WHAT BUILDING CASTLES IN THE AIR TAUGHT ME

They say, you can never plan the future by the past. And when I look back, it makes sense to me. There I was, sitting in my counsellor’s room, during my summer vacation – when I was supposed to be a bird set free from cage, though momentarily – with a mind choked by the vexing tentacles of OCD: Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, thoughts which are beyond one’s control. It consumed all the productivity left in me.

‘Read a book,’ she said, ‘You need to relax your mind.’

To be frank, neither of us knew, a simple solution as such would make me an author 4 years from then. By this post, I want to strip off from your mind a few of the common myths about becoming a writer – a published one – to enable you to live your dream.

#1 YOU NEED TO READ A LOT BEFORE YOU WRITE: Reading and writing are two different processes. Let me define these two actions in a sentence for clarity. Reading is a way of downloading data into your brain. Writing, on the other hand, is a way of uploading data from your memory to another medium (traditionally, paper) after analysing, interpreting and combining it for the purpose of communication – or, for some, just to feel good. So, reading a lot improves your reading skills (encoding ability) and it is writing – a lot – that improves your writing skills (decoding ability). 

Am I suggesting that one need not read at all to be a good writer? Absolutely not! Because there has to be data in your memory first, for you to write, right? What I am implying is, you don't need to postpone writing until you have read a hundred or so books. If you love to write, then write. Period.

Reading and writing are the two pedals of a bicycle. It would be a waste of a lot of energy and time if you try to ride it with only one pedal. Both the pedals must be in sync for a smooth and stress-free ride. 

#2 YOU NEED TO FIGURE OUT EVERYTHING BEFOREHAND: When my journey of writing began I didn't plan to do any of these: compile my blog (Build Castles In The Air) into a book after 2 years of its initiation, choose Kindle Direct Publishing as a platform to self-publish; over the other companies offering the same, self-design a cover (using Canva) for my first book and the next, use Instagram to boost my book sales, advertise on fb, launch this blog, or write this post. Why? Simple 2 reasons. Firstly, I didn't know then how to make use of these platforms as a writer; I had no background in writing nor knew anyone personally who did. Secondly, like any other human being, I didn't possess – and still don’t – a crystal ball that would let me see my future. And this is one of the crucial lessons in my life I had to learn the hard way: just because the path is not clear, when you begin your journey, doesn't mean you’ll be lost. And yes, it might be time-consuming (not impossible) because your mind’s primary objective is to ensure your survival by stopping you from doing tasks alien to it as it has no previous experience when it has to deduce whether or not performing an unprecedented task will put your existence at stake. So don’t let it play tricks on you. Its main tool to ensure you don’t cross the line of comfort is to put a leash of doubt around your neck. You might feel you are choking when you try to pull free. But trust me, it is only as strong as you believe it is.

‘The greatest obstacle to discovery is not ignorance, it is the illusion of knowledge’

-DANIEL J. BOORSTIN

#3 IT’S TOUGH TO GET PUBLISHED: In 1995 the United States productivity boomed after a period of flat-line productivity. Reason? WWW or World Wide Web. Advancement in information technology has made accessibility to information virtually free. Availability of information at the tip of our fingers has liberated us in ways we don’t even realize. Gone are those days when you had to send query letters to numerous publishers and wait months only to realise you have been rejected by them all. With the emergence of companies like Amazon, writers can now publish their book/s at the comfort of their couch.

#4 SELF-PUBLISHED AUTHORS CAN'T BE AS SUCCESSFUL AS TRADITIONALLY PUBLISHED AUTHORS:  How successful can one be by self-publishing? This was the first question I asked myself when I heard about KDP. And it seems you can be successful enough to sell film rights to your story to 20^th Century Fox.
Hugh Howey self-published ‘Wool’ in 2011 on Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing, choosing to do so due to the freedom of self-publishing. It was written as a standalone short story. His sales jumped from dozens to thousands without any effort from his side to advertise it. As the series gained popularity, he began to write more entries to it. He began soliciting international rights in 2012 and the film rights to the series were sold to 20^th Century Fox; Lionsgate also expressed interest. And guess what, he had none of these figured out beforehand. 

