I’m Thinking About Writing a Book Before I’m 30

I’ve always wanted to publish a book, one that would do very well or be impactful in some way. I always thought it was a big goal. I have self-published a few books already, just to experiment with passive income. I took down two titles, one which was created out of uncopyrighted material from other bloggers, and another which was based off an old blog post I wrote. The last one, which I’ve kept up, was a short book with 100 beginner/intermediate Korean phrases/sentences. It sells maybe one copy per month. I didn’t put too much effort into it, in terms of the writing or promotion. If anything, I’d like to revise it. But, I’m not particularly invested in the idea.

I’ve had many ideas for books over the years. When I was younger, I thought about publishing a fictional story. Post-college, I leaned more into non-fiction.

These days, I think about writing a book about my experiences over the past three years or so, specifically about life with and after psychosis. I’ve debated about it. On one hand, I want to help others who have experienced something similar and educate those who know little about it. On the other hand, I wonder how much I should actually share. There’s some details that may be important, but I feel embarrassed to share. Though, there’s probably many authors who have felt the same. They probably skimmed over the details or just dove straight into what they wanted to share.

Recently, Steve Pavlina started writing about his participation in NaNoWriMo, which is an organization that promotes this event where you write 50,000 words in the month of November for a novel. At the time, I already planned to read for the month. And also, I didn’t have an interest in writing a novel. However, I did think about how I wanted to write a non-fiction.

I don’t really talk about my experiences with psychosis online. I mean, I’ve mentioned hearing voices. I’ve talked about mental health and coping skills. But, I never actually explained to strangers or even friends on the internet about what was going through my mind when I was experiencing psychosis. I never talked about the ups and the downs and how it affected my mindset.

I wondered if now is the right time to draft the book. I guess it’s never too early, technically. It’s better to document things early, so that you can always look back and see where you were. But when I think of a title like “Life After Psychosis” (the current title I’m thinking about), I feel like I should have accomplished more. I feel like I should be more stable, more independent, etc. But then again, this is real life, not fantasy. Sure, maybe life would look much different in a year or two, or even five years from now. But, this is my life now. This is my reality. This is my experience. I shouldn’t dismiss that.

I don’t want to dive straight into writing. I think I’d like to research it more. And also, I’d like to dedicate a 30-day challenge to it, writing at least 1000 words per day. Right now, I’m focused on my reading challenge (and my “coloring” challenge, if that counts). I also have other 30-day challenge ideas such as doing an Instagram Live each day, exercising daily (something short and simple), and trying various methods for improving my sleep (30 days to better sleep challenge). I’m not in a rush to write the book. Though, it’s definitely something I’d like to accomplish, hopefully before the time I hit 30. (Wow, 30-day challenge before 30! 😆)

I was thinking about going the self-published route. Though, working with a mental health book publisher wouldn’t be a bad idea. They’d definitely know how to market better. I’m not doubting my abilities, but for my first book, the publishing route might be nicer. I’m open to either of these options. I’d like it if it reached a wide audience though.

This would be the first time that I’d be writing something so long that is my own original content. I mean, I’ve written plenty of blog posts in the past. But, a book typically requires structure and organization. It requires more planning so that it will be cohesive and simple to read.

I remember writing fan fictions in the past. I never really organized them well. I just started with the story and went in sequential order, adding chapter by chapter. I never finished the stories, though. And, I couldn’t just jump ahead or go back. I had to continue where I left off, because I was publishing it online and my readers were expecting that. If I wrote it all beforehand, which I never thought of before, then I could have waited to publish it after I finished.

I think if I write this book, I’ll just write whatever ideas come to mind, similar to how I write a blog post. I’ll worry about the editing later. I have a few friends who might be able to help with that too. So, I don’t have to go it alone.

So, writing a book is on my bucket list. I didn’t really have a bucket list for the past two years because it was hard for me to accomplish goals. But recently, I’ve been becoming better at it.

I also think that because I’ve been getting back into blogging, I think of writing more. I think about having more of an impact through my writing. I think about reaching a wider audience of readers. I think about how I can help. I think about how other books have helped me in different ways, or have sparked something in me. And I think, “I want to do that too!”

I don’t know when I’ll start this goal, but now that I’m publicly announced it, you all know! Feel free to share your advice or your encouragement. I’m not going to work on publishing a book right away, but the idea is there. Everything in our reality was first an idea. Well, with the exception of the voice I hear maybe… which is another story. But anyway, I hope to bring this idea to fruition before my 30th birthday. 🙂