Sep
10th
The book inside
By Jacq
Show
timeIf you've been bold enough to start a business, 9.9 times out of 10 you'll have an idea waiting in the wings that could become a best seller.
A book is a natural progression of a business. In many ways, the easy bit. After all the hard work of setting up a business isn't it time to blow your own trumpet, take centre stage and let the pages of your book tell your story?
Wouldn't you just love the press to fall in love with you. Course you would. The obvious call. Send out a press release. Picture it landing on a journalist's desk. Lost amongst a pile of other press releases. Now imagine the same press release with a book accompanying it. Different story.
Start with your heart. End with your head.
It's tough to get all the way to the end of a book if you're striving for perfection first time round. Forget the minutiae. Word count. Grammar. Chapter lengths. These can wait. Just give yourself permission to write. No holding back. See where the incredible journey takes you. Then when it comes to your second draft, tackle it head on. Some paragraphs will stay. Others go. A perfectly natural part of the process of what can be a rather cathartic experience.
Find the magic number
Books don't write themselves. If you're serious about writing a book it has to be a daily commitment rather than a commitment for a whole day. Top tip. Get a timer. Set it for 45 minutes. Write. No delicious distractions allowed. Everyone has a magic number. After a couple of sessions you'll find yours. Even 10 minutes a day can lead to a best seller.
The Boy Who Fell Down Exit 43
Singer Harriet Goodwin cut back on touring because she had small children. Then she stumbled on her second career. As a children's writer. She woke up one morning, convinced a dream she'd had was the plot for a novel. She began writing for 10 minutes a day when her children were napping or at school. Religiously.
Something in the woodshed
In 2009 The Boy Who Fell Down Exit 43 became book of the month in Borders and was shortlisted for last year's Blue Peter award. Ms Goodwin is now working on a second book in a shed at the bottom of her garden. She hasn't given up her day job and still gives concerts but finds writing complements her singing. Proof there can be harmony between two careers.
So what are you waiting for? Time to release the book inside.
Jacqueline Burns
Publishing Consultant
publishabestseller.com
@writersclub
Viewing 1 - 1 of 1
