#126: Writing a book

I’ve not felt this nervous for a while. 

Over Christmas I had an idea for a book, that just won’t go away. 

Stephen King says when he has an idea for a book, it’s like a breadcrumb in a sieve.

This breadcrumb won’t budge. 

So much so that after much hesitation I’ve promised myself I’ll share it with others. 

The idea is to write the fictitious Journal of a young boy called Jack, starting aged 16. 

Jack writes in his journal in the first person and writes whenever he feels compelled to. 

He writes about his life, warts and all - sharing his deepest fears and his true feelings which are often at odds with the image he’s presenting to his family and friends. 

We, as the reader, get to see inside the heart of a young boy journeying into adulthood. 

He shares his experiences of sex, shame, anger, guilt, body image, his relationship with his parents, his questioning around career, love, friendship, heartbreak and more. 

We see under the hood of a young adolescent, we share in his deeply human experience. 

The reason I am so passionate about writing this and I feel such energy towards it is that it’s the book I would love many young people and especially young men to read. 

I want it to give people permission to feel their true feelings. To not feel forced to hide their feelings that are less socially palatable - like anger, guilt or shame. 

I want to humanise our experience by sharing the harsh realities of adolescence tackling some of those trickier subjects like sex, drugs, body image, anger, love, heartbreak, grief, self-harm and more. 

Experiences that many of us have encountered and many more will, yet they’re not so easy to approach. 

I want this book to give young men someone to be inspired by and ultimately a character to relate to. Like a Bridget Jones’ diary - for men. 

And for it to be a bridge for empathy and understanding between men and women, giving women an insight into the often enigmatic male psyche. 

Ultimately I want this book to exist because I don’t want another generation of young people growing up believing they have to be a certain way to conform or fit in. 

I don’t want people to have to feel like they can’t be who they are, or they can’t talk about certain experiences. 

I want Jack's Journal to be a conversation piece that leads us into conversations and subject areas that feel a little dangerous, a little provocative.

I want the book to get us talking about sex over the dinner table. 

Erectile dysfunction down the pub. 

Career with your grandma. 

I want this book to exist and the more I write I know I am going to have to write it. 

Even if only one person reads it, it has to exist.

I wanted to write about it here to you because I trust you and this feels like the right space for me to share. 

I’m not entirely sure what I’m looking for. 

Some accountability, some inspiration, some support, some guidance, some mentoring, an editor, a publisher.

I need all of it and more. 

I don’t usually ask for this, but if you’ve read this and believe in this idea too - please acknowledge you’ve read and give me a reply in some form. 

(Even just a thumbs up) 

The more people I chat to about this, the more real it becomes. 

Help me make it real. 

James x