“If only I could decorate my house for Fall,” I found myself thinking on a Sunday morning on the weekend before Labor Day weekend. It was a cool, crisp morning after what had felt like an exceptionally hot and humid summer.
Fall is my favorite season, so I was soaking it all in. I brought my pup and my coffee out to my screened-in porch, cracked open my book, and relished in the present moment. Despite how happy I was that it felt like a perfect Fall day, I couldn’t help but think that the icing on the cake would be to have pumpkins of all shapes, sizes, colors, and textures filling my house for the extra cozy feel. Alas, I’d have to make it one more weekend.
I took my dog for a walk, came back home, and remembered… I had free will. There’s no law against decorating early. If it was going to make me happy and I had the time to do it, then it was going to happen. A few hours later, my house was transformed, and I was thrilled.
I think we sometimes forget that we have free will. We get caught up in what we should do or what we’re supposed to do. But we’re all unique and different things will make our hearts sing. Books are no different. Even if you’re writing a business or leadership book, a book is still a creative act, and you still have free will. Of course, as a ghostwriter, I’m going to make certain recommendations to you, but there’s still immense freedom.
Here are some areas of freedom you may be forgetting about as you’re considering writing a book.
Freedom of Content
Just because you’re an accountant doesn’t mean you need to write a book about accounting. You can write a book on leadership, about a cause you advocate for, what you’ve learned in your accounting career that you can apply to your passion for rock climbing, etc. The list could go on and on because there are so many facets to each of us that are unique.
It also doesn’t mean that you can’t talk about multiple areas of your life in a book. The key is to have a main theme that is pulling it all together to ensure your reader gets their intended impact out of the book. As long as you can tie your content to your theme (which you also have the freedom to choose), you have immense flexibility in what you talk about.
You can teach leadership principles while telling stories about rock climbing, and then you can use your experiences to advocate for a cause that’s helped you along the way. Don’t put yourself in a box.
Freedom of Structure
While many business and personal development books are 8 to 15 chapters with various subtopics discussed in each chapter, there’s no rule stating that’s how it needs to be.
You can write a longer or shorter book. You can have short chapters that are only a few pages long and have a lot of chapters. You can group the content in different ways.
Books are a deeply personal thing, both in how they are written and people’s preferences around them. There are many different kinds of readers, even within the same genre. As an author, you probably have a preference for how you like to read books, and you can incorporate that structure into your own book.
I even know of people who like to include pictures in their books! There is so much flexibility in helping bring your dream book to life.
Freedom of Voice
Writing a book doesn’t equal needing to have perfect, technically correct grammar throughout. Yes, we want to avoid obvious typos and grammar errors for ease of reading, but for some of the more nuanced language rules, there’s some flexibility.
What’s most important is that you love your book and that the book sounds like you. As I said in my last blog, we’re writing a non-fiction book, not a textbook. Having the book written in your voice helps the readers to get to know you as an author better and helps to strike the appropriate tone for your message.
Stories and conversations are what keep people engaged. I often find that people prefer a more conversational style of writing. It’s easier to understand and more relatable. If your voice is formal, that’s great! If it’s informal, that’s great too. We’re not going for perfection (which is subjective in writing anyway); we’re going for what reflects you.
If you’d love to explore how a ghostwriter can support you in expressing your creative freedom through a book, let’s chat! Book a free strategy session using the button below.
Disclaimer: This blog should not be construed as providing, or intending to provide professional financial, legal, psychological, or other professional advice. It is simply meant to share my experiences with those who may find them relatable and helpful.