How to write a book

According to a very scientific poll (ok... responses to my Facebook status) it is clear that most people believe that everyone has a book in them ready to get out. If that is true, I am wondering what has to be done in order to extract that book. Seems to me that there would be several things that would have to happen.

• Picking a subject - does it have to be something you are an expert in?
• Do you write the book in chapters? - If so, does it come out in the final order?
• Does the title come first - Do you have to have your title before you start?

I'm sure that I will think of other things I will think of later... but that's the questions for now.

Writing blog entries just seem to happen. I'll be sitting here and will think of something that I want to write about and it will just pour out with very little thought (that's not to say that some of it may be thoughtful...). Its a little funny, because when I'm in school or at work, writing feels like a chore, but when I feel like writing about something, it seems almost cathartic. I like the blogging paradigm because it allows for immediate feedback, which for me is kind of a big deal as it helps me to refine my thinking and may even help my writing.

I love to read and I think that causes me to want to write, but the question is; does that qualify me? What's the point of writing if you don't have an audience for your writing? It seems to me that most people already have an audience in mind when they set out to write a book.

Here is a short list of book ideas that I have had:

• Stacking Bricks - A common man's guide to Christian Theology.
• Drop and gimme twenty - diet and exercise in a simple and straight forward language.
• Teens and Technology - Balancing freedom and trust with protection and censorship in the 21st century.

I have knowledge in each of these areas, but do not have a degree in any area related to them. Although this may not disqualify me from writing about them, it certainly doesn't give me a ton of encouragement or motivation.  Maybe I should just sit down and write:

• Putting pen to paper - Encouragement and motivation for the would be writer.

This is the paragraph where I try to encourage and motivate you (the reader) to sit down and write some feedback to this and any other articles that I have written. Why should you comment? You should comment because your opinion matters to me. I enjoy dialog, even with people who strongly disagree with me (I have learned tons from people who disagree with me, maybe more than I have learned from those who share my opinions).