Someone said to me the other day ‘I have written a book, but it’s not long enough, they said a book has to be at least 30,000’.
Well, who are ‘they’? ‘They’ are the creators of the formulas we have to follow.
Ignore the formulas. Some of the best books I have read have been a lot less than 30,000 words and some have been a whole lot more.
It is the content of the book and whether by publishing it the author made a difference, created something worth exchanging our time to read it, not how many words it was.
Formulas are created by people trying to sell certainty, trying to create a jelly mould to churn out money-making certainties. Average safe formulaic stuff, sold on mass to average people.
If you want to write a book that means something to you and enriches the life of others who read it, then follow your own formula.
If you want to paint a picture that is unique and will add something to the world, then don’t paint by numbers.
If you want to create a product or service that will stand out, don’t use someone else’s template and stick your own label on it.
Ditch the ‘formula’ of certainty and take a risk.
Philip Dodson 