So You Want to Write a Book: Part 2

In December, I gave you all an insider look at the process I was undergoing in writing my first book with “So You Want to Write a Book.” Now that my book is officially finished (HUGE sigh of relief), I’m following up with Part 2!

• Avoid rewriting as much as possible. I’ve spoken to numerous writers and authors in the time I’ve been writing my book, and all of them say the same thing. If you get into the annoying minutia of writing, rewriting, writing, rewriting, writing, rewriting, your manuscript is going to take much longer to complete than if you trust your instincts and allow yourself to say “done” on a chapter or a section. Ultimately, if you followed my advice in Part 1, you’ll know to hire a great editor. It’s their job to find those needed rewrite sections. Not yours!
• Let people read it! It completely depends on your personality whether or not you want people to read the book and give you specific feedback, or whether or not you just want thumbs up/thumbs down reactions. I truly wanted the ladder and not the former. I let a few key people in my life read the book unedited so they could tell me if I was totally nuts or right on in my writing. Do this throughout your process, not just at the end. It might seem scary to give it up to someone else to read, but it can help immensely in your process.
• Don’t back down on what you want. Whether you’re traditionally publishing or self-publishing, your publishing company, your editor, your agent, and anyone else on your book team, will try to convince you of thing A or thing B. Perhaps they love one specific book cover, and you hate it. Maybe they feel strongly about a gloss cover and you love matte. No matter how small the decision might be, don’t back down on what you want. You are the person who has to live with your name on this book forever, not them.
• You will forget something. One of the hardest parts of the book to write, for me, was the acknowledgements. I was so afraid I would forget someone instrumental in the process. In the more meaty part of the book, too, I realized at the end that I had completely neglected a tactic I definitely wanted to talk about in the book. I solved that problem by conducting a last-minute interview, and adding it in. The fact of the matter is, you can’t cover everything on your topic in one book. You just can’t. There are 150 books in the world about travel to Paris. All of them have similar information, but some have information the others don’t. You can’t cover it all comprehensively in one book. Let it go! It’s OK if you forget something.

If you’re interested in writing a book and have additional questions, feel free to check out Part 1 of this series or contact me directly!