www.TheCreativePenn.com Bali Retreat October 2010

1

Writing Your Book h

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Power smoothie

check in

How are you

feeling?

Any „aha‟ moments

What you want to

learn in this session

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7608967/

“Here’s the thing: The book that will most

change your life is the book you write”

Seth Godin

www.TheCreativePenn.com Bali Retreat October 2010

2

“What are you going to write about? Anything you

damn well want”

Stephen King

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www.TheCreativePenn.com Bali Retreat October 2010

3

http://www.flickr.com/photos/rocknroll_guitar/3734269090/

What has stopped you so far?

What do you need to break through in order to

write/finish your book?

www.TheCreativePenn.com Bali Retreat October 2010

4

“Write at the edges of the

day”

Toni Morrison, author of Nobel Prize winning novel

‘Beloved’

http://www.flickr.com/photos/grantneufeld/11792994/

What do you need to

give up in order to

make the time to

write your book?

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Working 4 days per week

www.TheCreativePenn.com Bali Retreat October 2010

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http://www.chrisbrogan.com/inch-by-inch/

“ Overnight success doesn‟t sleep in...or

watch a lot of TV... Or have a whole lot

of hobbies..Overnight success has hard

work”

http://www.flickr.com/photos/joriel/2360038974/

“Brick walls are there for a reason. They give us a

chance to show how badly we want something”

Randy Pausch, The Last Lecture

http://www.flickr.com/photos/whisperwolf/3444961732/

Passion and excitement

Scared

Embarrassed

Self doubt

Bored and ‘over it’

Frustrated

Exhausted

www.TheCreativePenn.com Bali Retreat October 2010

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“Life is a daring

adventure...or nothing” Helen Keller

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Legacy

Mortality

www.TheCreativePenn.com Bali Retreat October 2010

7

What do people say when you say you are writing a book?

Volume of Comments

Time

CriticismPraise

“Writing is a bit like going on a

diet; you should either tell

everyone or no one”

Maeve Binchy

http://www.flickr.com/photos/pichler/412548808/

I am creative.

I am an author.

I am a wealthy, famous, published author.

www.TheCreativePenn.com Bali Retreat October 2010

8

How do you actually write a book?

How/when do you write at

the moment?

“Get black on white” Guy de Maupassant , 19th century French

writer

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www.TheCreativePenn.com Bali Retreat October 2010

9

Write Fast

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http://writeordie.drwicked.com/

“Don’t wait for the muse. Your job is to make sure the muse knows where you’re going to be every day...If he does

know, he’ll start showing up, chomping his cigar and making his magic”

Stephen King

www.TheCreativePenn.com Bali Retreat October 2010

10

Write without stopping or editing until you have finished first draft.

Put it away and then edit.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/lo9883/158623108/

Structure your book into chapters, andsub-headings and then fill in the blanks

http://www.flickr.com/photos/tambako/2625985714/

Write lots of notes on your material and then stitch it together

http://www.flickr.com/photos/hippie/2406411610/

www.TheCreativePenn.com Bali Retreat October 2010

11

Draw process flows or mind maps of the book and then put them into words

http://www.flickr.com/photos/deathtogutenberg/321549648/

Speak into a recorder for each chapter, get it

transcribed (or use speech to text software - Dragons)

and then rework

http://www.flickr.com/photos/readerwalker/146648823/

http://www.elance.com/

http://nuance.com/dragon/index.htm

www.TheCreativePenn.com Bali Retreat October 2010

12

Create questionnaires, conduct interviews.

Write up into book format with your own ideas.

