Category Archives: writing a book

Get Back to Your Writing Goals for Fall: 10 Tips for Boosting Your Writing Productivity

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photo credit: sxc.hu John Price

School is back in session, the summer is coming to an end, and this is the time of year when we kick off the flip-flops, slip on the pumps and get back to business. If you’re a writer and you still have school-aged children at home, summer can wreak havoc on your writing schedule. Your daily word-count goals eventually go out of the window as you become occupied with keeping your kids, fed, entertained and occupied.

If you are, like me, all ready to dive back in and make your writing a priority again, it’s time to set some new priorities and guidelines for your writing practice. Here are ten tips to inspire you to crank up your writing productivity and get back on track to achieving your goals:

1. Set Daily Goals
Whether you set a daily word count goal or a page count goal, decide what you can realistically accomplish at first and set this as your goal. Now, I’m all for stretch goals that make you sweat, but for now let’s just set a goal that you can keep consistently. After a few weeks you can revisit it and see if maybe it’s time to expand that goal a bit to challenge yourself.

2. Set aside a writing space
If you don’t already have a private writing space where you can go in and close the door when it’s time to write, set aside a space in your home where you can write every day. This is important in establishing the habit of writing to be able to go to the same spot each day and write. After awhile you’re going to want a change of scenery, and that is fine. Maybe there’s a coffee shop nearby that has wifi and good soy chai, or maybe there’s a spot in your local library where you can sit at a table near an electrical outlet and write uninterrupted. Regardless of those places that you get away to to write, you need your comfortable, inspiring home base writing spot.

3. Make an appointment with yourself every day to write
Open up the calendar on your phone and set a daily appointment with an alarm for your writing session. If you have a paper calendar on your wall, mark off the days you sit down to write and your word or page count. Draw an, “X” through those days when you don’t show up and write at all. If you start seeing too many X’s on your calendar, it might be time to re-visit your commitment to your writing practice.

4. Write first thing in the morning every morning
For those people who can’t seem to find any room in their calendar to write, getting up an hour earlier in the morning solves that dilemma. Unless your work schedule doesn’t allow for it, writing first thing in the morning virtually guarantees that you will not be disturbed. An added bonus is that wonderful feeling of accomplishment that you get when you close the book on your daily word count. When you get your creative work done first thing in the morning it can energize and inspire the remainder of your day.

5. Find an Accountability Partner
Join a writing forum and make a connection with another writer who is willing to be an accountability partner for you. You don’t need this person to be your BFF, all you need is for them to agree to ask you about where you are on your writing goals, and you can do the same for them. If you are having trouble working with a peer and want to hire a coach instead, a writing coach will hold you accountable for the goals you have set for yourself, and reflect back to you when you start coming up with excuses about why you aren’t writing.

6. Get inspired & stay inspired
Do you ever feel blocked when you sit down to write? Most writers deal with writer’s block in one form or another. The best way to handle this is to prevent it. Take the time to give some thought to what inspires your creativity and keep yourself steeped in these things at all times. When you get down to the root of it, writer’s block is really just fear, or resistance, which you will have to let go of if you want to be a writer and get your work done.

Take out a piece of paper and make a list of the things that inspire you to write. Here are some of mine:

  • Attending poetry readings
  • Visiting art museums
  • Walking in the park
  • Reading poetry
  • Listening to interviews with authors
  • Painting
  • Free writing

Make your own list. Buy a book or two of writing prompts. I have one that’s got 365 days of writing prompts. There’s no rule that says you’ve got to use the prompt for that day. Just find a prompt and use it as a jumping-off point.

7. Gather your tools
Aside from your pen and notebook, or laptop, there are some other writer’s tools that might be helpful to you as you seek to establish and maintain a daily, productive writing practice:

  • Smart phone apps:

Evernote: I would not want to be without my evernote. It’s a website clipping utility that lets you store and categorize things you find online along with notes, photos and other bits of information from your daily life. Snap a photo with your phone and save it in Evernote. You can save clips of blog posts and other research. This is a great tool and it’s free.

