3 Ingredients for Maximum Book Writing Productivity

So many self-development professionals, such as Psychologists, therapists, healers and life coaches have within them a yearning to wire their own self-help book. But although they have good ideas, knowledge and experience which prove that their solutions are effective, they never manage to sit down and finally finish this book…

Do you find yourself in a situation I have just described? If you are one of those Inspired Authors who are “not inspired” to sit down and finally finish that book, most likely you excuse your minimal writing productivity with several accurate reasons, such as “not enough time”, etc. With just a small shift in your thinking and understanding though, you will become unstoppable.

So, let me tell you why you really haven't finished and published your own book yet: Because you are not focused enough. That’s it. Your only reason for not moving on and finishing is luck of focus. In that way you do not work constantly and your “now and then” activities lead you to nowhere. In order to gain total focus and consistency you only need 3 simple things to have in place:

1. You need Clarity,
2. You need Time,
3. You need to allow yourself imperfection.

Let’s get close to each of the 3 ingredients in order to be totally focused and consistent, one by one.

1. You need Clarity:

Obviously, without clarity, how will you know what to write about? Don’t be so sure you are totally clear, because if you tend to procrastinate, most likely you luck clarity. First of all, you need to know and have decided:

What will you write about? In order to get totally clear on this, answer the following questions:

1. Who are your ideal clients – readers?
2. What is their number one (and only their number one) problem for which they reach out for help? (If there are more problems keep them aside for other books to be written by you)
3. What is the solution you offer to their problem?
4. How have you come to this conclusion-s and what is your personal experience on this subject?
5. What are the topics you need to write about in order to explain and solve the specific problem?

Why do you want to write this book? You need to know that because this is really important for your motivation.

1. What are your own personal feelings about this problem?
2. How will you feel knowing that you have helped (after publishing and promoting your book) thousands of people from all around the world?
3. What benefits will you gain after you have finished and published your book online? (Speaking gigs, Authority recognition, 1:1 or online –program clients, more money, etc.)

Why people should consider you as an expert on the specific subject? By replying this big question, you will raise your self-esteem. Self-esteem is one of the greatest Action Boosters you can have in your mental toolbox.

1. What is your personal experience on this subject, did you face the same problem yourself? How did you solve it? (Or a close family member, a friend, etc.)
2. Do you have a couple of success stories – testimonials – from your clients?
3. Do you have Degrees, Certifications, Seminar participations, Book readings and References, as well as professional experience that prove you are an expert on this subject?

Where will you find your future readers – clients? This is very important to know before you even start writing, because when you are clear on this question, you totally understand how important it is to sit down and write, and at the same time you realize that the more you let time pass, the more clients and money you tend to “leave on the table”- as they say.

1. Make an online research: Social Media, Amazon.com, and Google for support groups and blogs.
2. Offline research: Local support groups, business associations, Bookstores, Local Clubs, Yellow pages.
3. Your own list of contacts: Emailing list, Former and present clients, Friends, relatives, colleagues and people you knew once and haven’t spoken for a long time.

2. You need time:

-Oh, I don’t have enough time – You might quarrel with me

-Oh, Really? – I will reply – Of course you have a lot of extra time to invest in writing your book. It depends how much you value the benefits that will come with its global promotion. But here are some tips you can follow to free your time easier:

• Decide that you are finishing your book within the next month – the most. You either do it or not; there are no in-betweens and without decision and momentum nothing can be achieved.
• Decide – and promise to yourself that you will be waking up 2 hours earlier for the next two weeks. Do this, even if you have to wake up earlier than 5:00 am. It will be only for two weeks. So it can be done. In this way, you will start your day a lot earlier, you will start your tasks when you are mostly productive (most people are more productive in the morning, even those who think they are night owls. Physiologically, humans are created to function properly in the morning. Not in the night)
• Arrange on your calendar three uninterrupted hours, three times within the next two weeks. If you schedule them you can find them. Do not arrange anything on top of them. Respect this “uninterrupted time” as if you are investing it with your greatest client. No client or “emergency” can interrupt those scheduled hours. Consider them as secret for your cause and success.

3. Allow yourself Imperfection:

This last advice is the most important of all. You will never manage to write something perfect. Just accept that and move on. In addition to this, you need to let yourself express, you need to let your subconscious uncover all your knowledge and you also need to speed-write so that your book will manage to come to an end. A book not finished and not published is useless, no matter how much time you have spent on writing it.

When we were in school, teachers thought they taught us how to write. Actually, they showed us how not to dare write, how to close down our inspiration and how to keep distant from our own self-expression. They used to say: “every phrase heeds to have a verb, a noun etc… - so, whenever we get to write a simple phrase we review it again and again to make sure that “Miss Kathy” will not give us a bad grade. They also told us that “a paragraph starts with a phrase that explains what will be discussed (in the same paragraph)” – true, and sometimes helpful, but if it comes to your mind to start differently, and while writing you change direction, it is just fine. Don’t stop writing. Don’t reread and review what you have written. Just sit down and express yourself as if you had someone in front of you, a kid no older than 8 years old and you want them to understand what you have in your mind. Academic jargon wouldn’t work. Posh style phrases wouldn’t work either. Be honest, be simple, and be kind with yourself.

Now, I don’t say all these to make you think that ANYTHING is fine in writing. Your book has to be grammatically and syntactically proper and correct, it has to be understandable and easy to read, and of course it has in a way to be perfect. Your perfection though won’t be achieved on your first draft. When you decide to write, just do that: write. Then, review it, correct it, and after that, you will also give it to a professional proofreader or editor to correct everything that should be corrected. And this is how perfection can be achieved: with one step at a time...

So, remember, in order to write an amazing – probably best seller – book within less than a month, all you need is: Clarity, in-distracted time (arranged in your calendar in order to achieve it) and allowance of imperfection.