Five Masterful Tips For Finishing the Book You’ve Decided to Write — Part Two

Last week’s blog started us out on an investigation of how to finish the book you’ve promised yourself to write and we covered four main ideas: become highly motivated, set up a writing schedule, locking yourself away and get professional help ;-). What else can you do? Read on!

5.     Don’t worry about it. I decided about four years ago to write a book about writing but just couldn’t seem to get any traction on the project. The Write Way was finally published last fall. The actual writing took me less than six months (which I’m pretty proud of, considering I’m the self-employed widowed mother of three kids, two of whom are teenagers, and I have a house to look after as well as a handful of pets.) But I started every year for three of the past four years promising myself that this was the year I was going to write my book about writing. The first year I completed a very sketchy outline. The second year I completed a series of blog posts that I figured I could use in the book. The third year I was too busy to get at the project. And I felt terribly disappointed in myself.

But here’s the cool thing: although it took me four years to go from deciding I wanted to write a book about writing to actually holding it in my hot little hands, they were years that were actually full of events that resulted in a much better book.

During those years:

• I published two other books, which gave me a lot more credibility as the author of a book on writing than I would have had if I had led with that book
• Having written the first two books, I had an established relationship with my publisher when I finally completed the writing book, and that meant it was much easier to find an avenue for publication than it would have been if I had started with that book as well.

ALSO during those four years,

• I did a lot more editing than I had been doing previously, which meant that the book I did end up writing was fleshed out by a solid section on working with an editor
• I became an expert at content marketing, which I didn’t know anything about four years earlier, and so I was able to include a section about that topic in the book as well.

Finally,

• I did a whole lot of training in the area of fiction writing in those four years, and I wrote a lot of short stories, some of which received some fairly notable mention, and so a section on fiction became a part of my book on writing as well.

So in the end, the book I ended up writing last year was a lot better than the book I would have written four years earlier.

And even though it was frustrating for me to feel, at the time, that I wasn’t getting any traction on my book, and even though I felt disappointed in myself for not getting more done, there was Divine Timing involved and it all worked out the best way possible, in spite of my efforts to take control of the whole situation.

May I invite you to remain open to the possibility that this might be a principal at work in your life as well?

If you do decide you want some professional help with your book writing project, however, and you think I might be able to lend a hand, I further invite you to consider a few events I have coming up that revolve around book writing.

First of all, I am holding a group Mastermind Day in Oakville, Ontario, on January 24^th and it`s going to be an action-packed opportunity to make some very massive headway on your book. Up to three people will be able to spend the day locked in a room with me with absolutely nothing else to do but work on your book and enjoy a light lunch. I will bring every ounce of professional know-how to bear on our time together and I will not be satisfied unless you leave feeling you have powered forward in a massive way with your book. This is a no-holds-barred ‘I have to get it done’ opportunity and I would love to have you join me for the day.

If you`d like to know more, please check it out!

I am also setting aside the entire day of Friday, February 7th, for a one-on-one VIP Coaching Day for someone who would like to draw their line in the sand and make even more progress on their book in one day than they ever thought possible. I`m a tough taskmaster, but kind, and it would be an honor to sit beside you and pour the results of 30 years of professional experience into the book project you are yearning to complete. If that sounds like it would be valuable for you, please check out my web page, and get in touch if you have any questions.

Finally, it`s almost time to start thinking about my next Awakening Author series.

This is an online group coaching program that I run several times a year, and it is a thrilling opportunity for me to marry my decades of practical writing experience with my expertise as an Awakening Coach. Over the course of three months, we get together for regular group coaching calls focused on leading you from the conceptualization of your book to the actual writing of it. We do a lot of work around structure and process, for sure, but I also focus on the universal principals that will help you see yourself as the author you truly are.

The next session officially begins March 5^th and space is limited, so if you think this might be something you would like to explore, then I encourage you to get back to me with questions as soon as you can.

And that`s a wrap!

If you have any questions about these or any of the writing and editing services I provide, I invite you to get in touch with me at susan@crossmancommunications.com.