Writing a book the easy way

If you’re writing a book, would you prefer to do it the hard way or the easy way?

A book is a big project and it’s not one to be taken lightly. It will take you time to write it. It will be a big part of your life for many months or more. And then you’ve got to publish it and market it!

You need to be committed to writing a book. You need time in your diary, and you need to have a plan to get it done.

And if you’re not sure where to start, here are my tips to help you to do it.

Make your book a priority

The first thing you need to do is make writing your book a priority in your life. When you decide to do it, decide to do it. If too many things are going on, it may be worth putting your book on the back-burner for a while until you’re ready to focus on it. Otherwise you’ll be in a head-space where nothing will get done. All of the shoulds, oughts and musts will make it difficult to focus on your book – or anything else for that matter.

It’s also worth defining a date when you are going to make it happen. Then set some goals around this. If your book is always a dream, then how do you feel about that? When will it be time to turn that dream into a reality?

Create a great structure

There are some key things that you need to do when you are writing a book. These stem from the 10 secrets that I shared in October’s Book Masterclass. You’ve got to do the first three things first, and then you need a great structure.

This is one of the first things that I work on with my VIP clients. I get my post-it notes out and we take time to map out their book. The clearer structure you have, the easier it is to write it. You can see at a glance what you wrote last and what needs to happen next. By knowing where your reader is now and where they wish to go, it will help you to see how their journey will unfold. Then you’ll see how you can help them to reach their destination. You’ll also see how you can help them after they’ve read your book.

Schedule time to write that happens

You need to schedule time into your diary and make that time happen. One of the things that’s important is to identify the best time for your writing. When are you at your best? There’s not much point in setting a 5am alarm if you’re fit for nothing in the morning!

One of the ladies on our writing retreat left with a new habit. Every day after she drops her girls at school she does an hour of writing. Just deciding and doing will help to maintain that habit.

With the best intentions in the world, making that writing time happen is also important. When it comes to that writing slot that you’ve scheduled in your diary, what needs to happen to make it happen?

Create the right environment to write at your best

If there are other things on your mind, write them down before you get started. If you’re prone to be distracted, turn off anything that may distract you – like social media, your phone or email. You may also choose to go to a cafe or different environment to get started.

One of my clients goes to a coffee shop and writes by hand, as she loves the hum of the background noise rather than the silence at home. Then she later dictates it into her computer. This is what works to help her to write at her best.

With another client we worked back from his launch date until the current date. Then we mapped out all of the milestones. This included when he was going to write and edit each chapter, and what had to happen in which order to get his book published in six months. When you have a detailed plan like this, your book is more likely to happen. Instead of being overwhelmed with everything you need to do, you have an overview and break it into smaller manageable chunks.

Get support and create a plan

Regular accountability can also help. Whether you have a book writing coach or book mentor like me, or a friend who asks you how you’re getting on, being accountable to another person can help you to stick to the plan. Some of my clients send me each chapter as they write them. Others just tell me how many words they’ve written and we work together keep on track to finish their book.

Remember why you’re doing it

Without these foundations in place, you’ll find it hard to make your book happen. There will always be other things that take priority and your book will keep going to the bottom of your list. Then each month and year you’ll be further away from getting your book done and it would be a shame if someone else wrote ‘your book’ before you do. Remembering why you’re doing will help you to focus on making it a priority.

Having a plan is important in any part of your business – and your life – because if you don’t know where you’re headed, then how are you going to know when you get there. We’ve already planned out all of our events next year and that allows for us to work out how to make them happen.

Learn the easy way to start writing a book

The easy way to write your book is to get support each step of the way, where you’re not on your own. You don’t know what you don’t know, so do get support to make your book a reality.

One of the ways that my team and I work with our clients is to give you the strategies to plan, write, publish and market your book easily. We help you to get clear about what you’re writing, give you easy to implement marketing strategies that you can implement as you start, and a step by step plan to help you to get it finished and published.

Join us for our next Planning and Writing Mini-retreat. You can find all our events at www.librotas.com/events (apart from the writer’s cruise, but more about that another day!). Contact me for details and to arrange a suitable time to chat to make your book writing dream a reality.