The other day, I came upon some songs I’d recorded back in 2013.

A couple I had written, some covers, some classical and some mediocre jazz.* I hadn’t thought about them in years.

When I listened to them now…I was shocked.

They’re WAY better than I remembered.

At the time, I was 25 and living in Brooklyn. I didn’t think they were anything special. They were just what I knew how to play at the time, and since the loft I had just moved into had a recording studio, I thought, why not record them, just for kicks?

Now I’m deeply impressed with my 25-year-old self’s talent. And REALLY grateful that she went to the trouble to record them.

*

How much is lost because we don’t write down, record, document our everyday lives?

How often do we assume something is not that interesting, so we downplay it, then forget about it?

How often do we think we’ll remember what’s obvious to us now… only to forget it ever happened?

Surely a lot of our thoughts, feelings, knowledge, and experiences are rather ordinary.

But a lot of what we think is average is actually quite extraordinary.

*

This comes up a lot with my memoir clients. Many feel the pull to write about their lives, but when they start to, they question how interesting it actually is. Who would want to read this?

It also comes up a lot with my business book clients. Many start out feeling that their expertise is valuable and needed. Then they start writing, and in that pesky middle section of book-writing when we doubt everything up to our own names, they wonder:

Am I saying anything valuable at all? Does anyone actually need this?

Does everyone already know this?

Chances are, everyone does not already know this.

What is normal to the point of boring to you is fascinating, alien, life-changingly enlightening to someone else.

Write about your daily life. Write what is normal and “assumed” for you. (Or record it, draw it, document it.)

Write it authentically, with joy, with abandon, with intention. Chances are, someone will find it valuable.

Maybe even your future self.

​If writing a book calls to you, but you’re not sure where to start, consider working with a book coach.

We can offer you guidance, structure, encouragement, creative prompts, and accountability while you write your book.​

*P.S. You can listen to the recordings here, on SoundCloud.