Voice recorder
If you are walking along and a bit of inspiration strikes, pull out your phone and speak it into the voice recorder and listen to it later.

Dragon dictation
This handy app will transcribe what you say and then you can email the text to yourself.

8. Join a writing group
Writing is a solitary activity, so it’s good sometimes to interact with other writers who are on the same path. You can find an accountability partner, or just enjoy the support of being around other writers, getting their feedback and offering your expertise where you can.

9. Reward yourself at the milestones
Don’t just keep your nose to the grindstone, day in and day out. Every few weeks reward yourself when you achieve certain milestones. Buy that book everyone is talking about, or maybe a fancy pen, or a leather bound writing journal. Find small ways to encourage yourself and keep you motivated to stay on task. Of course, we know that at the heart of it, writing should be its own reward, but the promise of a fun prize can help you to push yourself towards your goals.

10. Encourage another writer
Encouragement is like food to the soul of a writer. Was it Mark Twain who said, “I can live for two months on a good compliment.” So often the negative, discouraging words that we have heard ring more loudly in our ears than the compliments we have received about our work. A solid, constructive compliment from another writer means more than you can imagine to someone who has been struggling to gain the confidence to write and put their work out there. Take the time to encourage someone else and you might be surprised how good it makes you feel. I can’t really say that this will directly boost your productivity as a writer, but it will make you feel good as a human being, which can only be helpful to your writing endeavors.

*Bonus Tip*
Try meditation before you sit down to write

If you don’t have a regular writing practice, this might sound a bit strange, but taking the time–five to twenty minutes or so in silent or guided meditation before you start writing can do wonders for your productivity–not just for your writing but for your whole day. Meditation quiets and calms the mind, it centers you and gives you precious moments of silence where you can connect to your Source, or just bask in the blissful, peaceful silence. Meditation has countless mental and physical health benefits, but for the writer, it can help create a lovely space in which to begin your writing each day. There’s a free, MeditationFest coming up next week where you can listen to and be inspired by some meditation masters and grab some free, guided meditation audios.

I hope you found these tips useful. Please feel free to share your favorite productivity tips, your favorite writing tools, or some encouragement in the comments. Most of all, I hope that you find a way to commit to a regular, daily writing practice.

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5 Practical Tips for Blogging Your Way to Writing a Book

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Last week I published a blog post, Blogging Tips: How to Blog Your Way to Writing a Book. I wrote about the process that I used to write the content of my upcoming book from a series of blog posts.  I received a comment from a reader named, Tamara who said,

“Congrats on finishing your manuscript! I love the concept of blogging your way to publishing a book. I am a dessert blogger, so my question is do you think this can work for me too? I already have a few concepts in mind for cookbooks, but I think recipe development is key for me as opposed to writing lengthy blog posts. What are your thoughts?”

Tamara also left a similar comment on my Facebook business page, so I answered it there. As I was thinking of a response I got the idea for a blog post because there may be others of you out there who are thinking about using your blog to help you come up with the content for a book.

Here is our exchange on Facebook:

Now here are five practical tips for blogging your way to writing a book:

1. Announce your intention to write a book on your blog

Announcing your intention of writing a book publicly on your blog serves several purposes at once. It creates a sense of accountability. Now that you’ve announced it publicly, you better believe that your readers are going to ask you about how it’s going, and it makes the project more real to you and that might motivate you to stick with it until it is finished.

2. Blog about the theme of your book

If you are working with a publisher, then you’ve already done the work of creating a book proposal for your project. Now you will tailor your blog posts to fit in with the outline of the book. You will not be writing the entire book—word for word—on your blog. You will still have additional sections to write outside of the blog, but if you are having trouble finding time to fit writing a book into your crazy schedule, and you already have an established blog, your writing gets to do double duty for you.

3. Set a deadline for completing your book

Working towards a deadline can be a great motivator. Let your readers know what your deadline is for finishing the manuscript. You might even put one of those countdown clocks on your blog that displays how many days you have left to finish. This will create a sense of urgency and drama and help pull your readers in. It will also spur you on to stick to your writing schedule to avoid public humiliation if you don’t finish on time.

