Week 1 of Writing a Book: Before The Writing Begins

So it's Week 1 in the book writing process. I've just announced I'll write a book and share my weekly journey with you. Today's Tuesday, September 12th, and I'm taking off to Europe for a month with my fiancé. What a way to start! It'll be interesting to see how much I get done. 

I started the process a week ago and aim to have the new book published in January 2024. I'll be bringing you along the book-writing journey with me. If you don't know, my new book is about how to write and publish a nonfiction book to make a personal and professional impact in your life. 

As a 3x published author, and a best-selling author, I want to share the book-writing process for three reasons:

1. To show you can write a book in less than four months.
2. To show how the process can be super fun if you allow it to be.
3. To make a personal impact in your life and a professional impact in your career with a book.

Each week, I'll be sharing the following:

• What I did for the week
• What challenges were presented, and how did I overcome them?
• How long I spent writing or working on my book

So let's get into it. 

What I did for the week

1.  I asked myself, 'Why?' A book without a clear purpose is like a ship without a destination. I had to ensure what I was writing aligned with why I was writing it. As a book coach, I want to break down perceived perceptions that writing and publishing a book is out of reach. My why is helping ambitious individuals write a nonfiction book to make a difference in their business and life. (5 minutes)
2.  I set a realistic timeline. After getting clear on why I'm writing. I sent an email out to my list, letting everyone know I'll be writing a book and that I'll be taking them along for the ride. This now keeps me accountable but gives me a deadline for executing a published book. I've given myself 14 weeks from idea to published. (10 minutes)
3.  Think about my routine. The following month will be tough trying as I'll be in Europe. So, I aim to get writing done on the planes and trains as I travel. I tried doing this in the US a few years back when writing The 6 Pillars of A Rewarding Life and got hardly anything done. Now's an opportunity to make the most of the travelling time. (5 minutes)
4.  I gathered what was in my head and wrote down all potential ideas. I like to handwrite because it makes writing a book more real. I wrote down plenty of good ideas but also plenty of bad ones. It doesn't matter if I include them or don't because it's more of a brain dump. I think the mind mapping stage is laying out the puzzle and visualising how the pieces connect. (2 hours)
5.  Looked at the book structure and created an outline. My book will be a 'how-to' book, so it was easy to visualise the type of problems I'm solving. The book will be structured to help guide you through writing and publishing a nonfiction book. It won't be a memoir, but I'll reference specific challenges I've overcome. I use plain A4 paper to write my draft chapter names down, and then I use a writing software called Scrivener to lay out my book. It took me a few hours because I know this is how writing becomes easier. I'd record bullet points under each chapter as I work through the outline. (3 hours)

Challenges Faced

I'd consider this the calm before the storm. I didn't want to dive too quick into writing as I wanted to establish my book idea and relevant topics and research any materials for my book. The following five weeks will be challenging, but I'm ready! This week's key was to get myself excited to write, find the right mindset and put accountability actions in place. 

Total time I spent on my book

Mindset work: 20 minutes

Planning: 1 hour

Outline: 3 hours 

Total time: 4 hours and 15 minutes

Action step for you

Week 1 was all about preparation. I'm now ready and motivated to begin writing my draft, and it's time to get stuck into it. If you're following my journey and want to write a book with me, start by doing the following:

Send a text message to ten people in your network about your book idea and get their input. 

Something like "Hey! I'm about to write a book on *insert idea*. It's about my expertise in the *insert industry*, and I wanted your thoughts. Would it be something you'd read? If so, let me know in what way I've helped you so I can start collecting ideas.

The text message will do two things:

1. You're deciding to make a commitment and putting it out there 

2. You're getting feedback from those you might have made an impact on. The feedback you receive will develop ideas and confidence in creating your outline. 

To find out how I've approached each week, click the link below

WEEK 1-14: BOOK WRITING JOURNEY