Well, you're not exactly the lone string bean. If I had a mustard seed for every time I've heard a person with an incredible story declare that she couldn't imagine writing a book, I would be the envy of Dijon. Hold the mayo — we're on a mustard diet here!
You don't have to have been an English major to write a compelling book. If you can speak — and I know you can — then you can write. Oh, your sentences may run on, your commas may be in all the wrong places, and your spelling may suck ... So what? If you can get your story down on paper, then all you need is a talented editor to turn it into a book you'll swear reads exactly the way you wanted it to, only better.
One of my first editing clients had written a book about his own life — a memoir. Scott Miller probably never got a decent grade in English, and he certainly never graduated from college. No, he went to Viet Nam instead. But that man could tell a story! He could make your hair stand up on end, make you hold your ribs while you laughed yourself silly, make you long for the days when life moved at a slower, sweeter pace. But he couldn't spell for beans, and his sentence structure ... well, let's just say it wasn't going to win him any awards.
Here's what Scott had to say when I finished editing his book: "Chiwah took what I'd written and massaged it and turned it into a book that makes me look like a great writer." And you know what? I had a good time doing it. Why? Because he wrote from the heart. He wrote about things he knew, about real life events, stories people could relate to. And that was what made the book. Yes, it needed a lot of editing, but it was the quality of the stories that made the editing worthwhile.
Don't worry about the quality of your writing. Just write. As Samuel Clemens said, "There's no such thing as good writing — only good rewriting." Get your stories down on paper. And get thee to an editor. And you will have a book you can be proud of.
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