4. Get your readers involved

In the case of Tamara, who wants to write a dessert cookbook, she will not necessarily write most of the cookbook on the blog. As I mentioned in the Facebook comment, she can use her blog to share photos as she goes through the recipe development process, she can write about the ingredients she is using, where and how she sources them, her inspiration for the dessert items, where she gets her ideas from, and how she narrows down which recipes get included in the book and which ones get cut. She can involve her readers in all of these kinds of posts by asking them questions and soliciting their feedback.

5. Set a daily or weekly writing goal and stick with it consistently

Setting and keeping a daily or weekly writing schedule is the only way you will get you book finished. I set a time limit of 30 days, and the goal to write a blog post every single day for 30 days straight. You will have to figure out how many pages your book will have, and then estimate from there how many of those pages you want to write on your blog, and then set your deadline date.

An additional bonus to using your blog to help you write your book is with every blog post you are building your writer’s platform. You are establishing the audience for your book well in advance of publication.

I hope you found those tips to be helpful. I think that with just a little bit of creativity you can find a way to write many different kinds of books on your blog. If you have blogged your way to writing a book, please include a link to it in the comments so we can go take a look.

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Blogging Tips: How to Blog Your Way to Writing a Book

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I’ve been blogging for many years, and looking over my blog archives I’ve often figured that there was enough content there for a book. I’m a freelance writer, so much of my writing time and energy is devoted to writing for my clients. I’m also a single mom with three kids and I run a business from my home, so I had lots of excuses for not finding time to write a book.

There are countless benefits of being a published author. Whenever I introduce myself as a writer, people almost always ask if I’ve published a book. I have grown weary of making excuses for why I haven’t published a book, so last year I decided to use my blog to help me come up with the content for a book. I gave myself a focused challenge and I write a post every day for a month. I then took those thirty blog posts and expanded them and added additional content. Now I have got an almost completed manuscript for a book based on the content of my blogging challenge.

This morning I came across this article, 7 Things You Must Do Before Writing Your Book, which is full of great tips for those who are thinking about writing a book. The author, Ofili, writes about the power of blogging to help you get your book written, ” I put myself on a strict and disciplined regimen of writing at least one 1500 article every month. I did this unfailingly starting January of 2011 and at the end of the year, I had 20+ quality articles chapters and over 25,000+ words in my book.” The secret is to commit to a focused writing schedule and be consistent.

There are a few benefits of blogging your book. One of those benefits, as Ofili mentions in his post, is the opportunity for instant feedback from your readers. Another benefit is that you are establishing a platform, building an audience for the book and getting your name and writing out there in the world. The best benefit, I believe, is the responsibility to your readers to blog consistently. Once you hook your readers in with what you are writing, they are going to want to stay in the loop and find out what happens.

Bloggers who want to become authors should go ahead and give it a whirl. Choose the topic of your book and focus your blog posts around that theme. Tell your readers what you are doing and get their support and encouragement. The positive comments I received when I did my blogging challenge really motivated me to stick with it no matter what.

Now that my manuscript is almost finished I am researching publishing options. It will launch first as an ebook, so you will be the first to hear about it when it drops. Keep on writing.

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Guest Post: 6 Powerful Reasons You Should Write a Book–and How to Get Started Today

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By Steve Harrison

In the 20+ years I’ve spent working with entrepreneurs and authors, I’ve found that one of the best ways to grow your business is to be seen as an expert. People value experts’ opinions and advice. They want to buy from the man or woman who wrote a book on topics they’re interested in.

How to become known as the expert in your niche
Surveys show that more than 80 percent of Americans dream of writing a book someday. But most will never do it. So if you have written a book, people will see you as having accomplished something that sets you apart from other experts.

Writing a book will elevate your status, your income and your influence. It will also position you as a knowledgeable authority they can trust. Let me give you an example of how this works.

A few years ago, I spoke to a mortgage loan officer who told me this story. He said that he used to get calls all the time from people asking about his mortgage rates. The minute he told them, they’d hang up the phone and start calling around looking for the cheapest rate. He realized he needed to find a way to stand out from other mortgage brokers. He then decided to target people who had a bankruptcy in their past and now needed a mortgage. So he wrote a book about how people who have had a bankruptcy or foreclosure can still get mortgages.

