I was sitting at a table with a senior editor from Penguin. She’d been asking me questions about some of the books ideas I had pitched her. As I told her about one of my ideas she asked me, “How do you know that.”
“I just do,” I replied. She just nodded. I thought maybe I should elaborate. “It just sort of came to me. I figured it out. It’s a system I devised.”
“I see.”
Everyone knows something about something. That’s why almost anyone can write a book—or at least an article—about something.
And every now and again, you just kind of know something…well…new. You figure out something that no one else has ever figured out. You have a new idea. The light bulb goes off.
That’s how we become experts on certain topics. For example, I’m not an expert on Kabbalah, or Jewish mysticism. However, one day I realized there were some neato correlations between the Kabbalistic creation story and the Law of Attraction. So, I wrote a little book about it. Voila! I’m an expert on Kabbalistic Conscious Creation.
If someone asked me, “How did you know that?” I’d have to reply, “I just did.”
In fact, I did some studying. I put two and two together in a way that no one else ever had before. It created a totally new number no one had ever heard of before.
Now, you don’t have to create something out of nothing (Abracadabra! Hah! That’s a Hebrew—some say Aramaic—word that means to create something from nothing. See. I taught you a little bit of Jewish mysticism.) You can actually just write about the something that is already there. Just do it from your own unique angle, or perspective. That’s often good enough.
Ask yourself what you know. What do people always ask you questions about? On what topic are you quick to offer advice? What’s your hobby or your passion? Have you had some life experiences that have given you wisdom or knowledge?
What do you know? Leave me a comment and tell me.
Nina, you think just like me! I’m able to connect different disciplines and shed new light on them. That’s how my first book “came” to me in the bathtub one day! (Back in Time Tarot). I’m able to bring a lot of new things to Tarot because of my background as a (former) Pentecostal minister, insatiable learner and life-long reader. I bring a practicality and freshness to Tarot because I’m not tethered to its history or stodgy traditionalism. I came to the cards “sideways”, and taught myself to read and understand them. Thus, I’m a bit of a pioneer. Btw, what’s your book called? Tarot has ties to Kabbalistic mysticism. ;o)
Janet,
Very cool! I read Tarot cards, too, though not that many people over here on “this side” of my life know that. (Go on over to my other side–www.purespiritcreations.com.) I also read Kabbalah cards, but I’m still learning those. I still have to look up their meaning. I also often look up the meaning when I see the Kabbalistic signs on the Tarot cards and would love to know more about how that integrates into Tarot. If you are turned on and tapped in amazing things flow to you…a bit like Wayne Dyer talks about. Keep up the great work. Nina
P.S. The book is called The Kabblah of Conscious Creation. It has a workbook, too. It was meant to be a much longer book, but I produced a booklet so I could start selling it while I began speaking on the topic. It was the first book my current agent took me on to write and sell. We put it on hold while I produced writing-related books (How to Blog a Book). I am now turning back to it, but it will be very different. It will have a much wider angle…broader market and appeal. You can find it here: http://www.purespiritcreations.com/The-Kabbalah-of-Conscious-Creation.html
Nina, you said “…So, I wrote a little book about it. Viola! I’m an expert on Kabbalistic Conscious Creation.”
You asked, “What do you know? Leave me a comment and tell me.”
I know that your spell-check program snoozed because you’re an excellent writer who would have said Voila, not Viola. I’ve been surprised (my own Voila!) at how often I recognize misused words in blog articles and books. An unwritten book waits for me to address that subject.
Violet! Ack! No proofreader on this end but me. And that post was written late at night. So, thank you, thank you! Feel free to point out my misspelling or grammatical errors whenever you like. I’m not offended even though I’m an editor. We all need an editor, and I’m a sole operation here at the moment and have been forever. I’ll take whatever help I can get! And now, go write that book. No time like the present to get started. In fact, why not blog it? Heheheheh. Nina
I know I enjoy teaching elementary school and writing human interest stories for a local newspaper, the Salisbury Post. I’ve especially enjoyed writing my mom’s funny stories, as she grew up one of twenty-one children in a small southern town during the depression. That’s what I know.
Your experience with teaching could make great fodder for a book. The teaching market is huge — to sell to teachers and educators. And human interest stories are always great! I used to love writing these for newspapers. Sometimes these can be combined together into a book if you write on a theme.