Driven by the need to create more visual space for myself, I have been aggressive in my reading this year. The great thing about consistent reading is that I have started to spot several traits that successful authors share. Well, this gives me a clear template to work on should I decide to document my wisdom in printed form one day.

Animal behaviour and plant characteristics

I notice that when penning self-help books, it would be a bonus to have a working knowledge of how plants grow. Did you know that bamboo plants grow exponentially and are the best illustration of gradually then suddenly? Or that willow plants don’t buckle under the weight of the snow but instead, let snow gently slide off their branches? I didn’t know all this until I came across these fascinating facts on books.

The same thing can be said for animals. For instance, penguins gift pebbles to other penguins they are interested in during courtship. What a lovely way to show care and concern! The implication for me is to understand more about plants and animals so that I can authentically draw connections between nature and human tendencies. Cool stuff.

Hobbies

Having a fervent interest in life helps to spice up your book because you can use analogies to enliven your content. I once read a book about how an author who is into surfing 🏄‍♂️ mentions how this activity can help to deepen his resolve or something like that. Marital arts or yoga are popular pursuits chosen by authors - and it’s interesting to read how they use particular marital arts techniques to advocate the practice of meditation. Take this book for instance:

As the saying goes, “All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.” So, the moral of the story is make space for play so that your thinking will be enlivened and enriched.

Reading List

All self-respecting authors love reading, so it seems more convincing for them to list down the books they have read and draw parallels between their original content and the insights embedded within other authors’ books. For instance, I find it a thrill whenever I come across Victor Frankl’s “The Search for Meaning” being mentioned in the book I’m reading. I actually first heard about it through @carlosfandango’s book review. I’m knowledgeable enough. I’m in the know!

Punctuation

Yes, punctuation is trivia in the grand scheme of things, but when an author uses punctuation marks as a metaphor, it can help elevate his or her writing. Matt Haig has a habit of doing this. He wrote about how mindfulness is a way to add punctuation into the breathless sentence of one. Lovely, isn’t it?

Now that I have given you a road map of what we need to achieve in order to publish a book, I hope you’ll apply some of the above mentioned traits!