Wherever you are on your book writing adventure, you’ll find what you need here…
What to do if you’re just starting out on your Author Adventure: planning, preparation, and dealing with your Inner Dickhead
Ever look at those snazzy business owners in your inbox and on the internet and wonder how on earth they come up with all their stories, emails, articles, and podcasts? Wonder no more—you can do that too. The secret is simple: be fascinated by everything.
The reason we fail to make the changes we want and achieve the results we desire isn't willpower or laziness or lack of ability; it's because what we're trying to do is at odds with who we believe we really are.
When you sit down to write a book and you realise how much bloody hard work is involved, and you're staring at the Blank Page Of Doom in despair, you're stuck.
How about if I told you I have a secret weapon that could be the key to defeating procrastination, anxiety, fear, and generalised woe?
It's *whispers* an outline.
Let me ask you again: why aren't you achieving your goals? Do you know what's missing? Which tiny beetle steps you need to take?
Knowing what questions to ask when you start to write your book is the hardest part… We spend so much time looking for answers, we rarely stop to think if we’re asking the right questions. And sometimes we don’t know which questions to ask at all…
You can create a sacred space even in a shared office, a busy home, or a public café; it just takes a little ingenuity and a certain amount of hard-headed resolve.
What would you do with your business and your products and services if there were no rules? If nobody was watching? If you could guarantee nobody would laugh?
Here's my top tip for you, if you're a serial non-fiction book-buyer: make notes as you read. Write down three actions you'll take in your business or your life now you've read the book – then take those actions.
Don't just read; do. Of course, some books make it easier to do that than others... Like my new book How The Hell Do You Write A Book.
Perfectionism keeps us all stuck, and it may well drive us into an early grave.
Dr Brené Brown calls perfectionism “the 20-ton shield”. She says “we carry it around thinking it’s going to protect us from being hurt. But it protects us from being seen… It’s a way of thinking that says, ‘If I look perfect, live perfect, work perfect — I can avoid or minimise criticism, blame, and ridicule.
Have you ever been stuck? Staring at the Blank Page of Doom in despair?
Yep, me too.
Have you ever blamed it on "writer's block"?
Yep, me too.
Here's the thing, though: there's no such thing as writer's block.
It's a made-up myth, a lie we tell ourselves to get out of doing the work.
Ever had insomnia? Not just a little trouble sleeping, but the twitchy, panicky, staring into the void teetering-on-the-edge of madness insomnia?
Every now and then, it feels like you’re poised on the knife-edge of sleep—so you grab at it, wildly, desperately, only to feel sleep slip away, leaving you grinding your teeth.
To me, that’s what the Blank Page Of Doom feels like sometimes. When I have the seed of an idea I can’t quite hold onto—or too many ideas, boiling across my brain too swift to catch.
I'm often asked where I get all my ideas for writing from, and how I can keep telling stories. People wonder when they'll get hit by the inspiration fairy.
Truth is, you won't be.
