I'm writing an eBook...And loving It.

At the end of 2011 rolling into 2012 I was 21, working 2 jobs, living in a flat alone..

..a misguided move of living with a yucky ex-boyfriend. I was entering my last year of my media degree at Portsmouth University, whilst also trying to pay my rent. It was definitely a juggling exercise! When I wasn't working, my macbook and I were one entity. I was tethered to it, as I tried to create my final year masterpiece: the 10,000 word dissertation that fills all students with dread for most of their degree.

I was overwhelmed, buried in research, surrounded by 10 library books at any given time, trying to pull things together into something good. Something I'd be proud to submit, something that would get a 1st (which is the highest mark). I didn't spend 3 years working hard to not get the top mark. I was an ambitious little one. Growing up my dad always frowned at C and B grades, so I guess he instilled aspirations of greatness, over okay-ness. I am glad he frowned all those times though, because when it came down to results time, I did it. I got my bloody 70% mark and I felt all kinds of happiness and relief.

It wasn't just about the grade, it was the fact that I had fulfilled a dream. I had written something of substantial size and length, and someone decided it was not bad, not bad at all. It was a social science degree and included a study, so it wasn't a piece of epic creativity. It was a whole lot of quotes and interconnecting factual conclusions. And yet I felt like I was doing something which fit me, completely. I loved the research side, I got my kicks perfecting my sentences, and loved seeing a mass of words on a page.

Alongside writing something of substance, I also had some blogs of major immaturity and teenage confusion. I wrote about random things, like shrinking my boyfriends shirts twice and how it made me feel (yes really). An excerpt from my first blog (not a chance I am sharing this gem of a blog url):

Writing is my first passion, my main area of study at university and my only real skill (Although maybe I should let you be the judge of that)

I can't remember much of those embarrassing posts but I know that I just wanted to say something. I wanted to write things down and see where it lead me. I was a blogger at heart with no real niche or focus. Until Nomad'erHowFar was born. Now I write a good mixture of stuff that I like to think holds some value. Whether as a curation of my own memories, stories and experiences, or as a source of inspiration for others.

One of the things I have loved writing about the most is minimalism. It's something I brought into my life over the last 3 years, a merger of my dissatisfaction with my life and the meeting of a certain hairy hippy. I gradually began changing my outlook on life, and then changed my relationship with money. I feel confident when I write about it on here because I know it's all stuff I have done, and rituals I stand by to this day. So why the hell not put that into an e-book?

Okay so it's a tricky one, writing something that is instructional, very blog-esque, and nowhere near as creative as fiction. It's essentially self-help. Then again it's the kind of self-help that will tell you to stop filling up your home with self-help books...

I am loving the process of researching, crafting my chapters, and trying to create actionable advice that I would give to a friend during a conversation about minimalism. Helpful and motivational stuff, delivered in a non-pretentious manner...

Anyway, just wanted to say that when I'm not blogging, I am still writing, and I hope you will like the eBook I will birth very soon, kicking and screaming onto your e-readers.

My book is now available!!

Make sure to check it out :]

AU Store / CA Store / SmashWords

Thanks for reading!

Hannah and Taran here. We hail from Southern England, where we met online and are now realizing our mutual passion for travel here at NomaderHowFar. We discuss Nomadic Living, Simplifying your Life and Long-term Travel, to empower, motivate and inspire our readers. Get to know us here!

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