The book brought him a lot of local publicity. He did a number of radio, TV and print interviews and even got his own radio show. Now people were contacting him after reading his book or seeing him on TV. Clients would come into this office and feel privileged to learn from an expert on this subject, and some even asked him to autograph their book. This is a powerful example of how writing a book can help you expand your business tremendously.

What writing a book will do for you
A lot of exciting new opportunities will arise once you become a published author. Here are some of the biggest benefits that could come your way:

A lot of exciting new opportunities will arise once you become a published author. Here are some of the biggest benefits that could come your way:

1. Free publicity. It’s much easier to get radio, TV, magazine and online publicity if you have a book. The media need experts to interview, and often call upon authors to comment on timely topics in the news.
2. More sales leads and referrals. Once you have a book, you can promote and sell it to your existing customers. Some authors give their books away to key clients to create more word of mouth. This is a great way for people in a service business to generate referrals, since a book is much more powerful than a brochure.
3. Speaking engagements. People who book for corporate events, conferences or workshops may never have heard you speak, but they know people want to hear from someone who’s written a book. Almon Gunter is a good example. He’s a former world-class sprinter turned motivational speaker who wrote a book called Focus on the Final Seconds. Almon told me, “I had a very successful business before, but the book increased my speaking engagements by 50 percent.”
4. Higher fees. People are willing to pay an expert more money than someone without that expertise. Having your name on a book usually leads to higher name recognition–and the ability to command higher fees.
5. Dream customers will find you. The best way to take your client base to the next level is to find customers who can spend a lot more money with you. This is something that happens all the time for authors. Their completed book is like having a marketing agent that never sleeps; it continues to build exposure and bring in new clients.
6. It could lead to a whole new future. Your book can make the difference between feeling stuck in your current career and doing what you’re really called to do. Greg Kozera was a Halliburton executive with a passion for leadership. He believes that no one is a born leader–you have to learn how to lead. After Greg wrote a book called Learned Leadership, it generated so many speaking engagements that he was able to leave his job and speak full time.
So, whether you want to reinvent yourself, increase your sales and publicity or generate a whole new line of business or a consulting practice, a book can do that for you.

10 possible formats for writing a good book FAST!
Let’s say I’ve convinced you that it’s a good idea to publish a book. How do you decide what to write about? I’d like to make it easier by giving you some examples of different formats you can choose from. Starting with a proven model will make the writing process much less overwhelming. (Note: most of these ideas are designed for nonfiction authors.)
1. The Mistakes Book. People are always interested in learning about mistakes they can
avoid, so this is a popular format. A good example is this title: New Sales Speak: The
9 Biggest Sales Presentation Mistakes and How to Avoid Them by Terri Sjodin.

2. The How-to Book. I want to address a concern that many authors have. They often
ask me, “Why should I put what I know into book form? Will people still buy from me if I
give away this information?” Yes, and here’s why. Dan Kennedy is a well-known copywriter who gets paid tens of thousands of dollars to write a sales letter. But he still wrote a book called The Ultimate Sales Letter. By revealing how difficult it is to write strong sales letters and how much work goes into it, Dan’s book has brought him many new paying clients. When you give readers good solid information but don’t tell them everything you know, they will want to contact you to find out more.
3. The Question and Answer Book. Do people ask you questions when they hear about your area of expertise? Which questions are you asked most often? Maybe they could become the basis for a book. A good example is What’s a Synthesizer? Simple Answers to Common Questions by John Eiche. Imagine having a book titled “Answers to Your Most Common Questions:” (about your topic), and see what comes to mind.

4. The __ Ways to Do Something Book. You’ve probably heard of the bestselling book 50 Simple Things You Can Do to Save the Earth. This is a format that many authors have successfully imitated. You can use any number–7, 10 and 101 are other numbers that are frequently used.

5. The How to Hire Someone Book. Two books that use this format effectively are How to Hire a Nanny and Before You Hire a Contractor, this a great way to showcase your expertise and gain new clients by sharing information you’ve learned in your line of business.

