I read my students term papers for UCLA Extension last week, and the majority were excerpts from the books they’re writing.  A few of these students came to class with their idea for a memoir fully formed, but most came with bits and pieces of ideas, a notion of where those pieces might go if they ever wrote a book.  I’ve found that people can be shy about announcing that they’re writing a book, as if they’re overreaching or being arrogant about their intentions. But I’m always encouraging my students to forge on and figure it all out as they go. And more often than not, they do.  (Another thing I encourage them to do is to find essays in the memoirs they’re writing. A chapter that can be pulled out and published separately.  Consider this if you’re writing a memoir or a non-fiction book.)

Because I’ve been at this so long, I know what direction their bits and pieces of ideas could head, and what works in their writing and what doesn’t. It amazes me how many good ideas my students have, how many books can be written if they don’t give up. 

If, like me, you’ve been to a big book store chain lately or checked into Amazon, you might have the feeling that everything possible has been written about.  There are no more books left to write!  But this of course isn’t true.  In every new class I teach, I hear stories that need to be turned into essays if not books.

Do you have a book of your heart?  Write for 5 minutes about what book you’d write if you had  time/patience/confidence.  Or write the jacket copy for a book you’re already writing.