I’ve been sitting on a partly-finished book for about a year now. The book is based on my signature keynote, “How to Make Your Speech Sound Like Music to Their Ears“. Although I’ve had moments of inspiration and intense focus, the all-important task of writing the book has often given way to the urgent (and sometimes trivial) day-to-day tasks.
In an effort to create some inertia, I read Paul Lima’s recently-published book, “How To Write A Non-Fiction Book In 60 Days“. Paul has written a number of books, so I know he knows what he’s talking about. As with his other books, he breaks down the process into step-by-step procedures that are manageable and easily tracked.
Since I’m already part way through writing my own book (and have written one in the past), the first few chapters were a review for me, but they’ll be worthwhile to anyone who’s going to write a non-fiction book for the first time. I’m also a little resistant to doing some of the exercises he’s suggested, but I can see the value in them if you have the patience to work through them (patience is not one of my strong suits).
What I found most valuable about this book was the outlining process. One of the reasons I’ve gotten stuck is because my outline needs a little more work and focus. I’m pretty sure that following the process Paul has laid out in the book will give me that little extra “something” I’ve been needing to get inertia working in my favour.
Even though I’ve already started, I’m still going to give myself 60 Days from today to complete the first draft of my book. If you’re thinking about writing a non-fiction book, or if you’re stuck and need to get back on track, I recommend picking up a copy of Paul Lima’s book.
And please feel free to check up on me to find out how my project is coming along.
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Thanks for the recommendation. I’ve been sitting on three books, each of which has an outline, but only a page or two written. I’m motivated right now to work on the third one, but keep finding lots of ways to avoid it.