‘Most of my months are six-figure months’

- HUGH HOWEY                          

That being said, don’t jump in if you want to make quick bucks; it’s not a stock market. Writers, passionate ones, are the best fit for these sites – not businessmen; their field is entirely different. I’m not guaranteeing you will be able to earn six-figures per month. Because, the scenario is totally different now. Self-published authors are flourishing and you have to be passionate and dedicated to your art to stand out in the crowd. And like any other art, the chance of your work gaining popularity is a matter of timing. I don’t mean these statements as a discouragement. Rather, I’m being frank with you to make your mind immune to the despair of disacknowledgement – if any. And I think a writer must not judge the value of his work solely based on sales.

#5 SELF-PUBLISHING IS COSTLY: The minimum cost to self-publish is literally zero. I didn’t spend a single dime to self-publish ‘Build Castles In The Air’; I was sceptical about becoming an author with a few free of cost mouse clicks. I mean, come on, if it was that easy then everyone would be an author ... Or would they?

#6 IF IT WAS EASY TO BECOME A PUBLISHED WRITER, THEN EVERYONE WOULD BE ONE: Jeff Bezos founded Amazon 2 years prior to my birth - 1994. During 2000 – 2002, the dot-com bubble burst, wiping out a large portion of Amazon’s market capitalization. Jeff Bezos’s unwavering faith in his vision was the company’s life vest. It survived the rough tide to later recover and surpass its stock price peaks during the bubble. In November 2007, Amazon launched Kindle Direct Publishing enabling many of the otherwise-would-not-be writers to quit their out-of-no-choice jobs and earn a living by living their dream. Certain titles outsold its paperback format on kindle. A new market had emerged for writers. Many readers had accepted the new mode of reading e-books on Amazon’s kindle device which was launched in the same year as KDP. Oh God, so much had happened by the time I was 18 and I was in the dark when it came to topics like these. Why? Simple, I had no interest in writing until I watched Harry Potter. 

Our actions has the ability to magnetise our minds to attract only those opportunities which align with our dreams - some call it luck. Lack of initiation, due to the wrong understanding of what luck means, is one of the reasons why aspiring authors don't get to live their dream. Another major reason is, we are taught if there is no pain then there can be no gain. This mindset has turned millions blind to a lot of opportunities - particularly the easy ones - available to them as it is founded upon the belief, everything that sounds too good cannot be true. And it doesn't make sense to me how spending time - even if it is years - doing something one loves will be a painful experience for one.

#7 DESIGNING THE BOOK COVER IS TOUGH: You might be among those who excel at writing while your photo editing skills are in stark contrast to it – a quite common case. Once again, internet has come to your rescue. You can design pretty decent covers using Canva: a website that lets you design book covers – for free.
You will be given access to around 8,000 templates and you always have the option to upload your own images. Since you have to just work on the templates, a lot of your work has been done for you by Canva. You might be thinking ‘well, how do they make profits?’. A valid question to which the answer is, your free access to photos and templates is limited by quantity. And even if you have to download a photo which you really like but is not available for free, don’t worry. It just costs a dollar.
And of course, you always have the choice to outsource cover designing.

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You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream.

- C. S. LEWIS

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I know, many of the things in this post sounds too good to be true. Trust me, I am not sharing my first-hand experiences in becoming a self-published author with you for the sake of motivating you to write. I am doing this because I love this form of art and have absolute faith in the future of writing industry considering the advancements in technology. In my opinion, couple of years from now, with the advancements in Artificial Intelligence, you’ll be able to eliminate editors. The overwhelming task of scrutinising 400 plus pages of a novel to rectify silly errors like spelling, typos, improper usage or omission of comas etc. can be done in a matter of seconds by silicon brains saving you a lot of time. Just imagine, how promising the future of writing industry is when you entertain the possibility of a computer translating your work into numerous languages with a single click of a button – or perhaps with a command of your voice.  

Let me conclude this post by sharing Hugh Howey’s message with you guys; we must support one another, we are not direct competitors to one another, and we will never have so many books that someone is not going to read your book because they're reading everyone else's. 

Just drop me a line if you want me to cover any particular topic that you feel is missing on this blog. You can reach me on twitter, fb or Instagram. Please share if you like what you just read and subscribe to be a part of the journey of a writer. Don’t forget to share your thoughts in the comment box below. Thank you for stopping by 😊