In Her Own Ink

Having published eight books taught me a lot about the common reasons some of us haven't finished writing our manuscripts yet. Based on my personal experience I’ll share practical approaches to developing and finishing the draft. Here we’ll review five challenges authors will face, and methods for overcoming them. No focus. It’s easy to hold a book idea and draft an introduction and chapter. However, where do we go from there? Beginning a draft shouldn’t start with our introductions. Instead, create clear messages. Before diving into any project, I ALWAYS develop my book objectives. These goals will direct my pen, outline and book’s messages. I focus on making two to five messages I want readers to take away from my nonfiction work. No structure. After focusing on my key messages for the book, I get organized. I get a binder and separate sections: 1) introduction/conclusion/objectives, 2) outline, 3) chapter content, and so forth. Because I’m a visual learner, I write a book layout...

After I finished drafting my first book I aimed to get it edited. Working with an editor was a lot different than what I expected. I had a couple of preconceived thoughts about working with an editor.  The Total Page Count The word count is required. The number of pages was irrelevant. First, I learned that editors do not require the total number of pages of your manuscript. Instead, they will determine the cost of the job based on both your word count and turnaround deadline.  Constant Communication Contact based on clarification, only. Also, I thought I would stay in constant communication. However, that looked different. My experience was straightforward. I provided my project and deadline, and they gave it back to me with the marked up edits and the book-ready approved edits. My editor reached out to me for clarification only when needed. Conclusion Approaching an editor demands your manuscript’s word count. It’s best they contact you for any questions about your work, and...

We’ve all been there. Stressed, overwhelmed and stuck. Writing a manuscript is a daunting task that many of us are able to start but some of us are strained to finish. In short, completing a project of this magnitude lies in our organization skills. We’ll explore techniques to reduce our stress and gain clarity to finish writing the book.  Upholding Wellness and Motivation Be ready to go hard into your mental work. Dive into your book development routine with fresh eyes and the determination to accomplish your goals for that session. Building yourself up.  Self-motivation requires consistent approaches to rekindling your flame. Triggering power thoughts include referring back to notes for carrying out those rich ideas you had.  Upholding tunnel vision to produce content could look like reinforcing laser focus. To concentrate, I encourage you to reflect on inspiring messages beforehand. Listening to nature sounds to clear your thoughts. Or, moving your body. Sometimes I ta...

Publishing books is like running a cross country race. We aim to not only build stamina to pace ourselves for the distance, but to compete with our past performances and run our best times.  Resiliency at Work I ran cross country for three years in college. Yet, out of all of my races, there was one in particular which stood out. Not because I won first or second place either. In fact, I was late for the meet. Despite watching everybody start the race from the parking lot, I was determined to overcome my obstacles. Surprisingly, I landed third place among my team mates. Again, I was the last runner to start, but not the last to finish. Let’s Go! Do you have a solid foundation? Are you behind on your book? Still, highly resilient, you hold the willpower to go the extra mile. Awesome! Let’s reposition ourselves to finish stronger.  As you know, writing books requires self-motivation and discipline. However, what specifically does that entail? Going the distance and maintaining m...

Getting back on the horse is not easy, especially when it comes to completing a project such as a book. However, authors find ways to create their motivation to write. Here we’ll discuss practical strategies to trigger your motivation. Setting the Atmosphere I encourage you to produce a conducive environment to develop your craft. That could look like clearing your workstation. Playing your beast mode jam and getting your favorite drink to ignite laser focus. Activate Your Passion Stirring your emotions to put one foot in front of the other might look like reflecting on affirmations, listening to motivational talks and reflecting on specific songs and performances. For me this looks like reviewing certain clips that are moving. I focus on the person, audience and show. I gather the energy and get ready to move.  Keep Moving Also, consider an active routine. Exercising helps boost energy while relieving stress. I use walking as a way to transition into my next activity. Conclusion ...

A false start is whenever an individual is gung-ho about their book. Initially, they’re unstoppable, ignoring the naysayers and pressing forward no matter what. However, life throws curve balls and the author gets off track and their goals steadily slip into distant dreams.  We’ve all been there! At least I know I have several times. Here we’ll discuss contributing factors but also techniques to get back on course. Creating A Solid Foundation Whenever I had a false start, it was because I didn't have a system in place. I did things that landed me in the dark over and over again. I dived into my book chronologically. I would write the introduction and a couple of chapters or so and then get overwhelmed. Through my excitement I just started writing my book off of the top of my head! Then I wondered how I got trapped into writer’s block. First, go hard on creating a solid foundation. Develop a good outline. This starts with having specific objectives and messages for our readers. I re...