“If the desire to write is not accompanied by actual writing, then the desire is not to write”
― Hugh Prather, Notes to Myself: My Struggle to Become a Person
I disagree with Mr. Prather!
I know that some of you desire to write because you want to grow your business, to become a thought leader, to expand your influence, and to create more opportunities.
The desire to write is not enough!
You may not be writing if you don’t know how to remove the obstacles that block your progress, such as time management and prioritization, strategic direction, and self-doubt.
If you haven’t written the book you desire, removing these obstacles is entirely possible!
Mastering time management and prioritization
Your book, while important, will never be urgent. This reality makes it hard to fit in writing between urgent client demands and a heavy workload. You may need to create a project plan to complete your book, with time blocks each week for writing.
Your book, while important, will never be urgent.
I’ve learned that blocking at least five hours each week is essential in getting your book finished. While you can still make some progress with an hour here and there, you won’t create the momentum you need for this large task.
You may also find that having an accountability partner or coach to hold your feet to the fire and help you honor your writing commitments is imperative.
Defining your strategic direction
If you don’t have a clear vision of how you’ll use your book in your business, you’ll likely not see it as a priority. Jill wanted to have a book, but she hadn’t yet identified its place in her consulting business. However, once she understood that the book would house her client exercises, checklists, and other tools, she could value the time that she was investing in her book that would lead to having all these tools in one document.
Overcoming self-doubt
If you’ve been thinking, No one is going to read my book, you may have little incentive to do the hard work of writing it. Negative self-talk may be sabotaging your best intentions for writing.
This is where belonging to a writing community can be invaluable, since you can see that your thoughts about imposter syndrome are shared by virtually all fellow writers. In a writing community, we regularly offer best practices about overcoming the trash talk and focusing on the ROI of writing your book.
I have created a writing process that helps writers turn their desire to write into actual writing by offering one-on-one coaching support, group coaching, and tools and resources to deal with these obstacles.
Schedule a strategy call with me if you’d like to explore how to remove these obstacles so that you can publish the book that will support your business’s growth.