Your Reader and You

You write a book for two people.

One is your reader. The other is yourself.

Not every book with a writer needs a reader, but every book with a reader needs a writer.

If you're writing for yourself, you need to concentrate on sorting out your thoughts and organizing your opinions and experiences into a coherent narrative that allows you to draw some conclusions about what you've done and what you want to do next.

That book doesn't need a reader to be the most valuable book in the world for you. But that doesn't mean it has value for anyone else.

If you're writing for someone else, you need to show them how what you've done and what you know can apply in their lives, how it will help them avoid making mistakes that you made, or how it will help them achieve the achievements you achieved. Readers turn to books constantly for that kind of knowledge, guidance, and inspiration.

Before you start your book, it's worth being honest with yourself about whether you're writing it for yourself or others.

Not only will that condition what you write. It will also set the bar for how you ultimately decide whether or not your book is a success.