I can’t count the number of times I heard people say, “I could write a book.” What I think they are saying, is that the thing that just happened to them, or the difficult situation they find themselves in, or the problems they’ve had to overcome, or the multitude of reasons out there, are so unique and interesting, that zillions of prople would be interested in reading about them. That could be. Even if they aren’t about something that has never happened before, the book may become a best seller because so many readers woud be able to relate to the subject matter, the characters, their particular personalities so strongly that the book would be successful.
My own opinion is that people are more interested in reading about things they know very little about. The first time I was told to write a book was when I was about nine years old. It was September and I’d returned to school after an almost endless summer vacation. I was placed into a new class with a new teacher. Her first assignment was to ask us to write an autobiography about ourselves so that she could get to know us bettter. Of course, in my class of second or third generation of Italian Americans, my autobiography stood out like a kitten in a dog run. Who else would have written about a Jewish refugee girl who had gone through a harrowing escape from Nazi persecution in Europe? I got an A+ and told the teacher, “Yes, I will write a book.”
I forgot about that remark until recent years. I was too busy living my life in the meantime. It was not until my grandson brought me back to those early years and made me realize that my story was indeed interesting. It was the impetus for me to write Becoming Alice, my memoir. I intended it to be for my friends and family, but if my sales are any indication of the number of others who found it meanaingful, I was wrong. It was the begining of an adventure of a lifetime for me as an author.
What I have learned is that everyone’s life is unique. If you think your story is one for the books, go ahead and write it down.
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