I'm working on a new book project that I can't share too much about yet.
But it is requiring me to create a proposal.
That's what nonfiction writers do when they have a book idea: write a book proposal and present it to the publisher.
(I'm not pursuing a publishing deal. This project is not like that…)
As I thought about the idea, I realized, crap. I have no idea how to do this.
Googling didn't help, so I bought a book on the topic, a pretty good one at that.
My deadline was looming near, so I had to kick my law school/academic brain into gear and absorb the material very quickly.
As I learned the nuts and bolts of writing a book proposal for a traditional publisher/literary agent, I found myself empathizing with nonfiction writers. I literally had put myself in their shoes, and I was feeling their pain and agony as I read this book and tried to put a lot of its techniques into practice.
You could say that I am a lover of writers. I'm not always a people person, but I have the utmost respect for writers and authors. I constantly want to know what it's like to be every kind of writer. Experiences fascinate me.
As I walked away from my reading session, I knew how to write a book proposal (maybe kind of). But I also realized that maybe it's not that hard to build empathy with someone. And maybe it doesn't have to take very long.
All it takes is the capacity to feel and the willingness to imagine yourself in someone else’s shoes, for a time.
And then I realized—shocker—that this is exactly what happens in the writing process.
We empathize with characters we create and ask readers to empathize with them, too.
And this, like my study session, is very rapid.
Empathy is a good thing. Learn it, be open to showing it, and pass it on.
