by Dave Haslett
If there are similar books on the market, study them – and their reviews – to identify their shortcomings. Make sure you know how and why your book will be better than each one of them before you start writing yours. If you don’t think your book will be better, then don’t write it. Come up with another idea instead.
Strive for professionalism, quality and excellence at all times. And always write the best book you’re capable of writing at that time – even if it takes you slightly longer.
If you’d like to keep in touch, the best way is to join the ideas4writers Facebook group.
It would be nice if you could post a message there to introduce yourself once you’ve been accepted as a member.
Here’s to your success!
Dave Haslett
Bonus Section: Affirmations
I mentioned affirmations in the first edition, and reported that they worked well for me. But I recently discovered a more advanced version, and its power astonished me. It left me feeling quite exhilarated. I don’t know if anyone else has discovered this version, but if not then I claim full credit!
In the original version, you were supposed to speak the affirmation out loud, or write it down several times a day.
An example of an affirmation might be:
My books attract plenty of readers.
In the more advanced version, you don’t speak the words out loud, but close your eyes and imagine them being spoken by other people.
Start with yourself. Picture yourself smiling happily and saying, “My books attract plenty of readers” over and over again.
Now expand the scene to show the other people in your house. They’re looking at you and smiling happily as they chant, “Your books attract plenty of readers”.
Expand the scene again to show everyone in your street. Again, they’re all beaming at you and chanting the words simultaneously. But they aren’t just saying the words, they believe them too.
Keep expanding outwards: everyone in your town, in your county, in your region, in the whole country, and in other countries, entire continents, and eventually everyone in the world.
Now the whole world is willing you to succeed; you can hear them all chanting the affirmation simultaneously in every country. It’s loud, but not deafening.
Step back from the world and imagine yourself flying around it like Superman, looking down on the planet from high above.
Keep repeating the affirmation phrase as you zoom in on specific people: celebrities, people you admire, family and friends, people you know and trust. Picture them looking directly at you and smiling; hear their voices chanting your phrase and assuring you that it definitely will happen.
The whole session should last for around three to four minutes. How do you feel at the end? Fantastic, I bet. And positive, motivated and inspired. You’re left in no doubt that the words you’re saying will definitely come true.
The first time I tried it, the thing that I wanted to happen did indeed happen – less than four hours later!
Before I started the affirmation session, I was reasonably sure it would happen, but I wasn’t a hundred percent certain. And I expected it would take a month or two at the very least. The fact that it happened within four hours blew me away. That was an amazing day! And it only took a singIe affirmation session.
I hope it will work for you too. But even if it doesn’t, it should leave you feeling fantastic every time. So there’s no harm in giving it a try.
Bonus Section: 200 What Ifs
Playing “What if…?” is a great way of generating ideas. Have a look through these, apply a little lateral thinking, and see what you can come up with.
Conscience, belief, thoughts and realisation
What if your conscience wouldn’t let you do it?
What if you couldn’t believe your eyes?
What if you couldn’t believe what you were hearing?
What if you didn’t realise there was alcohol in it?
What if you had a feeling that good times were just around the corner?
What if you realised how foolish you had been?
What if you wished you’d never got involved?
Crime
What if you had to give up your first name if you were found guilty of a crime?
What if prisoners had to build their own prisons?
What if prisons were abolished?
What if murder was impossible?
What if committing a crime was impossible?
What if you were accused of murder?
What if you were wanted by the police in another country?
What if you were taken to court?
What if you were found guilty?
What if you were found guilty but you were actually innocent?
What if you were found not guilty but you had actually done it?
Death
What if being dead was not sufficient reason for failing to attend work, getting out of jury service, etc?
What if you moved to an address where the previous occupant had died, but his parents didn’t know he was dead?
Decisions and thoughts
What if nobody ever volunteered for anything?
What if you decided to get the inside story?
What if you procrastinated about absolutely everything?
What if you could only think about one thing – and you thought about it constantly?
