Posts Tagged ‘tips on book writing
3 Ways To Get That Book Out of Your Head and Into Readers’ Lives
Dr Liz, The Book Doula
One of the most compelling reasons for writing a book is because you have something valuable to share that no one can benefit from if it stays hidden in your head.
If writing a book has been on your “to do” list for way too long, you don’t need any more platitudes, strategies or “how tos”…you need to take action.
Here are three things you can do today to make “author” your new reality much sooner than if you continue doing nothing:
1. DREAM. Yep, in my book (pardon the pun) this is an “action.” Forget the advice about writing about what you know. Ignore the “experts” craze that enforces you to write books about what you’ve already done or are doing right now. Write instead about what you’re most excited to learn. Commit to writing the book for where you want to take your life, not about where you are now. Check out the video on my home page and an upcoming guest blog post on BookBuzzr for more on this.2.
2. INVESTIGATE. Pick out six books from your personal library, a real library, or your local bookstore. This won’t work on Amazon!! You need to get a real sense of the look and feel of these books:-
a) Compare the spaces between lines of type (known as leading) as well as the amount of white space generally on each page. What looks good to you; what’s crammed?
b) Analyze those titles that really grab you. What do they have in common? (Stay tuned on my website for an upcoming tutorial on the three elements of “killer” book titles).
c) Notice the cover art – not just the respective sizes of title, subtitle and author’s name, but the colors and fonts used.
d) Check the list of contents. How has the author organized their material? How easy have they made it for you to find the “gems?”
Now buy a notebook and turn that into a template for your next book. Create a cover using magazine clippings…experiment! The more real you can make your book in its physical sense the more motivated you will be to see it published.
3. ACT “AS IF”. One of the biggest impediments many writers have is not feeling like a writer. Most of the time writer’s block has little to do with not knowing or feeling excited about your material, and everything to do with second-guessing yourself: Is what you’re going to write good enough? What if no one likes your book? What if… and on and on.
Get out of your head and into someone else’s life. Which writer do you most admire – preferably someone prolific (and sane!)? Read their biography. Discover their habits and make a commitment to try a few of them on for size (with the exception of excessive drinking and pot smoking in some cases J). The more you determine to feel like a writer – an author – the better frame of mind you will be in when you come to sit down and write.
So – what are you going to do today, so I can read your book in one of my tomorrows?
Bio:
Dr Liz Alexander, aka The Book Doula is the author nine commercially published books that have sold close to 500,000 copies worldwide, one POD, and two ebooks. Her latest title is Birth Your Book: Find, Nurture, and Sustain the Motivation to Write, available as a Kindle download, via her website, and on Smashwords.com. She works with aspiring nonfiction authors who are looking to write a book to boost their business or career, helping them craft works that are compelling and contagious.
She is also available for workshops, group events, and speaking engagements.
