The Dream of Writing a Book
Why do we write, anyways?
I published my first physical (hard copy) book on creativity in August 2023. It is called Think.Build.Create. I had written a few children’s books prior to that, which I published as e-books. Although online publishing does feel eventful and satisfying, it can’t beat the feel of a hard copy of your own book in your very own hands! The aroma of your freshly printed book, the contentment of completing it and the pride of being a published author, a stance that only some get to in life, is definitely worth the time and effort! It truly counts as a life achievement. And it will elevate you. It will allow you to stand with that sense of confidence and imbibed learning for the rest of your life!
I had been wanting to publish for a long time, ever since I was 22. I used to amble a lot in my dairies, on word docs, in blogs, hoping that all of this would somehow lead to writing a book of my own. It’s a dream for many of us, right? To share with the world, our writing, thoughts and ideas in a compact manner which adds value to people’s lives and allows them to take a sneak peek at how we perceive the world. Isn’t that the whole point of writing?
But you also need to build that knowledge over the years, imbibe it and absorb it, gain that experience, put yourself in those tough out-of-the-box situations, to eventually share your learning and insights with the world, whenever you’re ready!
The whole idea of perception is beautiful. It differs so much from person to person, it is more noticeable when you have in depth conversations with friends, family, acquaintances, etc. All of us have our own lens of viewing the world and it is greatly based on our upbringing and life experiences there-after.
Think.Build.Create was a book I wrote right after I finished my Doctorate. And let me tell you, it was tougher writing the book than getting my Doctorate! Packing immense amounts on information and experience is always a challenge. And there is also the fact as to how you put massive amounts of complex thoughts, experiences and learning into simple words, that allows people to comprehend what you’re trying to say and apply the tips and knowledge. So, it wasn’t an easy task to wrap my head around that. But thankfully we are in the age of ChatGPT, so I did get some help understanding how to structure a book you’re writing and tips on how to write coherently. It was a god send, otherwise, the book would have been as haywire as my mind. I wouldn’t have had any idea as to what information I should have used and what I shouldn’t have.
So back to the contents of my book; the book was based on this premise— Having creative trouble? Don’t worry! Creativity is something we are all born with. Some of us understand how to quickly hone that skill and some of us take a little more time. This book is a rough-it-out guide for those who want to understand creativity better as a process, as opposed to a mess we might have to wade through. Good luck getting your creative juices flowing!
A lot of people struggle with creativity. They have a lot of ideas but have execution problems. Or they have idea blocks and don’t know how to break them. Or they might be good with businesses and processes but fail to perceive unique ideas. A lot of issues lie out there. And this book was written to resolve these issues.
I have been an Educator for many years now, so I know for a fact that it’s not just about the writing/facts or information that you convey that allows learning to happen, but it also lies in the activities and the engagement with the reader or learner for action to happen. How will you go from getting people interested in the content to applying it? For this, I packed the book with enough activities after each chapter to allow the learner to engage and apply their minds based on the knowledge gained. And these activities would allow the learner to go from formulating ideas to acting upon them and showcasing them in the real world.
On some days when I am stuck, I go back to my own book to get more clarity and clear the path. I’m also an avid reader so I do draw some motivation from other self-help books too.
Research suggests that the average person has tens of thousands of thoughts per day. A study conducted by the National Science Foundation found that the average person has about 12,000 to 60,000 thoughts per day. Of course, not all of these thoughts will be what we might consider as “ideas” in the creative or innovative sense, but they do represent the flow of mental activity that occurs within the human mind. It’s also worth noting that the quality and novelty of these ideas can vary significantly. Some may be mundane or repetitive, while others may be innovative and potentially groundbreaking.
But I believe that ideas should not stay as just ideas! It’s like staying a baby forever, in a nascent stage, not willing to grow up. You have to allow the idea to grow into action. You have to make it happen, instead of being in a muddle to execute, procrastinating or underestimating your idea. There are steps to push through that, break those barriers and make it happen! And these steps are explained in my book.
So, I encourage all you curious learners and creative souls out there to buy this book and allow it to clear your path to living your creative dreams!
Here is a link to my book: Think.Build.Create: Unraveling the creative process : Divya Ramachandran: Amazon.in: Books
