Have you ever dreamt of writing a book? Can you imagine start to write it in Venice? That’s what happened to me. It sounds dreamy, but was it really so? I’m not so sure. Here is the way Bird: El inglés volando was born.

It was January, a month that many people would automatically discard for a romantic trip to Venice. The image that most of us have of singing gondoliers under a blue sky gets blurred in winter. But what do you do if your anniversary is just in the middle of January? That’s not something you can fix. However, if you think twice, this kind of inconvenience can add to the atmosphere. Think about the cold that makes you hug your partner more dearly. Think about the mist enhancing the romanticism of the channels…

I was not thinking of writing any book. Not yet.

In a blink, it was time to fly back home. We were early at the airport, leaving behind all that magic in a bubble. Tickets in hand, we go straight ahead to our counter. It’s certainly a foggy morning and our flight seems to be slightly delayed.

“Slightly”, what a beautiful word to laugh at when you remember that it meant exactly 24 hours. My goodness, we even had time to make a bunch of new friends! That’s a different story.

The thing is that I had plenty of time. It had been a good while since I had started to think that I had to write down quite a few ideas about English grammar lessons. I was eager to have a simple, happy, useful book for my pupils. I had dozens of ideas to put in order in my head. So… I stopped queuing, sat on the floor, and grabbed the photocopies of something like a complaint form and a pen, and I started to write a sort of index: Prepositions, making questions, conditional sentences, blah, blah, blah… I managed to remember nearly 50 items. Not a bad start!

Back then I wanted to draw outlines. I have always thought that an outline is more useful for my pupils than the abstract explanations you usually find in grammar books. I’m not against them. I like them. I’ve got a degree in English Literature and Linguistics. But most of my pupils are not interested in grammar itself. Sadly, some of them don’t even have interests at all! Hence, I have always tried to put things as easy and approachable as possible. I came up with an idea: Instead of outlines, the topics could be taught by means of drawings. By the way, drawings and photographs in books…

No, teenagers are not attracted to the photographs of the mobile phones in their English books. They are not. Those pictures are at least one year old. One year, in terms of technology, means vintage. And these boys and girls are not interested in old-fashioned junk. We are teachers, it’s already difficult to keep up with them in so many things… But there’s something that always works: Love. I don’t mean to sound corny, I’m just saying the plain truth. Hate your pupils only one day and they will make that day the worst of your life. Love them and everything will come much more smoothly… Listen to them. Understand why they think what they think. And therefore, you’ll agree you want good drawings and photographs in their books too.

I thought of a good friend of mine. He’s such a great illustrator. He might be interested in working side by side with me. I would sketch my ideas and he would draw them properly.

Do you know the tale of the Chinese farmer who would say “Good luck, bad luck, who knows”? Does it ring a bell? I told my friend about my book. He accepted! But shortly after, he had to make a different decision. Things got awkward between us, what a pity. So, there I was: Lots of good ideas I could not set in motion because I thought I could not draw them myself.

Back in the airport, on the floor, rough paper in hand, nothing about this could possibly cross my mind. We never know what’s ahead. My near future was full of trial and error searching for the right characters for my book. I turned into a sort of Little Prince, asking my family and friends “Can you draw me a bird, please?” That was fun. I should ask for permission and show at least some of them.

Despite the initial desperation, now I’m so happy that I got forced to do all the drawing myself. I’ve learnt so many new things. Taking up again my long forgotten passion for drawing has been a blessing.

So, summing up my tips on how to start writing a book, remember:

1. Get a plane ticket to Venice and be stranded for at least 24 hours.
2. Get sick and tired of everything and grab some paper.
3. Forget about mobile phones.
4. Love what you do.
5. Believe in yourself.
6. Work relentlessly.

The effort is always worthwhile.