6. The Book of Interviews. J.M. Trippon is a CPA who followed this model when he wrote How Millionaires Stay Rich Forever. His book became a great networking tool that enabled him to connect with millionaires and interview them.
7. The Collection of Stories. One of the bestsellers our company helped launch is Chicken Soup for the Soul. This format is easy to follow–you request other people’s stories on a particular topic and choose the best ones to reprint (once you get their permission). Sales trainer Dan Seidman wrote another book I really enjoyed. In Sales Autopsy, he told and analyzed 50 funny stories about salespeople who have really screwed up a sale.
8. The Memoir or Biography. Most of us love hearing other people’s stories, if they’re compelling and well told. That’s why memoirs and autobiographies often show up on bestseller lists. Consider telling your own or a family member’s life story or sharing lessons from your life.
9. The Joke or Quotation Book. People don’t think lawyers are funny, but two attorneys disproved that when they compiled The Lawyer’s Joke Book. The media love topics that are funny and entertaining. This joke book opened many doors for the authors and led to dozens of media interviews.
10. The Collection of Your Previous Writings. Have you been doing a blog or writing articles? Do you publish a newsletter or an ezine? These could provide lots of great material for a book.
I hope I’ve inspired you to embark on your own book project. Writing a book is not as difficult as many people think. Like all journeys, it begins with a single step. I encourage you to take that step, and wish you the very best in your quest to grow your business by becoming a published author.

Note: This article originally appeared in Steve Harrison’s paid print newsletter Book Marketing Update which goes to members of my Million Dollar Author Club – get info at http://www.milliondollarauthorclub.com

 

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Book Writing Tips: Feeling Stuck or Blocked? Inspiration to Keep Writing

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Writers and other creative types often have days when they feel stuck, blocked or otherwise unmotivated to write. Stories of how writers can raise procrastination to a high art are legendary. It’s amazing how appealing that stack of dirty dishes looks when you’re not feeling your writing mojo, but there is a way that you can take that resistance you are feeling and turn it around to motivate you to continue writing your book.

As a writer I’ve been there more times than I care to remember, so I wanted to share some inspiration that might spur you back to your purpose. I also want to encourage you to think back to why you are working on the writing project you are working on. Is it something that you love or is it something that you are doing to pay the bills? Do you have a deep passion for what you are writing or does it feel like drudgery to crank out the words each day? Take a moment and get a fresh piece of paper and do a bit of free writing. Write a single sentence that captures the essence of what you are working on. Write about why you are writing this, what you hope to gain by writing it, and what you intend for the reader to gain when they read it.

Just going through the motion of writing down the answers to these questions might stir up your motivation to put more of yourself and your passion into what you are writing. It might cause you to take your work in another direction, or abandon the project altogether so that you can free up your time to pursue something more worthy of your time and attention. But taking the time to answer those and any other questions that come to mind while you are doing that exercise creates momentum. You are taking action and that in itself is getting you unstuck.

Keep in mind that resistance is real. In his book, The War of Art, author Stephen Pressfield writes, “Resistance has no strength of its own. Every ounce of juice it possess comes from us. We feed it with power by our fear of it. Master that fear and we conquer Resistance.” Pressfield also writes about the fact that the greater importance the project holds for ourselves or for the world the more resistance you will feel about getting it done. Don’t get mired down by fear and resistance. The only way out is through as the saying goes, so keep your butt in that chair and your fingers flying. After all, is there anything more satisfying than looking back at the pages you just wrote after having battled your way through feeling blocked?

I thought I’d share these posts that have other points of view and inspiration for you to keep on writing:

Feeling Stuck? Read This. . .

By Tim Ferriss

Big successes often seem like foregone conclusions.

In reality, most entrepreneurs (read: creators) who appear to have unique genius suffer through the same frustration as the masses of unknowns. They simply test and persist a few steps further. Read More. . .

Stuck? Uncertain? Meet Your Muse.

By Lisa Tener

“For years now, I’ve been taking my clients and students in my book writing classes on a journey to meet their muse. I think of your muse as a creative aspect of yourself.

