Writing a Book in 90 Days with Dr. Deborah Al-Najjar
By: Laila Shadid/Arab America Contributing Writer
A book? In 90 days?
With Dr. Deborah Al-Najjar, it’s possible.
Through her company Desire Compass Coaching, Dr. Al-Najjar helps clients complete their Ph.D., change careers, and now, write a book.
Arab-American Dr. Al-Najjar hails from Detroit, Michigan, with roots in Northern Iraq where her parents were born. The Al-Najjar family identifies as Chaldean Catholic, an Iraqi ethnoreligious community that speaks Aramaic.
For the past 30 years, Dr. Al-Najjar has taught and worked in academia. Before beginning her coaching career three years ago, she received her Ph.D. from the University of Southern California in American Studies and Ethnicity.
In 2018, Dr. Al-Najjar and her colleague, Nadje Al-Ali, published an edited anthology titled, “We are Iraqis: Aesthetics and Politics in a Time of War.”
In her latest coaching project, Dr. Al-Najjar will support a group of 10 to 15 people in writing their first draft of a book over a four-month period—September through December. In the first month, the group will adjust to writing daily and maintaining a consistent work schedule. In the following 90 days, Dr. Al-Najjar’s mentees will write about two pages per day, five days per week, working up to a 120-page first draft.
However, this program is only for writers—graduate students, professors, playwrights, or poets, to name a few.
“You want to complete a book, you have a book idea already, and you know how to write,” Dr. Al-Najjar said. “This [program] isn’t going to teach you how to write a book.”
That said, Dr. Al-Najjar asks that people contact her if they have a vision, interest, or idea for a book; she is happy to talk with anyone.
Dr. Al-Najjar believes it is important for people to tell their stories.
“For so many people they don’t get a book done because, one, they don’t get started, two, they get stuck in the middle, or three, they just never finish it because they’re perfectionists,” she said.
“There’s a big desire to write a book. There’s also a lot of fear.”
Although her program is open to people of all backgrounds, Dr. Al-Najjar wants to pay specific attention to the Arab American community.
“We have so many stories to tell and we are underrepresented in publishing and the media,” she said, “other than in distorted ways or by people who are not us.”
Dr. Al-Najjar commented on the variety of stories in any particular community, such as Iraq.
“We [Iraqis] have had wars that the US has waged, we have the rich history of Iraq that has nothing to do with war, and we have our own family stories,” she said.
Dr. Al-Najjar added that there is huge breadth and depth to the Iraqi community, but little visibility in the media and literature.
“Not everything that our community could write, we’re gonna love,” she said, “but the fewer people who publish, the more pressure that that person has on him and her to tell the exact right story.”
To potential authors, Dr. Al-Najjar encourages them to tap into their voice, their vision of what they have to say to the world.
“Because you have something important to say,” she added, “and you should push yourself to go for it.”
If you are interested in Dr. Al-Najjar’s course, coaching, or expertise, contact her through her website: https://www.deborahalnajjar.com/.
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