Writing a book as a 19 year-old student

There are very few things you can do as a student to further your career. I would put writing a book pretty high up on that list.

When I first started my endeavor of writing, it was with fiction ideas. I had watched so much bad fantasy entertainment that I felt the passion to write my own stories. However, this fire was always short-lived and its output — lacked in quality. No matter how much I tried, I just could not reach that high goal of at least 60k words for a fiction manuscript. I did not have an idea that was worth 60k words.

It was when my research group finally succeeded in getting our paper published that I found a passion for non-fiction writing.

My first big idea

In senior high school, I got the chance to be the president of an organization named “Competitive Computer Programmers.” I delivered my first real seminar at this organization, albeit online. It was about game development and how this field of programming can help a student understand programming in a different way than how school is teaching them. This was a successful talk, and it was the start of my passion for sharing my experiences with others. In particular, I wanted others to know how I got ahead so that they could get ahead as well.

The problem was, at this point in time, I did not yet fully grasp the phenomena behind my early competence. In fact, I did not even recognize it as a unique phenomenon up until my first year in college. It was at this point in time that I realized, “I had something special.”

I helped everyone around me in every way I could. I devoted my time to teaching in a way that was unique to me. For some reason, I knew exactly what I needed to teach even before hearing what people had trouble with. The time came when I joined an organization called, “La Salle Computer Society,” which has been around for around 30 years now. My first ever hands-on activity with this organization was when there was an annual school-wide event that required all organizations to hold at least one class of any nature, whether formal or informal.

I had already been on the audience’s side of this event for 2 years prior. Let me tell you now, the first time I laid hands on this event, I said to myself, “I wanted to speak here and hold my own class.” Now that there was finally an opportunity to do just that, I knew I had to take the shot.

The idea developed

I prepared the slides that I would need even before I asked for my organization’s approval. I worked on those slides for a few days, developing my idea as I went along. I finally finished a draft of the slides around the same time the organization had voted my topic as the one they would host. I knew I had to tell them now that I was planning to be the speaker. Thankfully, they agreed. The seminar was entitled, “How to Really Teach Yourself Programming.”

I refined my slides even more. I revised some content and added a few ideas here and there. I had 2 major overhauls to the overall delivery of the topic before I was finally content with what I had made. Then, my cousin, who was an industry professional came home from abroad and I got the opportunity to show this talk to him. He gave some of the most vital pieces of insight for specific parts of the talk. So much so that I do not know what would become of that seminar had it not been for him.

The seminar was successful. Note that this was the first ever official talk I delivered as a college student. The seminar not only gave me a chance to deliver my idea, it also gave me a chance to know what this idea meant for other people. I was able to draw insight and realizations from the audience themselves while I told them about how to really teach themselves programming.

The idea was written

One thing that might probably be remembered for this book that I wrote is that it only took me 48 days to finish it. Maybe someone out there will mention this fact and say, “Oh if this guy can write 30k words in 48 days, then you can also write a book within 2 months.” That is simply missing the point.

I wrote the book within 48 days, yes, but the idea took 2 years to mature. More than that, the idea was drawn from over 5 years of experience. Part of the reason it felt so natural to write was that I was simply pouring myself into what I was writing. This was the missing element in all of my other attempts at writing fiction books. I was missing the most important element — myself.

If you want to write your own book…

Start with an idea. Maybe this idea came from years ago, maybe you only had it now. In any case, once you have that idea, take that idea wherever you go. Is it something you want to share? Is it something you want everybody to know? What part of yourself is engraved in that idea? What made it real for you?

I had one idea that I wanted to show to the world. More than this book, I was looking to share my life. One blog about writing a book at a young age said that “if you are nothing without your book, then maybe you should not have it.” Many of you might recognize this quote format from another source, but the point still stands. When you are writing your book, you should never focus on the value it might add to you, but on the value that you are willing to share with others. If you are nothing without your book, then what can you share with those who will get your book? Nothing?

Focussing on the value you will attain when your book gets published will get you nowhere. It will lead to you getting burnt out faster and eventually, you might not want to write your book anymore.

Even now, as a student, your life has a value that you can share with the world. Write about that. You will notice that you finish faster than you ever thought you would have.