How to move forward with your book

A book usually begins life as a chaotic collection of ideas or memories, set into motion by a sudden desire to share them with others. After all, our very culture is founded upon the storied passage of myths, fables and legends from one generation to the next. Whether the book you have in mind is based upon your memoirs and personal experiences, or seeks to convey a tale of passion, adventure or moral consequences, every story yearns to be told and there are countless millions waiting to listen.

Yet, most books are never written and most fascinating tales are never told. Sometimes this is because the aspiring author doesn’t have the necessary time or speed over the keyboard, while others are lost because inspiration quickly gives way to distraction. It is therefore of the greatest importance to habitually carry a device or notebook to record those ideas that spring to mind only to fade within a fleeting moment. Contrary to popular misconception, even works of pure fiction are not written in a linear sequence. Stories evolve, develop and are ultimately refined, as key moments within the plot, rather like long forgotten memories, suddenly resurface to lend new significance to earlier events.

Many books in fact start life as a series of entries in a journal or a blog which, like drops of rain, slowly begin to coalesce to form a continuum. Whether you would like to draft your own outline and then hand it over to a seasoned editor to turn into a fluent narrative; or else record your thoughts onto an iPhone or Dictaphone and ask us to transcribe and edit these into a storyline; or simply conjure up a fantastical storyline and ask one of our ghost writers to run with it - these are all equally valid ways to initiate the creative process.

The book serves as an indelible record of ideas and events. While videos, films and pictures may convey much, there is something undeniably sacred about the original version of a story. Besides, a single phrase can conjure a thousand images. Although many adaptations have since been inspired by Tolkien’s ‘Hobbit’ or Darwin’s ‘Origin of the Species’, the authentic versions still sell by the thousand.

So has the book lost its pride of place in the digital age, made obsolete by our ability to download films on demand? Those who like to imagine that books will simply be consigned to the archives of history by technology might be surprised to learn that most of the best-selling books of all time were published after the dawn of the Internet. As a parting thought, one should always bear in mind that every iconic film began life as a script…