What if you were determined to get tickets for the big event?
What if you had your best ideas at the worst possible moments?
Entertainment
What if the world’s worst performers always came to your town?
What if you invented a new genre of music?
What if people stopped listening to music?
Environment
What if it never rained again?
What if the Earth was edible?
What if temperatures fluctuated wildly throughout the day and night?
What if all plants grew upside down?
What if the first spacecraft to take a photo of the Earth from space revealed that our planet was actually a bauble on a Christmas tree (or something equally bizarre)?
What if coal, oil and natural gas had never existed?
Health
What if your doctor automatically called you if something was wrong with you?
What if everyone who appeared on TV died (or was killed) within two years, but some people still thought it was worth it?
What if everyone had patches on their foreheads that changed colour to indicate their health and mood?
What if one drug cured everything?
What if one drug cured everything, but it cost a fortune?
What if there were no painkillers?
What if you went berserk?
What if you were committed to an asylum?
What if the way you responded to drugs and medicines was completely different from everyone else in the world?
What if you ate something that disagreed with you?
What if you had a spark of madness?
What if madness was considered a sign of great creativity?
What if there was a drug that extended your life by a year but lowered your IQ by 1 point (you could take multiple doses)?
What if there was a drug that raised your IQ by 1 point but knocked a year off your life (you could take multiple doses)?
What if you decided to spend the rest of your life in bed?
What if you decided to spend the rest of your life outdoors?
What if you got a taste of your own medicine?
What if you were a jigsaw addict?
What if you were a crossword addict?
Home
What if you lived in a toilet?
What if you thought you were alone in the house but when you went upstairs you saw someone looking down at you?
What if your house was edible?
What if a stranger moved into your house while you were still living there?
What if mail was wrongly delivered to your address?
What if there was a hammering on your door in the middle of the night?
Knowledge and skills
What if you gained a valuable new skill?
What if you gained a new skill but it turned out to be worthless?
What if you knew too much?
What if you knew everything there was to know?
What if you knew your life had a purpose but you couldn’t figure out what it was?
Language
What if every English word started with a silent letter P?
What if English was simplified?
What if you invented a new genre of fiction?
What if you couldn’t speak the language?
What if you managed to talk your way out of it?
What if church bells communicated secret messages?
What if there was a vital word missing?
What if you couldn’t talk your way out of it this time?
What if you invented a new language based on symbols and pictographs?
What if you invented a new language based on jokes and puns?
What if people stopped reading books?
What if you accidentally used the wrong word?
What if your dog could speak fluent cat (and/or vice versa)?
What if you all agreed to keep quiet about it?
Miscellaneous
What if there were no hypothetical situations?
What if the end kept getting further away?
What if you didn’t know whether it had started yet?
What if the answer didn’t make sense?
What if you scaled new heights?
What if you plumbed new depths?
What if greetings cards were considered offensive?
What if you were frightened?
What if you were called out on an emergency?
What if you had to defend your honour?
What if you challenged your opponent?
What if you were conscripted?
What if you were refused entry?
What if it was too noisy?
What if it was too quiet?
What if you were cut off?
What if your child’s teacher was a bully?
Money and Work
What if everyone on Earth became rich?
What if everyone was self-employed?
What if everyone was given an extra year’s salary to spend on their education?
What if your boss never stopped hassling you and you couldn’t get any work done?
What if you found a way of getting the things you wanted without having to pay for them?
What if you paid someone else to do your job – and you had several jobs?
What if you decided you could do your boss’s job better than he could?
What if everyone thought you were a brilliant businessman but you had actually inherited all your wealth?
What if you tried to get yourself fired?
What if you would do anything to make a sale?
What if you weren't allowed to keep the money?
What if your colleagues tricked you into resigning?
What if someone ruined all your good work?
What if there was an admission fee to enter every door?
What if you persuaded everyone in your town or city to give up their jobs?
What if you persuaded every employee at a particular company to leave?
