Why a quality date with your book may be just what you need!
Lessons from my book focus week.
Getting inspired, under the trees as always…
Hello everyone,
It’s been a few weeks since I wrote about getting back on the book bandwagon whilst the kids and husband were skiing, so I thought I’d check in and let you know how it’s going.
So far, so good-ish!
During that week of less responsibilities apart from walking the dog, I got A LOT done, not quite as many hours spent typing away as I imagined but that’s life, and also my habit of setting too high expectations!
I attended the Heart Leap writing hours by Suzy Walker which really helped as it always does, not just to get the writing down, but to be amongst creative people with the same ambitions and struggles, it’s incredible witnessing people getting to the end of the process and now starting to launch books, such inspiration!
Quite often I continued writing for at least another hour after those sessions, and then I would track my progress, via Trello – a great free digital planning tool. In there I have each chapter structure, current word count and instructions what to do next, for example find a quote or do some research – this is vital for me as my memory is so rubbish, I need it to be simple and obvious as to what the next job is on the list.
New ideas unleashed
Getting back into the book, and especially since the rebranding of my business, I’ve also added in new thoughts as to how I want the book to be used, how it could flow, and the visual elements to signpost sections clearly. I want people to enjoy plotting their way through this book, which is a little bit quirky and different.
Because I’m taking people on a creative journey whilst reading it, all linked to nature, I want to add in the following things to make it a fun experience that is easy to navigate, for example:
There will be a hand-drawn map at the beginning of the book, which shows the path through the chapters
Any bullet points in the book will be the little seedlings, like I do on Instagram (linked to my brand – From Seed To Sky) – if only they had this option in Substack!
Reflection points at the end of each chapter will become Puddle Pauses, like when you are on a walk and you stop to see the mirrored image in a puddle!
All these extra little nuggets beyond the actual writing helps to keep me motivated and using other creative elements of my brain, just as I suggest in the book! I know this works to give me a break from the writing when I need to, but feel like I’m still making progress on the overall project.
And it’s funny how were your attention goes energy flows isn’t it? Just throwing myself back into the writing world means that inspiration has shown up in my regular practices such as listening to podcasts, and hearing relevant quotes that I can use in a chapter. For example listening to Debroah Ogden’s – More Impact podcast the other week, she used the quote ‘Aim for the moon and you might just reach the stars’ within it, which is actually taken from the quote by Norman Vincent Peale - “Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you’ll land among the stars.” Meaning you’ve got to aim high to get anywhere close to your dreams.
And hey presto I knew that would be the perfect quote to add into Chapter 10, titled – ‘Stargazing into the future - Your opportunity to dream big.’
Go on a date with your book!
And what about the mental effect? I feel much more positive about the whole project now. Rather than feeling that sense of shame that I wasn’t getting to the book because of the eternal busyness of my business was demoralising, and especially when people would ask me how it was going and I had to admit defeat at that point that I wasn’t currently writing it.
Now I can say with renewed pride that ‘Yes I am still writing it’ and more importantly enjoying writing it, which I knew I would once I’d immersed myself back into it enough.
It just needed that quality time together! Like a really good date, the one where you get to know each other again, find out each other’s new hopes and dreams, truly connect and understand each other!
That’s what the book focus week felt like, and I’m now on a mission to keep that relationship going!
Time for a plan to keep up the energy
This is where my book coach – Kelly Weekes came in, who I had sensibly booked in for a session on the Friday of the focus week, to keep me accountable! We had a great session talking though what had worked well this week, and how I could keep the momentum going to get the first draft finished by end of July (a deadline I’ve chosen as I know I work well with a deadline!).
Talking with her made me realise that I’m better having a chunk of time during my week to work on it, and so I chose Mondays as my new book focus day, where I would do very little business work (only the absolutely necessary), and to supplement that, keep attending Heart Leap where I can.
This feels manageable right now, fingers crossed, but I think I will find it easier to set boundaries around that day, rather than having to fit in writing every single day.
But I am also treating this as an experiment, I know there will be weeks when this may not be feasible, but the plan is to not let that throw me off completely, and just keep consistently putting words on the page, and showing up on Mondays.
I am a person who does like structure and a plan, I do actually love planning, when I have the space and time to do so, so having this new action plan for my book, and renewed commitment to it, feels really exciting! Let’s hope it continues!
However I do still want to have time for writing on Substack, and I think it’s good to switch things up with different styles of writing which also helps to build my confidence knowing I can get something written fairly quickly and out there, whilst also keeping me connected to the lovely writing community on here.
Writing on Substack gives me a quicker dopamine hit for my ADHD brain which in turn encourages me with the book – this is why I’m so glad I got diagnosed, albeit very late at 50, because now I know the way my brain works, I’m not fighting with it, I know what will give me a better chance of success.
So I will keep you posted on how it’s going over the coming months, I’ve just explained this plan at the end of our Heart Leap writing hour too to the rest of the members there, which also helps to keep me accountable!
You know by now I’m a fan of accountability. It works; recent research summarised in multiple accountability studies shows:
People are 65% more likely to reach a goal when they commit to another person.
With regular scheduled check-ins, success rates rise to 95%!
The 95% success rate applies when someone not only sets a goal but also commits to another person and schedules ongoing accountability sessions.
I know this to be true because almost 7 years ago, I co-founded our own support and accountability group with my friend Clair, for people working on their own, and we’ve seen first-hand the huge progress people have made.
If you’d like some accountability yourself, with a like-minded community, you could always join our WOW Team – support and accountability for those who have a big dream, small business or just want to move forwards on a project, we can help you do just that.
Whether you are near or far - we have both in-person and online membership options, any questions just get in touch and I’ll talk you through it, plus your first session is always free!
And now back to my book, have a super rest of the week, and happy writing!
With love and light, Juliet x