It may seem like it comes from deep within you or it may seem to come from a place outside of you–everyone has their own experience–all valid. Your muse may show up in all kinds of ways. My book writing students and clients are often surprised by the trappings of their muse.” Read More. . .

Writers Block? Are You Stuck? Draft, Then Craft. Get It Written, Then Get It Right

By Sam Horn

“Inspiration often emerges from our work; it doesn’t precede our work.” – Madeleine L’Engle (author of A Wrinkle in Time)

“A client emailed me to say she was having a hard time making progress on her book.

I sent her the following message – and thought it might have value for you if you’d like to get in that delightful stream-of-conscious state where the words are flowing out of your head so fast your fingers can hardly keep up.

(Name of client) . .. please keep giving yourself props for writing, writing, writing.

E.L. Doctorow was asked what it was like writing a book.

He said, “It’s kind of like driving a car at night: you can only see to the end of your headlights, but you can make the whole trip that way.”

Keep driving to the end of your headlights.” Read More. . .

Writers: What To Do When You Get Stuck

By Writers Relief Staff

“Most writers have a secret stash of half-finished short stories, manuscripts, or poems—discarded when the author came to a screeching halt somewhere in the middle of things. If you’ve ever gotten stuck in the middle of a story or can’t find the last line of a poem, Writer’s Relief offers a few steps to help you get moving again.” Read More. . .

Do you have any words of wisdom or advice to share from your experience for writers who are feeling stuck? What is your favorite thing to do to get that mojo going again? Please leave a comment.

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How to Write a Book: Are You a Transformational Author?

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Are you one of the reported 80% of Americans who want to write a book? Do you feel like you’ve got an amazing idea for a book that will absolutely transform the lives of your readers? If so, you might call yourself a transformational author. The other day I was listening to an interview with Christine Kloser, creator of the Transformational Author Experience. Even if your aspirations for your book are not quite that lofty, you might still want to learn more about what Christine has to offer.

Christine offers a self-directed class that will help you, as the title says, “Discover How to Successfully Write, Publish and Market Your Transformational Book.” She offers free access to four of the classes in her program so that you can get a feel for the process. After listening to her interview where she shared a ton of useful content with the listeners, I signed up to get her introductory classes, and I am seriously considering taking her course. I already own a book that she and Lynne Klippel compiled called, Align, Expand and Succeed, so I was familiar with her, but now that I have heard that in-depth interview I was even more impressed.

As I make progress on my book project I will be sharing more resources related to writing books, indie publishing, ebook publishing and publishing on demand. I just received a fabulous Nook Color ebook reader for Christmas, so one of my new projects is learning all about the Barnes and Noble ebook publishing platform.

If you’re a writer, please keep writing and sharing your stories and insights with the world. If you love books, then buy books and help support the authors who write the stories you love to read, and share those life-changing lessons that inspire us to live better.

 

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eBook Publishing: What’s New in the the World of Kindle eBook Marketing

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Ebooks, or electronic books have been popular in the world of Internet marketing for years, but recently, with the exponential growth of electronic ebook readers such as the Amazon Kindle and Barnes & Noble’s Nook, ebook sales have surpassed sales for hard cover books as the price for these ebook readers drops making them more affordable to a wider audience. The Kindle app, which is available on PCs, smartphones and tablets makes it possible to read Kindle titles without even needing to purchase the Kindle ebook reader device.

This represents an amazing opportunity for content publishers to gain a wider audience for their ebooks. It also represents a great opportunity for writers who are looking to get their books published and into the hands of readers.

If you have already created ebooks and you are selling them from your website, you can easily convert that content to the Kindle ebook format and offer them for sale in the Kindle marketplace. Amazon will take a percentage of the sale, but it works out great because you do not have to worry about generating traffic, dealing with customer service issues, or shipping books.

Another avenue for writers and content publishers is the Kindle Single, which is for shorter works from 10,000 to 30,000 words. Amazon describes a Kindle Single as, “a compelling idea – well researched, well argued, and well illustrated – expressed at its natural length.” Kindle Singles offer writers the chance to get their not-quite-booklength works out there so that they can find their audience. This is a new format and it will bear watching to see how popular these Singles turn out to be.

