(Workbook ONLY) - The "real" book cover is not published as of today...subscribe for more updates.
July 2023 Started out with a bang as I scrambled to push my edited book copy over to the proofreader I hired, not knowing exactly why I hired her but following the instructions given to me by my writing coach. Do any $$ching ching$$ of all this money I'm spending beginning to add up for you? As my bank account falls as the developmental stages of starting a new business in the new year come to their moment of truth. I said that if I didn't see any progress by June, I would have to shut the entrepreneurship down and return to getting a "real job." A phone call with a friend in April reminded me of the goals I set from the very first business plan. I was supposed to write this book, and I am supposed to be doing this consulting thing. It is written in the stars, and my universal guiding spirit, whom some choose to call God, has outlined a path that isn't always shiny and bright for me. Still, if I keep taking one step in front of the next, some days, I see more lights on the path than others, but I know there is a path for me to follow.
Early May 2023, I found the Self Publishing School online. They had everything I wanted in a publisher. I would write the book, they would help me with the rest, and they would teach me along the way so I could do it myself again in the future. This is my kind of school. Anyone who knows me or follows my mentorship style recognizes my affiliation with mentorship learning.
I will follow until it's time for me to lead, and then I will lead so others can follow and take the lead from me. In this spirit, I paid the fees and started the journey to the first draft. I was sure the first draft was all I would need to get published. My sheer genius and experience alone would allow me to form those words on paper, get them over to an editor, and have my book POOF!!!! I followed the steps for mind-mapping the work of art, taking all this experience and visualizing where it will go in my masterpiece. I even filmed the mind-mapping process (it is very cool) because I wanted to savor these moments of triumph. I could finally prove to all those around me how intelligent I am. Outline written, I began to write.
A goal of 2,000 words per session. Sometimes I would write 2,000; sometimes, I would write 10,000. The gibberish of my brain spilled all over the paper like sweat during one of my morning HIIT workouts. About two weeks later, I had close to 30,000 words drafted, and "it was perfect." Finally, I could stop, print, breathe, and take in all the glory of this beautiful sales and business development education ensemble. I kept going to my online school, watched all the tutorials, and arrived at the section where they showed me the most common mistakes in draft writing. What to keep an eye out for in common grammatical errors etc. As I read this list published by an editor, my stomach dropped. What do you mean I'm no longer supposed to put two spaces between sentences? But I took a class in high school on typing, and I know what I am doing! Fear arose from my belly as I recognized I was gonna need help, and this wasn't going to go as smoothly as my Ego wanted to believe. The next day or so, I joined a writing group online. I learned about software available to help poor souls like me with no training or writing experience. I downloaded Scrivener and Pro Writing Aid, crawled back into my burnt skin, and divulged to read the draft I'd gathered and suck it up. Whatever this editor said, I could muster something out of the two weeks of writing. So, I began to read with a deflated ego and a newly formed mindset on structure. And I began to slowly vomit as I read this poorly structured, mismatched tone, non-connecting group of paragraphs on paper. I started to cry and prayed for faith and hope and help. Help arrived in the form of another coach in the program. Allison Davis.
Sweet Allison, who felt sorry for my tears, booked a session to discuss how this garbage patch of words I'd constructed was supposed to turn into a book. She looked at my outline and reviewed my segments and subjects. She convinced me I didn't need to start over, just rework the mind map and redirect the puzzle pieces into a more concise pattern. Then, she told me to go deeper, add more segments, and break my knowledge down further into the smallest particles and pieces they could become. Once I've shrunken the paragraphs to mere sentences in some cases, I would know what to do and where to put them. I followed Allison's lead, and sure enough, some joy began to spark back in my belly where the vomit pits seemed more prevalent. I set forth on a path to rework the mind map and re-write this glorious piece of shit into a second draft or bust! No, I am not giving up; I'm not throwing away my garbage because if I keep going, the garbage will eventually spin into gold...just be patient.
A meeting with my writing coach Scott Allan revealed more tips and tricks. I found Grammarly to be a better fit for my editing needs, and Scott helped me unwind additional questions along this writing journey.
The second draft finished, and I felt proud trudging through the muck and the fear on the other side, which lay relief and hope. I printed and sat down with my pen to read through and see how we had done. This was now not just my work alone but a team effort! I finished reading my second draft and waited for the vomit, but it didn't. Instead, I felt a glimmer of hope. It wasn't bright, but it was there...this could work, and I can finish it. I am going to write this book. It wasn't so bad; there were things out of place. Yes, I needed to move this section over there, and yes, I needed to delete these entire stories altogether. Yes, selfishness and blogging were coming out in places where I needed the focus to remain on the story and the lesson.
"Story. Teach. Go back to the story. Wrap up. Transition."
"Stick to what works; you can do this". "I am doing this".
****Part 2 is coming soon. Subscribe for more updates... ya'll know I will not spam your inboxes...so subscribe already, OK? I send out emails about 2X monthly. It might be a little closer to 4X month in August. I do not intend to become a nuisance and thank you for reading my stuff.
Don't Forget I am still requesting those willing to earn a $$ discount on the book to help me write reviews on Amazon and Good Reads. More information is available here!
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