Keep the adventure in this moment…

Things to avoid when writing your business book—Part Five

When you write your book, you are doing so in the moment. In this moment right now. Regardless of how long it actually takes you to complete your book, you will always write in the moment and within the context of that moment.

Your reader always reads your book in the moment. In this moment right now. Regardless of when you actually completed your book, they will always read in the moment and within the context of that moment.

So, your reader may be in this moment a few months after you are in this moment. They may be in this moment, two-hundred years after you are in this moment.

Think about that for a moment. Take it in.

You have the ability to change the life of a person, two centuries from now. You will never meet them or know of the impact you had upon their life, when they reach the end of theirs. You will never know important your book is or was or could be.

Yet, they will know you through your book. They will grow a relationship with you. They will love you in a way that transcends time and space. And in this moment you will know them too. You know your readers so well—so completely—they are real, whether they are alive today or in the distant future.

So, when you fully realise the importance of your book and its place in the world, you will also understand how important it is to keep your narrative relevant, no matter when it is read.

Be aware of factors that date your book and—unless your book needs to be firmly indicative of this time period—avoid these as much as you can.

The easiest way to date your book is to use time specifics. Telling your reader the year, presenting a year and then describing your temporal relationship to that year, or indeed qualifying a relationship to any fixed event or period in time, will date your book.

Technology and science can also date your book, as well as many social, spiritual and political attitudes. Your linguistic and language patterns may date your book. And the big no-no is attempting to be futuristic from the present moment!

This is when an author describes the future with their current range of experiences. Think Tomorrowland! However, you can be futuristic from a retrospective point of view, such as the Steampunk realisation of Space Mountain.

Dating your book in an earlier timeframe may date the book, but because you have positioned it with the sophistication of future-proofing, it will always be a retrospective, yet relevant narrative.

Chances are that social, political and spiritual attitudes will shift and change as well, therefore, if you want to maintain your book’s fluid nature, you will need to be ultra aware of sharing your views on these. Many a profound personal development book has not aged well, because of throwaway, unnecessary and outdated comments on race or gender.

Authoring your book in a moment; one that can be any moment, will ensure your work stays fresh and relevant throughout time… Offering the promise of a better world, a lasting legacy and a deeply rewarding paradigm for all time.

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The Kara Sutra is the Author’s Way of using the written word as a powerful tool (from the Sanskrit Kara, author/creator, and Sutra, law). A tool that impacts the reader and transforms their lives in some way.

In this series of blogs, author and ghost writer, Martyn Pentecost, explores the foundations of authoring through a series of Author Laws… The Kara Sutra.