Welcome aboard Flight BW5 with service from Brainstorming to the Second Week of Book Writing!

If you haven’t read them yet, these are the links to the earlier posts in this series of my blog on book writing:

Post #1: WHY I’M WRITING THE BOOK https://muslimandmoney.com/why-im-currently-writing-a-book-about-shariah-compliant-investing-in-the-stock-market

Post #2: INTRODUCING ELZISTYLE BOOK WRITING CLUB https://www.elzistyle.com/introducing-elzistyle-book-writing-club

Post #3: BOOK WRITING GOAL CLARIFICATION https://www.elzistyle.com/clarify-your-book-writing-goal

Post #4: MY WORK ETHICS AND PRODUCTIVITY TIPS

My Work Ethics and Productivity Tips

In my previous post, I promised to share with you the actual status of writing the book, HOW TO SHARI’AH-COMPLIANTLY INVEST IN THE PHILIPPINE STOCK MARKET: BEGINNER’S STEP-BY-STEP GUIDE, during the first two weeks (first half of March 2022).

As mentioned in an earlier blog, “Next Books to Write and Translate” (https://www.elzistyle.com/next-books-to-write-and-translate), my target is to begin writing the book in March, resume the writing in May and finish it in June, insha’ Allah. 

On February 28 (Monday), I went to the beach and before actually swimming, I took the opportunity to delve into the possible book outline first.

In short, brainstorming by myself. In doing so, others may resort to mind mapping but it is already enough for me to list down a word or words randomly until such time that a possible table of contents of the book is formed. 

How did I do this?

First, I imagined myself to be the book’s prototype reader and thought of all the possible things that I want or expect to know from the book about shari’ah-compliant investing in the Philippine stock market. Then, I just freely wrote the corresponding words or phrases for those things that I – the assumed prototype reader – want or expect to know. 

March 1 (Tuesday) – By doing those steps, I was able to finalize the draft Table of Contents. Then, I set the file of the book template with the size of 5.25 x 8 inches. As in ‘mBayuka Tanu! (https://amzn.to/3uJMjLH) book, Garamond is my chosen font. On the basis of this working Table of Contents, I also created the corresponding chapters. 

Thereafter, it’s the time for drafting, which means writing freely while switching off my ‘editing’ mind. Remember, it’s letting loose of myself writing and writing without worrying about the spelling or grammar. As I told myself, “Switch off your ‘editing’ mind for a while!” It was just to develop the word or words I came up with during the brainstorming session into sentences and eventually paragraphs, and then pages.

By 11 am, I was able to come up with a draft Table of Contents, set up the book file with the intended template, and to write the first four pages of the book.

March 2 (Wednesday) – On the second day of writing, I was able to finish pages 5 and 6. 

March 3 (Thursday) – On the third day, I was able to write pages 7 and 8 of the book.

That’s the first week or first four days of book writing.

Let’s do the weekly evaluation. Remember my declared target every week? Writing 15 pages. How many pages did I actually finish? Only 8. There’s nothing to worry about because prior to writing the eight pages, I had to outline the book contents and set up the book file. What’s important is that I was fully conscious of my writing status and progress. 

March 7 (Monday) – On this first day of the second week, I was able to write the draft for pages 9 and 10. 

March 8 (Tuesday) – On this day, I was able to finish only a page (page 11). 

March 9 (Wednesday) – On this day, I made some unprecedented progress by writing 5 pages of the book (pages 12-16).

March 10 (Thursday) – By this last day of the second week of book writing, I was able to finish pages 16 to 70. Yes, you read it correctly – pages 16 to 70. 

Weekly evaluation: I was able to finish 62 pages of the book, which was far more than the 15 pages target. So, for my first two weeks of writing, I succeeded in achieving the target of writing 30 pages, by having 40 extra pages.

In summary, these first two weeks of book writing marked the following milestones:

1. Initial Table of Contents by brainstorming

2. Setting up the file with the desired book template (5.25 x 8 inches)

3. Drafting (writing without editing) 70 pages instead of the 30 pages target.

In the next blog, insha’ Allah, I will share with you the continuation of initial drafting of the book, HOW TO SHARI’AH-COMPLIANTLY INVEST IN THE PHILIPPINE STOCK MARKET: BEGINNER’S STEP-BY-STEP GUIDE, during the third and fourth weeks (second half of March 2022).