Knock Down the Three Biggest Stumbling Blocks to Writing a Book

Debbie WeilBook & Writing Coach

Publisher of Voxie MediaBig Ideas. Short Books.™

Knock Down the Three Knock Down the Three Biggest Stumbling BlocksBiggest Stumbling Blocks

to Writing a Bookto Writing a Book

1. No time to write 2. Not knowing the WHAT or WHY of your book3. Don’t know how to organize

Three Biggest Three Biggest Stumbling BlocksStumbling Blocks……

Just start…

The #1 Secret The #1 Secret to Writing a Bookto Writing a Book

Write daily

1st thing in the AM

Try free writing

#1: No Time to Write#1: No Time to Write

Hemingway’s Writing SecretInterviewer: When do you work? Do you keep to a strict schedule? From a 1958 interview in the Paris Review

“When I am working on a book or story I write every morning as soon after first light as possible. There is no one to disturb you and it is cool or cold and you come to your work and warm as you write. You read what you have written and, as you always stop when you know what is going to happen next, you go on from there.”

Set Concrete GoalsYou can write 10K words in 19 days, if you write 526 words a day

At right, Scrivener’s Project Target widget. Scrivener is writing software that many authors swear by.

#1: No Time to Write#1: No Time to Write

Write a sh*tty first draft

Bad leads to good

Hold the self-criticism

Pencil image courtesy of Laurie FoleyPencil image courtesy of Laurie Foley

#1: No Time to Write#1: No Time to Write

Anne Lamott on the Shitty First DraftQuote from Anne Lamott’s classic book on writing: Bird By Bird.

”The shitty first draft… All good writers write them. This is how they end up with good second drafts and terrific third drafts.“

Challenge your assumptions

Perfect conditions?

How short can your eBook be? (10,000 words is about 40 pages)

#1: No Time to Write#1: No Time to Write

What questions are your clients or customers asking?

How can you help your reader solve a problem?

Where do your passion and expertise intersect with what your readers want?

#2: Know Your WHAT & WHY#2: Know Your WHAT & WHY

What is your book ABOUT for you?

Your goal could be speaking engagements.

What is your book ABOUT from your reader’s perspective?

#2: Know Your WHAT & WHY#2: Know Your WHAT & WHY

Put your reader first.

If your book is about public speaking, the WHY for your reader is that you will help her overcome an obstacle (FEAR) and Make a Dream Come True

#2: Know your WHAT & WHY#2: Know your WHAT & WHY

#3: Ways to Organize Your Book#3: Ways to Organize Your Book

Try the Try the clothesline clothesline method. method.

Drop your Drop your ideas into ideas into five buckets five buckets of content.of content.

#3: Ways to Organize Your Book#3: Ways to Organize Your Book

First, try mind First, try mind mapping.mapping.

Use a giant Use a giant white board.white board.

Do this with Do this with an editor or an editor or coach or coach or colleague.colleague.

Repackage a speech, workshop, or webinar into a first draftSet up interviews with experts and record them. Transcribe.

#3: Ways to Organize Your Book#3: Ways to Organize Your Book

Different formulas for a business book:

Collection of blog posts

Linked essays (with a unifying intro)

Chronology (month by month)

Business novella (parable or story)

Numbered list (7 Habits of Highly Effective People)

#3: Ways to Organize Your Book#3: Ways to Organize Your Book

It’s more doable

It’s more readable

Takes advantage of Kindle publishing

Why the emphasis on a Why the emphasis on a short book?short book?

Will my book make money?Your book is part of a bigger business modelValue of you’re a “Published Author” nowRepackage your book into a speech or workshopThink in terms of a series of short eBooks

Question I get asked a lotQuestion I get asked a lot

Debbie Weil is an author, a book coach, and a publisher. She now lives on the coast of Maine and in Brooklyn, New York after 31 years in Washington D.C.

She and her physician husband decided to take a “Gap Year After Sixty” in 2013. They left D.C., moved to Stonington, Maine and set about reinventing themselves in a small town. The reinvention continues…

Debbie gives live writing workshops in Maine and in New York. She also does private book coaching, working one-on-one with authors via Skype. She is passionate about helping authors journey over the mountain from Big Idea (often stuck in your head) to words on the page and, finally, a book.

Her company, Voxie Media, is a boutique publishing company that helps authors turn their completed manuscripts into beautiful books, both print and in digital form.

Debbie is a former journalist. She launched her first Web site in 1995, and was named one of Washington D.C.’s Top Tech Titans a few years ago.

She is the author of The Corporate Blogging Book, one of the first books about business blogging. The updated edition is on Kindle. More at http://voxiemedia.com

About DebbieAbout Debbie

email: debbie@voxiemedia.com

website: http://voxiemedia.com

coming soon! http://writewithdebbie.com

Contact DebbieContact Debbie