Have you ever started writing a book but stalled? Do you have an unfinished manuscript or two on your hard drive? How about an unfinished book proposal?
Here’s a question I heard recently: “How do I start my book project in a way that I’ll actually complete it?”
That is such a good question. Writers often have a difficult time finishing. They get started, but then they stop.
It’s this inability to see the way forward that results in countless stillborn books. It’s sad when you think about it. Millions of would-be books never make it off the ground. Many writers go to their graves without having made their contribution. And many readers would have benefited from these hoped-for-but-yet-to-be-written books.
It doesn’t have to be this way.
In this post I want to break down the writing process in a way that makes it doable. I want to offer some questions to help you get started in a way that will enable you to complete your manuscript. I’ve even provided a worksheet to help you!
The Most Important Step Everyone Forgets
The hardest part is not deciding on a concept or a framework or any of that. The hardest part is establishing and committing to a routine—a process.
If you’re going to write a book, it’s important to establish a pattern of writing. Think about it this way. A decent length for a trade book is 50,000 words. That means if you hang in there for a hundred writing sessions and write five hundred words each time, you’ve written a book.
What’s Your Process?
Let’s assume you’re going to write four days a week. That means you need twenty-five weeks to get to 50,000 words—about six months. Can you imagine writing 500 words per day, four days a week, for six months? What would you need to pull this off?
Start scratching out your process using the following questions.
What time of day will you write and for how long? And what impact should this have on when you go to bed? Adequate rest is so important for writers!
What relational support would you need? Would you need to check in with a friend each week or month to be accountable? Would you need an ongoing support group? A private Facebook community maybe? When and how would this happen?
What tools do you need to make it as doable as possible? How about a stand-up desk or a new monitor or computer? Maybe you need a new journal to use for jotting down your book-related ideas. How about an ergonomically correct keyboard? Your writing is worth the investment!
Where will you write and what will the environment be like? Do you think you’ll need to be in the same place for each writing session, or will you want to mix things up? Do you want music in the background? What kind of lighting is important to you? Want a candle or incense burning?
What rewards would you need to give yourself? Would you need to plan a vacation halfway through, or at the end, or both? Would you need a monthly massage to reward yourself for doing the work?
What will your response be if you miss a writing goal? Why not think ahead of time about what to do if you miss your writing goal for a given week? Here’s an idea. What if you committed to giving $50 to charity every time you missed your four-day minimum per week? What if you decided right now what your self-talk will be if you miss a goal? And what if you wrote that down and kept it somewhere just in case.
How could you supercharge your process? Could you get away over a long weekend for some focused writing time? What about a writing retreat with friends? This kind of focused time can reduce the time it takes to write your book significantly.
What stimuli should you be engaging that could inform your project? Are there books related to your area of interest that you should be reading or listening to? What movies or shows or blogs or magazines could inform your thinking?
There’s no right answer to these questions, but it’s important to think ahead of time about these things and create a doable plan—a plan that acknowledges you’re human and gives you the best shot at success.
Have you taken the step of writing out your process? Download the “My Writing Process” worksheet and take action!
Question: What part of the writing process do you think is most important to your success? You can leave a comment by clicking here.
This is very timely, Chad. I’m just starting my next book on diet, exercise, and healthy living from a Christian perspective. It is tentatively titled, “Fit for God’s Use: Loving Him with All Your Strength.” Having clear goals and a writing routine are so important.
Great advice, Chad! I love the idea of thinking ahead to what my self-talk will be if I miss my goals. It’s so important to not give up, but to reframe and press on. Beating myself up won’t do anything positive. Once I have my Life Plan written, I forsee that staying on track will be a lot easier. As Kathy said, it’s time to do some remodeling in my writing life!
Self-talk’s a big deal! So important. Thanks for commenting, Anita.
Timely post for me, Chad! I’m revamping my writing process — actually revamping a LOT of processes after reading Hyatt & Harkavy’s new book Living Forward. 🙂 I’ve always benefited from routines/processes, but I hadn’t realized how worn down and useless some of my older processes had become. Time to overhaul, ditch, adapt, adopt. My mantra is: start as I intend to finish.
Kathy, so good. I agree completely we need to keep revising how we do things–sometimes for no other reason than to keep life interesting and fun!