When is it time to share your experiences in print so other benefit? The answer: right now! Here are five tips to write your long-awaited book.
Starting line
Congratulations on the decision to put your experience on paper. The goal is to write and publish a completed book, but the first step is often hardest when pursuing this goal.
You know those movies where you see a writer staring at a blank computer screen, hoping the words in her head will magically jump onto the page? That’s true for many first-time authors, so know that you’re in good company. The page won’t stay blank for long.
If you’re stumbling to get started, I have ideas to help you fill that blank page, ideas that complement another inspiring article, It’s Time to Tell Your Story.
Here are five quick start ideas I shared in person years ago at several Indie Author Day events.
Five tips to write your long-awaited book
1. Have passion for your topic.
If you enjoy talking about your book’s subject, the words will flow from your mind to paper or computer quicker than you imagine. You’ll find yourself overrun with so much information that it will be difficult to stop writing or typing.
2. Realize that everyone does not know what you know.
Walking into a bookstore or searching Amazon and seeing other books on your subject can be deflating, but understand this: no one will write about the subject in the way you do. Readers are waiting. Don’t disappoint them by quitting before you start.
3. Write an outline on what you’ll include.
You need clarity on what to feature in your book. You’ll have text, but perhaps you’ll also add charts, statistics, photographs, website links, notes, references from other books, and more. The book writing class I attended in 1996 pointed out the need for an outline. It’s still true today.
4. Set aside time every day to write.
If you skip a day, you’ll skip another day, and then you’ll forget you’re writing a book. Writing is a habit, a daily task to complete if you want your words published. As little as 10 minutes each day is enough time.
5. Keep going until your book is finished.
Procrastination is part of every life, including yours and mine, and thankfully each of us works to end it. Don’t allow mundane stuff to get in the way of your dream, your goal, your book. Turning this dream into a reality will enhance your life and the lives of people who read it.
Video proof to inspire your success
I participated in the Indie Author Day festivities at numerous libraries in my local area where I was honored to share the above tips. Here’s a video from one event.
Now that you have five tips to write your long-awaited book, which day will you start the process to become an author?