What if they got the price wrong?
What if people stopped buying things?
Mysterious things
What if you were a master of disguise?
What if you could perform miracles?
What if you could perform genuine magic but everyone thought it was just a clever illusion?
What if the Men In Black came to visit you?
What if up was the new down (or vice versa)?
What if you lived on Opposite World, where everything works the opposite way to how it does here?
What if you woke up with a halo?
What if you were being watched?
Politics
What if everyone got a turn at running the country?
What if the world’s governments decided that half the population should live permanently at sea?
Problems and solutions
What if no mysteries had ever been solved?
What if you solved all your problems in one (very special) day?
What if there was another reason for it?
Relationships, love and hate
What if wedding rings made you invisible to the opposite sex?
What if your partner was addicted to pornography?
What if the wedding was called off?
What if love was in the air?
What if you hated everyone you saw on TV?
Right and wrong
What if science was wrong?
What if cameras lied?
What if something you had long suspected was confirmed to be true?
What if your local newspaper got at least one important detail wrong in every story it printed?
What if you didn’t discover the truth until all the alternatives had been eliminated?
What if you got the numbers wrong?
What if you thought they’d be away longer than they were?
Sleep
What if your bed called you each night when it was time to go to sleep?
What if you were too tired to carry on?
What if you were too lazy to do it?
Success and failure
What if every second of your life was blissfully happy?
What if the secret to your amazing success was hypnosis?
What if your new book took the world by storm?
What if you couldn’t do it?
What if you could never get anything done?
What if your life was one long interruption?
What if you had done everything?
What if you couldn’t help yourself?
Technology
What if gadgets were powered by captured human (or animal) souls?
What if your new gadget idea took the world by storm?
What if your thoughts were being monitored (with or without your knowledge or permission)?
What if your invention was featured on TV?
What if someone set up a website that had virtually the same name as yours?
What if the controls melted?
What if the controls froze?
What if all your favourite software went away?
What if toy dolls became too realistic?
What if you always tested everything for yourself?
Time
What if you spent an entire year reading?
What if you spent an entire year writing?
What if you never got anything done?
What if you never finished anything you started?
What if you always finished things other people had started but never started anything yourself?
What if you needed more time?
What if you were born 100 years too early or too late?
What if you had a clear memory of your previous life?
What if you left a warning for the future?
What if no clocks were accurate?
What if you didn’t know what time they would be back?
What if you had a wristwatch that always brought you bad luck when you wore it?
What if you spent a year doing 12 impossible things (or things that you thought were impossible for you to do)?
What if someone important pulled out at the last minute?
Travel
What if you could drive to the Moon?
What if it was impossible to crash?
What if nobody owned a car?
What if parking cars in the street was banned?
What if you were trapped inside your car?
What if you invented a new traffic control system?
What if you started walki
ng and you didn’t stop?
Winning and losing
What if you were wrongly declared the loser?
What if all the contests you had failed to win over the years had been misjudged and you had actually won all of them?
What if you blew your opponent(s) out of the water?
You
What if your facial features moved around as you got older?
What if your body parts (including limbs) moved around as you got older?
What if your teeth kept growing throughout your life?
What if you could buy apps to enhance your brain in thousands of different ways?
What if you slept at every opportunity?
What if you weren’t what (or who) you used to be?
What if your IQ was 50 points lower (or higher)?
What if everyone wanted to be your friend?
What if it wasn’t you?
What if humans had nine lives?
What if you had no facial expressions?
What if you started turning into someone else?
What if you didn’t want to be yourself any more?
What if you only had one emotion?
What if everyone’s feet continued to grow throughout their lives?
What if humans never acknowledged each other?
What if you were the standard against which everyone else was compared?
If you like What Ifs and would like more of them, please check out my book The Fastest Way to Get Ideas: 4,400 Essential What Ifs for Writers.
Bonus Section: A free e-book from the ideas4writers ideas collection