The process of spotting fear and refusing to obey it
is the source of all true empowerment.’
-Martha Beck, sociologist, life coach, author
As you write your book, you will choose the way you present information. Decide on the writing personality that best suits you – your own author voice – and what comes most naturally to you. Here are some options:
- A pioneer – breaking new territory
- An authority – standing for what you know to be true
- An advocate – being a voice for others
- A teacher – explaining and guiding
- A mentor – modelling, encouraging, inspiring growth
- A commentator – observing and reporting
- A journalist – interviewing, researching, extrapolating and presenting
- An artist – weaving creative magic and words
- An academic – testing hypotheses, analysing, studying, digging deep
- A forecaster or oracle – presenting a wise future focus
- An inspiration – helping readers overcome odds to triumph
- A star – standing in the spotlight as the main focus
- A sage – offering trusted wisdom
- A fellow traveller – learning on the road, alongside the reader
- A satirist – exposing others’ shortcomings
- A storyteller – sharing true tales
- A curator – collecting information, and sharing it in a new way
Which of these styles appeal to you?
You could choose two that you are most comfortable with and use their intersection as your sweet spot – your writing voice. Can you see how a pioneer–journalist would write in a completely different voice to an artist–sage?
PRIORITISE YOUR WRITING
Make your book project a priority and include family and close friends in a conversation, asking them to support you and release you from other obligations at certain times, so that the book that can really impact your life, as well as theirs, is given space and freedom to grow and bloom.
When your book becomes an asset that attracts people and prosperity to you and your business in a way that matters to you, it has a ripple effect across your family too. You will then be able to support those who supported you when they helped you take time to focus on your writing. There is a positive outcome for all when you help each other achieve important goals.
Some clients set aside writing time each day; some took time out to go to a holiday location to write for a week (as I am doing right now as I type this); some negotiated a weekend away from the farm and children each month until their book was done.
Choose your pace and your location. Understand your own special rhythm within your sacred, productive (and hopefully undisturbed) chunks of writing time.
Erik Larson, who famously wrote The Devil in the White City, has a carefully concocted list of requirements for successful writing:
- Good coffee.
- More coffee.
- Oreo cookies.
- A fireplace (for falling asleep in front of whilst reading. After all, good writers read!)
Your list might include:
- Water views, wine and cheese
- Cafés, coffee and cake
- Ambient sounds in your own perfect space via coffitivity.com
- The studious surrounds of a university library, where you feel inspired amongst others who are also taking their own endeavours seriously
You must find a way that works for you, and lean into the experience of writing, rather than resisting or procrastinating. Elizabeth Gilbert says it best in Big Magic–Creative Living Beyond Fear:
‘Don’t rush through the experiences and circumstances
that have the most capacity to transform you.
Don’t let go of your courage the moment things stop
being easy or rewarding. Because that moment?
That’s the moment when interesting begins.’
***
This is the ninth of a series of articles taken from the book, ‘Smart Women Publish – Write the book that expands your world’ by Bev Ryan. Each article in this series will present the key ideas in its 15 chapters, from what a book can do for you, through planning, writing, publishing and leveraging your published book.
Bev is a certified non-fiction book coach (including memoir with a message) and book production manager, working with accomplished and interesting people as they write and self-publish their best non-fiction books.
Are you procrastinating or stuck in the planning or writing stages? Contact Bev to find out how she can help you with your book, and your publishing choices.