In addition to creating and selling your ebooks on Amazon, you can also sell subscriptions to your blog. Amazon will sell the subscription at either $.99 or $1.99. Subscribers can then access your blog directly on their Kindle as they are automatically delivered wirelessly with offline access to your blog posts.

Because of the rising popularity of the ebook format, there will be steeper competition for readers. Writers and publishers will need to create compelling titles and market them effectively in order to gain visibility in an increasingly crowded marketplace.

The first step for getting your content published and available on the Kindle platform is to open a free account at, kindlepublishing.amazon.com. After you set up your account there are tutorials and support forums inside that will help you to get your book properly formatted, uploaded and available for purchase.

Do you have ebooks that have been languishing on your site that could benefit from the additional exposure of the Kindle marketplace? Do you have an idea for an ebook that you’d like to publish, but don’t have the time or the desire to write it yourself? I have ghostwritten and published several  titles for my clients on the Amazon Kindle, and I’d be glad to help you convert your existing ebooks to Kindle and get them uploaded and available for sale, or I’d be happy to discuss writing an ebook for you that you can publish on Kindle.

Related posts:

Ghostwriting Revisited: A Roundup of Resources for Hiring and Working with a Ghostwriter
Content Creation Workshop: How Many Ways Can You Re-Purpose Your Blog Content for More Traffic, Links and Sales?

Guest Post by Lynne Klippel–The Most Important Sentence in Your Book

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Remember the old Peanuts Cartoon? Snoopy, a lovable beagle, wanted to be a writer. There was a recurring story line featuring Snoopy atop his dog house with his old manual typewriter, beginning his book. Snoopy never got further than his opening line, “It was a dark and stormy night.”

The first line is the most important sentence of any book, be it fiction or non-fiction. That first sentence has a big job to do. It must capture the interest of the reader and convince her to read the rest of the first page and then the rest of the book.

Today’s reader is increasingly busy, distracted, and in a hurry. He will not spend time with a book that is boring, hard to read, or needs twenty-five pages to get to the point.

So, what can you do to craft a compelling first sentence?

Follow these steps to make your first sentence powerful:

  1. Don’t worry about your first sentence until you are in the editing phase of your book project. If you are in writing phase, just begin your book and know that you can come back to your first sentence to polish it during editing. If you try to write the perfect first sentence during the writing phase, you run the risk of never moving past it to the remainder of the book.
  2. Pay attention to headlines in news reports, on magazine covers, and on websites. While your first sentence is not a headline, it is the very first experience your reader has of your book so it should be exciting and invite readers to continue. Begin to notice how these headlines are written and see what you can learn from that style of writing.
  3. Is your first sentence boring? Read it aloud and listen. Does it sound compelling? If not, it needs revision.
  4. Next, look closely at your first sentence and see if it generates curiosity. When a reader is curious, she will want to keep reading.
  5. You can elicit curiosity by leading with a surprising fact, a compelling story, a thought-provoking statistic, or by using a metaphor in unusual way.
  6. Read your first page. Find the most interesting piece of information on that page and make that point in your first sentence.
  7. Pare down the number of words in your first sentence so that each word is crisp, clear, and serves a purpose. Shorter sentences convey more energy.

Continue to work on your opening sentence until you feel satisfied with it. When your book moves into publication, your editor will also review this opening sentence and make additional suggestions if more revisions are needed.

Your first sentence is the prelude to your reader’s experience of your book. Invest time in making that sentence shine and your readers will thank you by continuing to turn every page of your book.

Lynne Klippel is a best-selling author, publisher, and book coach who specializes in helping non-fiction authors write books that build their business and transform the world. For a f.r.e.e. assessment that will help you see your author strengths and opportunities, visit http://www.BusinessBuildingBooks.com

Why Aren’t You Writing? Unlocking Your Potential to Write Books by Carol S. Batey, Ph.D. : A Review

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I became aware of author, model  and writing coach, Carol S. Batey while in the process of writing my first book. I was feeling a bit blocked, and while I felt inspired to write my book, I was experiencing some resistance to actually sitting down and writing the book.

