I’m working on a manuscript in my ’spare time,’ which, as a work-from-home Freelance writer/single mom is a bit of a misnomer. My goal is to make progress on it each week, and I will not give up until I have it finished.

This morning, I saw this email from Julie Isacs in my Inbox. It inspired me so much I wanted to share it with you:

Book Cover

At the beginning of a book, or other long writing project, it’s
helpful to create a vision board or some other visual “touchstone”
to keep you inspired, focused, and moving forward on your writing
journey.

Your visual touchstone could be:

* A vision board of your book to put on your wall, or on your
computer as a desktop background or screen saver.It can include
your book cover,”NY Times bestseller,” or any other words or
images that excite you about your book.

* A mind movie: A vision board turned into a video, inspiring
thoughts and images moving to the beat of an uplifting song. You
could even record a voice-over talking about how you’ll feel when
the book is completed, and how it’s going to affect the people who
read it.

* Your book cover: If you don’t have your book’s official cover,
you can create a rough draft (it doesn’t have to be perfect) that
has meaning for you. Besides using the book cover on your computer
as your desktop image or screen saver, you can print out the cover
and put it on your refrigerator or near your computer. You can also
put your book cover on a 3-ring binder, paste it on a book-sized
diary, or create a physical mock-up of your book in some other way.

* Your book’s back cover: Put this where you can see it, or
combine it with the book cover described above to create your
“book.” Be sure to add a couple of testimonial “blurbs” to the back
cover copy saying how wonderful your book is.

* Your book’s table of contents: Print your TOC in a nice sized
font, so you can easily read the chapter headings. Put it where
you’ll see it often.

* A picture of the ideal reader you want to educate, inspire, or
entertain through your writing. It can be someone you know, or a
clear representation of your ideal reader (age, gender, etc.).

* A picture of something you’ve promised to buy yourself when you
finish writing your book. There’s nothing wrong with a little
incentive. Writing a book is a big commitment, and completing it is
a HUGE accomplishment. Celebrate the many little wins along the
way, and when you’re finished do something big and wonderful for
yourself.

* Or some other image that has meaning for you. It could be an
author you admire and want to emulate, or someone (or something)
that inspires you to do your best.

To keep me inspired as I write “Brainstorming Your Blog,” I’ve not
only created a book cover, I’ve put it on the front of a 3-ring
binder, created chapter dividers, and will be printing out the
book’s pages as I complete them.

The reason I’m doing this is four-fold:

1. To encourage me to finish each of the individual sections that
I’ve outlined.

2. To help me feel more connected to the book, and, therefore,
more committed to going all the way to a completed manuscript.

3. To get a visual and tactile sense of accomplishment as the
completed pages of the book grow.

4. To help with the editing, as there is something about having a
piece of paper to edit that helps me see things I might not catch
online (I don’t know why this is true, but it is).

Do you use any kind of visual touchstone? How has it worked
for you?

by, Julie Isac from the Writing Spirit.com

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