Choose Yourself: A Review for Writers

Once in a while you run across an informative non-fiction book that is enjoyable to read not just because of its content but because of the way it’s written. The book Choose Yourself by James Altucher is one such book. Mr. Altucher has truly written a page turner using his conversational writing style, uncommon wit and brute honesty. 

The book is written in the second-person viewpoint which further helps Mr. Altucher connect with his audience, which he addresses as “you.”  I chose the following excerpt from his book because it is a good example of showing verses telling in nonfiction writing. Here he is describing or showing rather than telling us about the kind of person who is naïve enough to believe he or she can change anyone’s mind about anything.

Do you really think you are going to change anyone’s mind? I always wonder, who are these people who spend all day on Internet message boards and comments sections getting really angry and trying to prove that their opinion is THE opinion that everyone should have.

And yet, we get sucked in. Some anonymous teenager from Dubai might throw out an opinion that rubs us the wrong way and the next thing we know it’s forty-eight hours later and we are in a drugged-out daze having spent the entire time peeing in a bottle and arguing in vain with this Internet troll. I wish I could say now, “So I went out and interviewed eighty-seven trolls and here is what they are really like.” But I didn’t. Because the trolls disappear. There are 7 billion people on the planet. The guy who disagreed with you is one of them. Good luck finding him.

What is the purpose of an opinion? To prove you’re right? You’re wrong.

Altucher takes the mundane subject of opinionated people and turns it into an entertaining romp. 

To put it simply, the book is about more than opinionated people. It is about saying goodbye to the old employee mentality or old way of thinking and embracing the new entrepreneurial way of thinking. Everything we ever thought of as being safe and secure like college, employment, retirement and government is all crumbling down. We can no longer wait to be chosen for success, we must choose ourselves so that true success may follow. You as a writer are in many ways an entrepreneur. You are creating something that you must bring to market, and your best bet for making money or experiencing success from your work may just be to choose yourself.