When I opened Dr. Batey’s book and read the line, “A handbook created and designed with you in mind,” it felt like she was speaking directly to me and my needs.  I knew that this message is what I needed to help me push forward in writing my book.  Why Aren’t You Writing? Is a workbook designed to facilitate a self-coaching process for writers who have a book that is unwritten in their souls. In each chapter Dr. Batey shares a bit about her own life and experiences having written and published five books. At the end of each chapter there is space to write your thoughts and prayers.

What sets this book apart from the others within the genre of, ‘how to write your first book,’ books is that Dr. Batey talks about using the writing process to facilitate personal and spiritual transformation. In chapter two she shares her plan of action, which includes prayer, setting intentions, visualizing your intended audience and remaining focused on the work. She talks about practical ways to set aside time for writing, the importance of being committed to your writing and most importantly how we must look to God for inspiration for writing.

We all have limiting beliefs of one kind or another that keep us from realizing our dreams. Dr. Batey talks about overcoming our self-imposed limitations by providing the example of St. Teresa of Avila, who was a 16th century Catholic nun, Christian mystic and the author of, The Inner Castle, and The Book of My Life, among others who overcame significant obstacles both internal and external in order to complete their books.

If you’re an atheist or not interested in finding a way to incorporate spiritual guidance into your writing practice, then this book may not be for you.

But if you feel like you have been called to write a book, but you are feeling intimidated by the idea, or if you just want some inspiration and practical advice for your journey, then Why Aren’t You Writing? Is a great book to have by your side. You will learn how to let go of your personal limitations and write the book that God has placed within you because it is not just for you. He placed it within you so that you could share it with a world waiting to hear it and be transformed by it.

How to Start Writing a Book

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I am a professional, freelance writer who is still, as yet unpublished. That will soon change. I have been messing around for about two years doing more talking than writing on a book project that is close to my heart. My plan is to stop messing around and get the manuscript completed so that I can get it out there and start getting feedback on it. I have a daily regimen of working on my book after I have completed my client work.

Then I figured that I can’t be the only one who is writing a book but who also needs the nudging, accountability and moral support of others who share the same goal. So, I am putting out a call to those who are writing their first book and would like the encouragement and support of a small group of fellow writers.

I have been thinking about starting a private Facebook group, which will also have an occasional, group conference call where we can all get on the call and gain encouragement and support and just check in with one another. That’s about as far as I’ve gotten with the idea. Now I wil talk about what this group is not going to be.

This group is not going to be a step-by-step, hold your hand guide to writing your first book. It is not going to be a venue to advertise your services. The sole purpose of the group is to provide mutual encouragement to one another while we are on the path of trying to write a book while also running a business, raising children and husbands, herding cats, and plotting world domination. We will look at the steps to writing a book, you will gather tips for writing a book proposal, a list of suggested reading materials and have immediate access to a dedicated cheering squad that will help keep you motivated and inspired while simultaneously drowning out the persistent voice of your inner critic.

A major caveat that I must mention is that this group is going to have a spiritual fondation–not a religious one, so no worries about anyone trying to convert you to anything or force you to participate in any odd rituals. I believe that we are all spiritual beings and that we come to this planet, embody physical forms for a period of time and then we move on to other realms of existence. I also believe that as spiritual beings we have a Divine SOurce who inspires us. You don’t have to agree with any of this, but I just want to be clear at the outset that there will be some spiritual content, so if this is objectionable to you, this is not the writing group for you.

There will be a membership fee to join this group, but I am still working out what the monthly dues should be. If you are interested in participating in such a group, please leave a comment, or send me an email at: ebb567 AT gmail DOT com. I am going to create a quick little survey to find out what people want out of such a group and then write a follow-up post.

Please join us if you feel like you’ve got a book in you that is yearning to get out. The world is waiting to hear what you have to say. Imagine how freaking awesome you will feel when you are holding your published book in your hands for the first time. Now let’s get started writing a book together.