Write in scenes

“You‟ve written a scene when

something important changes”Holly Lisle

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2113/1704875109_9b414964f5_m.jpg

www.TheCreativePenn.com Bali Retreat October 2010

13

Set deadlines

for word

count or

chapters

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“The only way I can get anything written at all is to

write really, really shitty first drafts”

Anne Lamott, ‘Bird by Bird’

http://www.flickr.com/photos/wvs/474506143/

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/87/233842741_c0c3333896_m.jpg

You have to

make the

marble block

Before you

make a

masterpiece

www.TheCreativePenn.com Bali Retreat October 2010

14

Set deadlines

for word

count or

chapters

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2636/3996257609_199123f9a9_m.jpg

http://www.nanowrimo.org/

http://www.thecreativepenn.com/2

009/12/09/nanowrimo-final-

roundup/

Learning

the craft

of writing

www.TheCreativePenn.com Bali Retreat October 2010

15

Stephen King “On Writing”

Anne Lamott “Bird by

Bird”

Stephen

Pressfield

“War of Art” Natalie Goldberg “Writing

down the Bones”

“How not to write a novel” Mittelmark

& Newman

“Story” Robert McKee

Holly Lisle Shop

Online Courses or Writing

Centre Groups

Holly Lisle Shop

How do you

like to

learn?

www.TheCreativePenn.com Bali Retreat October 2010

16

http://www.flickr.com/photos/stevendepolo/3015116374/

• 23 years : aged 10 -33 Dreamed of writing a book

• July 2007: Decided this time I would manage it

• Xmas 2007 First draft

• Jan – March 2008: Rewrites and editing

• April 2008: Published on Amazon

Nov 2008 – Nov 2009:

Wrote “From Idea to

Book” and “From Book

to Market”

Nov 2009 – Nov 2010:

Wrote “Pentecost” – currently

with editor. 7 book series

planned.

What can you change

in your writing

schedule?

www.TheCreativePenn.com Bali Retreat October 2010

17

“Books aren’t written – they’re rewritten”

Michael Crichton, author of ‘Jurassic Park’

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Write

Read and Edit

Editor

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Proof-Reader

Thomas Hardy

Marked up copy of:

‘Tess of the D’Urbevilles’

Great English literature

www.TheCreativePenn.com Bali Retreat October 2010

18

First ideas written during conferenceAugust 2007

Notes from books on subject, Oct 2007

Notes from one of my proof readers

Professionally edited draft

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Focus on

the big

stuff first.

Typos

last.

www.TheCreativePenn.com Bali Retreat October 2010

19

Reorganising the book made all the difference

Reorganising scenes

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Write in

layers

www.TheCreativePenn.com Bali Retreat October 2010

20

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4055/4560874197_92b04675c8_m.jpg

Be specific.

Describe in

detail.

Read your book out loud end to end http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BG_H_aEc8pk

http://www.Elance.com

http://awmonline.com.au/

http://wefollow.com/twitter/editor

www.TheCreativePenn.com Bali Retreat October 2010

21

Editorial Review:

Evaluation noting good things and

places for improvement in plot,

character etc. What will make it more

„publishable‟

Copyediting: Developmental edit, down

to line editing.

http://www.noveldoctor.com/

Have a working title, but you can change it. Think about it, but don’t obsess.

Reuse is ok, there is no copyright on book titles (but check domain name)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/em0rix/2510861496/

Buy the domain name early –http://www.GoDaddy.com

Use keywords and a sub-title especially for non-fiction

https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal

www.TheCreativePenn.com Bali Retreat October 2010

22

Test title using Google Adwords or Facebook advertising – Timothy Ferriss did this for “The 4 Hour Work Week”

Get cover done early for promotional purposes

Will the book

sell?

Is there a

market?

Do you have a

platform?

http://www.CreativeCommons.org

© Copyright

vs. Plagiarism

www.TheCreativePenn.com Bali Retreat October 2010

23

http://the99percent.com/videos/5822/seth-godin-quieting-the-lizard-brain

Seth Godin

“shipping”

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Begin at the beginning and go on ‘til you come

to the end and then stop”Lewis Carroll, author of ‘Alice in Wonderland’

www.TheCreativePenn.com Bali Retreat October 2010

24

“Talent is cheaper than table salt. What separates the

talented individual from the successful one is a lot of hard

work”

Stephen King, ‘On Writing’

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Persistence

Discipline

Write down your target now

“Thoughts become things. If you see it in

your mind, you will hold it in your hand”

Rhonda Byrne, from The Secret

www.TheCreativePenn.com Bali Retreat October 2010

25

http://www.flickr.com/photos/alphaducentaure/2607814349/

Cocktail checkout

What did you

learn from the

session?

What are you

going to do with

the information?