Do you have an unfinished book sitting on your hard drive? In this blog post I’m going to share with you six creative ideas you can implement to finish writing a book.
It’s time to get it DONE!
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6 Creative Ideas To Get Your Book Done
You can choose from these six different ideas on ways to finally get your book done.
Many authors and business owners get stuck in the middle of a project and never get it done.
Idea #1 to Finish Writing a Book: Mix It Up
Idea number one to get your book or your project done is just to mix it up. Sometimes we just need to have some variety. We need to mix it up, we need to do something different.
- Dictate your book.
- Record your book and have it transcribed at Rev.com
- Write your book with pen and paper.
If you’re always writing or typing on your computer, consider dictating. Did you know you can actually dictate into Google Documents now? I have a tutorial on my YouTube channel on how to do this. Awesome!
You don’t have to buy Dragon Naturally Speaking, you can simply dictate for free through Google Docs.
If you always type, consider dictating or speaking your book.
You can record an audio into an app on your phone or record it on your computer using the free software Audacity. Then, have it transcribed at Rev.com.
Let’s just get the first draft done!
Or maybe you need to actually write with paper and pen.
So if you’re stuck, if you need to move forward, sometimes you just need to mix it up.
To get more tools and resources to help you finish your book, join my free 7-day writing challenge at www.writingweek.com.
Idea #2 to Finish Writing a Book: Record a Speech or Presentation
If you are a speaker and are used to speaking at events or presentations consider packaging your book into speeches that you can deliver and then have those speeches transcribed.
I have a one-on-one client that speaks all the time at Toastmasters. She was getting stuck. She had outlined her book, but had not written anything.
I said, “you know how to do speeches, why don’t you take each chapter and create it into a short speech you can give it at Toastmasters. Record it on your iPhone while you’re giving the speech, then send it to Rev.com and have it transcribed.”
Use what works best for you.
You could maybe also arrange a presentation with a few people in your home or other location and record the audio from the presentation. When you’re live you tend to be your best.
Idea #3 to Finish Writing a Book: Have Someone Interview You on Your Topic
Another idea is to meet with a friend and have them interview you on your topic. You could meet in person or online. I use call recorder on Mac to record Skype calls and I’ve also recorded it via Camtasia. You can also use free conference call tools like www.freeconferencecall.com.
Do whatever you have to do to get your knowledge out of your head onto paper, whatever project you’re working on.
Idea #4 to Finish Writing a Book: Accountability Partner
This is not really a new idea, but I want to give you a couple twists on this accountability partner idea.
The first option is to meet with your accountability partner online, maybe you form a private Facebook group that’s just the two of you.
You could set up a time to meet and say, “OK we’re going to have a writing session, 3 PM Eastern on this day, 3-5 PM.” You work it out in your schedules, whatever works for the two of you.
You meet in this Facebook group and you use the Pomodoro Technique where you write for 25 minutes and then you take a five minute break and check in with each other. “How did you do? How many words did you get done? What did you get done on that project?” Then you write another 25 minutes and check in with each other again for another 5 minute break.
We do this every month in Author Audience Academy in the Writer’s Block Party. We meet for two hours and use the Pomodoro Technique. My members get so much done.
This works! It really, really works.
You could also meet in person to do your own Writer’s Block Party. You meet like at the library, or a coffee shop, and use the Pomodoro Technique.
There’s power in setting a timer. 9 out of 10 authors will tell me using the Pomodoro Technique helps them to be more productive and to get more done.
Another idea I heard another author say she uses is that she has a person that keeps her accountable through texting. They commit to writing every morning and then they check in with each other later in the day through a simple text. That’s another idea, you don’t have to meet together at the same time, but you know you’re committed.
It doesn’t have to be forever and ever, it just has to be until you get this first draft done.
I’m so excited for you!
Once you get that first draft done, you then have so many other options. Until you get that first draft done – nada, zilch. You can’t reach people with your message until that first draft is done.
Idea #5 to Finish Writing a Book: Deliver Your Book Content in a Facebook Group
The fifth idea is to actually deliver your book in incrementally in a Facebook group.
Have you heard of WattPad? You actually can publish your book small sections at a time, it’s more for fiction authors.
I used this idea for my book, “21 Days of Faith Challenge.”
What I did was I created a private Facebook group and I invited people to join me. It’s a 21 day challenge so each day was not that long, and I could commit to writing that chunk every day.
Then, what I did is I posted a picture. You can find free pictures at pixabay.com, freeimages.com. I posted a picture and in the description of the picture, I posted the text for that day of the challenge.
So basically it was accountability because they were expecting something from me everyday and it was a small group at first. I delivered my book content to them one day at a time.
At the same time I was typing my book content into a Word document template. At the end of the 21 days I deleted all the pictures from the Facebook group so my book content was no longer in the group, but I kept the group open.
What I decided to do was to publish the book and now when you buy that book you get access to that very same Facebook group.
You can go through the challenge and post in the group and interact. It’s a way to have built in accountability, people are expecting you to deliver the next days content.
Idea #6 to Finish Writing a Book: Hire a Coach
The final idea is to hire a coach.
When you hire a coach you have skin in the game because you’re making an investment and the coach can help to keep you accountable.
I went at it alone in the beginning. I did it the hard way, I spent a lot of time on Google and YouTube figuring everything out myself. Now, when I need to learn something, I hire someone. Obviously, make sure I have the money to do it. So you may have to wait until you have the income to be able to do it, but you can hire a coach.
I’d love to serve you as your coach within AuthorAudienceAcademy.com, you can join me at any time and we have accountability in the program. Every Monday I have a Motivation Monday post and you can post your goals and take action plan for this week.
With live video now in groups I’ve been getting onto live video once a week for a live Q&A, live accountability.
I love strategy, I love helping you think through these things and what’s going to work best for you.
Let me recap:
Mix it up
-Try dictating, Google Docs offers that for free now
-Dictating, recording the audio and having it transcribed on Rev.com
-Writing it longhand
-Mix it up, do something different, change up your routine, go somewhere different, change your environment
- Deliver it as a speech and have it transcribed
-Be in front of a live audience
-Join a Toastmasters group or ask a few people to get together in your home and deliver your content as a speech
-Record it and have it transcribed
- Meet a friend and have them interview you
-Just something more laid back, but just to get it out of your head onto paper
-Have it transcribed
- Accountability Partners
-Meet online, in a Facebook group
-Meet in person, like the idea I gave you for the Writer’s Block Party
-Separate but check in with each other
- You can deliver your content incrementally in a Facebook group
– Then use the Facebook group as a way to engage with your customers later.
- You can hire a coach.
-This is built in accountability, you have skin in the game because you’re investing into this project, into this book, and you’re saying, “I’m all in.”
Conclusion
It’s not a matter of having enough time, or having enough money.
We prioritize the things that are important to us. If this is important to you, if this is something you are called to do, you can find a way. You can find the time, you can find the money.
You can do this. I believe in you.
Thanks again, my name is Shelley Hitz. If you’d like to join me on my next live webinar come over to ShelleyHitz.com/formulas. I’d love to work with you and coach with you live to help you choose your book topic, outline your book, and choose how you will write your book.
This is fun stuff!
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