grew older I started writing summaries to understand and learn, I realised that in my academic career, making notes was a means to get clarity and better understanding. An ability to precis long chapters and books helped me understand recall and reproduce material to pass exams. 

Coming to my blog the question of why I blog was answered a year ago in October 2023. The link of that is availble.  https://vhjokhi.blogspot.com/2023/10/why-do-i-blog.html. Today I ask my readers and friends who know me to suggest ideas on what kind of book I should write. Unfortunately, I have not kept a journal, but I feel I have a lot to tell. Should I write about me a father, an ethical doctor, the leader, my influencers and inspirational figures of my life or merely write an autobiography. I am waiting eagerly for your comments and ideas to help choose. If nothing else maybe there may be more than one book residing in me. Also if one knows about a course in book writing non fiction I do not mind learning this art especially if it comes from a genuine expert. 

Writing is never easy and requires some discipline. Today I try to write a minimum 200 words a day to ensure I create this blog regularly. I appreciate and thank my readers and hope that there is some positive thing I convey in this blog. Reading a lot makes one a better writer. I hope that I can create the book of my life a memoir touching aspects which are fading from memory. In the interim my gentle readers read my blog and help me with ideas and titles you can think of as short books. 

Vispi Jokhi