Dear readers, I often witness book writers (nonfiction) have a dip in their motivation and self-belief. So what if you have those blah days, and can’t seem to think of a single good idea?
The book ‘On Writing’ by Stephen King helped me long ago to realise: you just have to make a commitment to keep sitting down to write, despite not feeling like it. Prolific fiction writer Amy Suto said that a simple mindset shift early on changed everything for her. Her advice, whatever your feelings on the day: decide to show up imperfectly.
“I’m going to do it without putting pressure on the outcome. I’m going to do it tired. I’m going to do it imperfectly.”
Writing a book or being a book coach is something that makes for fascinating party conversations. “Oh, you help people write a book? … I always wanted to write a book, but it seems such a big task, I wouldn’t know where to start.”
This indicates to me both low self-belief in their ability to achieve the goal and confusion over how to start.
My article on Substack goes over simple methods to get started with writing a book. Here, we’ll deal with procrastination relating to lack of conviction. Conviction is that feeling that you know you’ll get this done, even though you may not know how!
Secrets to Self-Belief
Judging from my own mindset in my pre-Uni days, I think it’s a lot to do with achieving small wins and gradually getting better. While I was writing some terrible essay in Language and Literature at TAFE (a preparatory course), my supportive teacher helped me with his red pen to see where to make changes so that my essay flowed better, and so I didn’t write very long sentences like this one.
By the time I was enrolled in Reasoned Writing at University (first year), I knew I could work on my drafts so that the ideas would flow, although I wasn’t yet accomplished at it. I worked on the essay “Can nonfiction essays be creative?” for many hours, probably 15. That essay got chosen in class for special mention (embarrassing) and it was graded as a High Distinction, which I was ecstatic with.
As a book writing coach, I must have the conviction that my writer client can write and finish the book. More importantly, they must stop telling themselves that they can’t do it… and that they haven’t anything special to offer readers. They always do.
If this is you, your story is interesting; it’s all in the way you frame it. I’ll prove it to you.
A. “I was brought up on a tobacco farm, with a free range childhood, and sometimes there were mishaps”. I am telling the facts.
B. “The tobacco kilns baking the leaves was the most pungent, rich smell of my childhood. I rode my bike everywhere and riding home one day, I spotted thick black smoke coming from the big shed. Getting closer, I saw smoke pouring out the windows and a red fire truck. The entire 50 metre shed was on fire.
Story beats facts. Stories put the reader in amongst it, where they can imagine it vividly. Like this one, stories can be real. (You can use ‘I’ all you want).
Getting the Book Finished
I’ll try not to be too left-brained (logical) here. You have finished things in your life before. Projects, party preparation, making a kite, whatever. That means you can finish this. This too is the way you frame it in your mind.
Writing a book doesn’t need AI like Chat GPT to write it. (What you need is an editor).
Writing a book does require learning some writing techniques. A very good book to get started is Writing Tools: 55 Essential Strategies by Roy Peter Clark. Local writing centres also do various subjects, e.g. writing life story. When was the last time you learnt some skill without any training at all?
Training beats down any procrastination with methods and practise.
Schedule it
Creating a book also needs a schedule. You can actually use AI for this part. An example prompt:
Writing a book of ten chapters, with 3,500 words per chapter, and two parts of 1,000 words each, give me a plan to write this number of words. I can write 700 words an hour and do best with writing in two sessions per week. Put the plan into columns with the number of words per time, writing session length of time, a one hour editing session each week, and how long in months it would take the total. The output:
Here’s a detailed plan based on your writing speed and preferred schedule:
| Week | Writing Session | Words per Session | Time per Session | Total Words Written | Editing Session (1 hour) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | 700 | 1 hour | 1,400 | Edit previous week’s writing |
| 2 | 700 | 1 hour | 2,800 | ||
| 2 | 1 | 700 | 1 hour | 4,200 | Edit previous week’s writing |
| 2 | 700 | 1 hour | 5,600 | ||
| 3 | 1 | 700 | 1 hour | 7,000 | Edit previous week’s writing |
| 2 | 700 | 1 hour | 8,400 | ||
| 4 | 1 | 700 | 1 hour | 9,800 | Edit previous week’s writing |
| 2 | 700 | 1 hour | 11,200 | ||
| 5 | 1 | 700 | 1 hour | 12,600 | Edit previous week’s writing |
| 2 | 700 | 1 hour | 14,000 | ||
| 6 | 1 | 700 | 1 hour | 15,400 | Edit previous week’s writing |
| 2 | 700 | 1 hour | 16,800 | ||
| 7 | 1 | 700 | 1 hour | 18,200 | Edit previous week’s writing |
| 2 | 700 | 1 hour | 19,600 | ||
| 8 | 1 | 700 | 1 hour | 21,000 | Edit previous week’s writing |
| 2 | 700 | 1 hour | 22,400 | ||
| 9 | 1 | 700 | 1 hour | 23,800 | Edit previous week’s writing |
| 2 | 700 | 1 hour | 25,200 | ||
| 10 | 1 | 700 | 1 hour | 26,600 | Edit previous week’s writing |
| 2 | 700 | 1 hour | 28,000 | ||
| 11 | 1 | 700 | 1 hour | 29,400 | Edit previous week’s writing |
| 2 | 700 | 1 hour | 30,800 | ||
| 12 | 1 | 700 | 1 hour | 32,200 | Edit previous week’s writing |
| 2 | 700 | 1 hour | 33,600 | ||
| 13 | 1 | 700 | 1 hour | 35,000 | Edit previous week’s writing |
Summary:
- Total Writing Time: 13 weeks
- Total Words: 35,000 words
- Writing Session Length: 1 hour per session, 2 sessions per week
- Editing Session Length: 1 hour per week (this is reviewing/editing your own work)
- Total hours: 39 hours over 13 weeks.
Why not do this type of plan for yourself, adjusting to suit? If nothing else, it shows you that working steadily will make great progress. Allowing for sickness, one week’s holiday, and perhaps your sister comes to stay, this diligent writer could write a book in 16 weeks – about four months.
Another Writer’s Tip: Your first draft is just the start
Your book will change you. After you’ve finished your book, you’ll want to make a better book next time (even if this was your best effort). And you’ll be able to because you have learned some annoying patterns to kick and some neat writer tricks.
Perhaps the reason you think you can’t do it is because you read the classics. The classics, whether self-help or worldly literature, are written by serial authors who have been writing for years and edited by no less than two editors. When you read something that good, prose which flows well and has proof, you don’t spot any resemblance to your first draft ramblings. It’s like comparing Justin Timberlake to a clown.
That’s okay, we’ve all been there. It doesn’t look pretty – but it’s going to be pretty later. Tell a story, like you would to a friend, but fill in the gaps with sensory descriptions. Or you might be writing topic books. In this case, write a fact you believe then look for proof from a paper. Make a subtle bridge to the next point you want to make or feeling you want to convey.
Cor blimey, that was long. Do you feel like you learnt something? If so, great, let me know in an email or comment below what you now think you can do.
