How to write a simple book
Everything doesn’t have an objective.
Why should I write a blog? Why should I attempt a book? Why should I share my knowledge? Why should I post?
The WHY has been taken up a tad too seriously, I guess. We all are forced to think like a marketer. Everything has a value; in case it doesn’t, better have one, else you are a waste in new age communique.
My recent tete-a-tete with the burgeoning phenomena of coaching got me into an introspection of this precise dilemma. Instead, I started asking, WHY this WHY of marketing?
However inconsequential it may sound, the start-to-finish agenda reigns like Alexander. But obvious, isn’t it? There are a smart way people are equating it, defining valuation. And this is predominantly driven by the defined value system of corporate. Terms like teamwork, accountability, transparency, etc. have been too cliched for the millennials. Hence, there has been a sudden rush to curate new adjectives to define the verbiage.
My question to my friends was simple: Is communication a smart way to convince or is it the passion to define the intent? They said, both, may be.
My next question: Is D&I a society driven cause or a glamorised reaction of corporate to set another KRA for the SLT? Husband and wife were instantly taken on the back-foot.
Let’s take a step back.
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So, here we are to press the start button.
Dipti finally zeroed in on me to help her write a book. She had a plethora of options but preferred going ahead with me since I have been assisting her in curating her mentoring program for the last one year. She progressed smartly and the program garnered huge traction with the corporate. From a struggling first session in February 2021 of barely 15 mentees, by December, she has finished 5 batches, with 20 mentees in each. And now, she is overbooked till February next year.
Why you want to write this book?
Reasons cited:
· D&I is relevant with my mentoring program,
· I’ll get permission from my employer to write on this subject as it’s what we also promote as a corporate culture, and
· I want to leave a legacy. Basically, a feel-good factor.
Means,
It’s a measure to state that you’ve arrived.
Confession
Yes, that’s the way I would like to put it. Is it incorrect?
That’s the way Dipti always asks. And she reasons that she’s comfortable being vulnerable while seeking my advice. Not many does.
The unnerving question
Is D&I a society driven cause or a glamorised reaction of corporate to set another KRA for the SLT?
Agreed, unwillingly
A grade basis Unmet. Met. Exceed…true that.
So,
Will it be a story of yours or your mentees?
Literally,
Undecided. Confused to be honest.
Whom this program of yours,
Is targeted at?
My,
Mentees.
How do you,
Measure the change you brought about in them?
I ask them,
To share their learnings post the session.
A sudden pause. Then Dipti exclaims:
Oh! I got it. It’s not my story anymore.
A book must be an interesting read. So,
Let’s make it worthy.
Do you,
Want your readers to block a time of their days to read a chapter or will it be a series of 2-pager short stories?
Promptly,
Anytime, anywhere read. No baggage!
How,
Bulky the book should be?
Ravi, Dipti’s husband, immediately picked up 5 books of different sizes from the shelf and placed on the table.
At a first glance,
Which one you like the most without any preference of subject?
Both picked the same book. I picked my choice, which was different, but was way lighter in weight.
Your book should be:
· Light: You help your mentees unshackle their muddled knots and make their life light.
· Small: So, it can fit into a lady’s handbag. (Her TG are women professionals).
· Illustrations: To bring in the lighter side of life.
And now,
What’s your content? Stories?
Now that you have explained,
I would narrate my mentees’ stories.
Then,
Who are you in these stories?
In the last one year we have exchanged enough notes for the duo to come up with the reply: Observer and narrator!
But tell me Roy,
What about the context setting?
How do you,
Write a diary?
Oh! Here we go,
A date at the top!
And,
A place…and time…
Then you introduce,
A character, the hero of your story. Correct?
The last question,
What about the resolution in each story?
Storytelling is the point where,
You want to stop. Leave it at the realisation phase, not the resolution.
The whole agenda unfolded into a classic timeline with the hero’s journey in place. The couple was delighted to have cracked the code.
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So, what’s the objective?
At times, it’s just the verbatim of your experience. Let the audience decide their take.
