Louis L'Amour is attributed as saying, “Start writing, no matter what. The water does not flow until the faucet is turned on.”1 Sounds easy enough, but a lot of times we can’t even find the faucet. Or we find the faucet but fail to turn it on. Either way, we want to write, but no words flow. Is that you? Are you ready to begin writing but you don’t know where to start—you don’t know how to get the words to flow? I’ve got 10 options for you—ten faucets, if you will. I’ll bet one stands out more than the rest. Pick one. Try it. See if it gets those words flowing. 1. Start with a memory Think back to an event that seems small yet feels packed with emotion. You don’t have to fully understand it. Just remember it. Something changed due to that event. The change may have been subtle or seismic, but you emerged from it a different person.  The simple prompt “I remember” can get you started. Use it as a journal entry and see where it takes you, or go ahead and start writing something more substantial. When you remember and recreate these scenes from your past, you’ll learn from them. I experienced this when I wrote a short scene in this style, called One Lone Duck Egg. 2. Start with a photo Photos can whisk us back to another place and time, whether as recently as last week or as long ago as childhood. Pull a photo from your collection of family photos, physical or digital.  Write in response to the scene. Recreate it. Let the memories unfold.  You could be in the photo, or not.  You could write the story behind the moment, or elaborate on a particular person in the scene.  What do you think was happening? Why were you—or weren’t you—there? What does this say to you today? Another approach is to combine words with images to create a photo essay.  Back in 2011, I walked around the farm where I grew up and snapped photos. Each time, a fragment of thought came to mind, a flash of a memory.  When I got home, I pieced it together to come up with Dancing in the Loft. 3. Start with art Art ignites imagination. Whether you invent a story behind the piece of art you choose, or you document your response to it, you’ll end up with an interesting project.  One of my creative writing professors in college gave us a similar assignment to write poetry from art. It’s possible she was trying to introduce us to ekphrastic poetry,2 which, according to the Lantern Review Blog,3 is “written in conversation with a work(s) of visual art.”  But she took a less formal approach, asking us to find some art, study it carefully, and write a poem. I used a small, framed print of an Andrew Wyeth painting as inspiration. I studied the boy sitting in the grass and imagined a possible scenario leading up to the moment Wyeth captured. As I was finishing the poem and typing it up, I realized I needed to include information about Wyeth’s work. I turned the frame around and fortunately I found the date and name of the painting. Wyeth named it “Faraway,”4 and I coincidentally called my poem "Runaway.”5 Spend time with the art and see where it leads. 4. Start with an object I once wrote about an old, worn knob that topped the post at the bottom of our stairs.  I loved the worn knob for being worn. All the stain was rubbed off one side of it from the years before we owned the house. Like the previous owners, we swooshed around that newel post, running our palms around the knob every single time we ran up or down the stairs.  When we decided to replace the railing, I begged our carpenter—who is also a friend of ours—to save the knob. He did. And I wrote about it. Another time I wrote about a precious soapstone vase I played with as a child. The consequences of that day of play lasted a long, long time. My friend and coauthor Charity Singleton Craig uses objects (and places) to launch a “chain of remembrance.” She explains in her newsletter "The Wonder Report"...

Ann Kroeker, Writing Coach

10 Ways to Start the Writing Process When You’re Staring at a Blank Page

I was an English major with a creative writing emphasis. When I looked to my future, I saw myself writing. Over the years I managed to build a writing career, but as an English major, I wasn’t prepared for the business aspects of writing. Invoices, receipts, taxes? That was all foreign to me. Sharing my writing through speaking and social media? That’s not what I imagined when I launched my writing life. I thought I’d be...writing. But I had to understand and embrace the four key roles that lead to a flourishing writing career.  https://youtu.be/A2_iAAQm1Kk This is how I think of them: ✅ Decider ✅ Delegator ✅ Doer ✅ Declarer These four roles in a corporate setting might be something like: ➤ CEO The Decider is like the CEO, the Chief Executive Officer. That’s the top dog, the visionary, the decision-maker. ➤ COO The Delegator could be the COO, the Chief Operations Officer, the person who figures out how to run the business at a practical level. ➤ CWO The Doer could be the CWO, the Chief Writing Officer. This role, the CWO, doesn't exist in the business world, but we're inventing and elevating it for this discussion because it’s the reason our business exists. Like me, you launched this whole thing so you could write. ➤ CMO The Declarer is like the CMO, the Chief Marketing Officer: the person who ensures the message gets out. At any given moment, a flourishing writer may be completing a task that falls under any one of these areas. Some of the tasks and roles don’t seem like the work of a writer, but they all support that core function. When all four areas are addressed, a writer will start to build a profession, a career, and a sustainable writing life. And it starts with the Decider. THE DECIDER, THE CEO The DECIDER—the boss, the CEO—is the person making high-level decisions about your writing career.  You fill this role.  You decide your author brand, your audience, your career path. As the Decider, you determine a trajectory that aligns with your goals and values. You decide if you’re in learning mode and need to gain more skills or more knowledge of the profession.You decide if you’ll focus the next quarter on submitting to literary magazines or developing a book proposal.You decide if you’ll pursue fiction or nonfiction, short-form or long-form.You decide if you’re ready to increase visibility online. When those decisions are grappled with and made, you get to step into a second, practical role—that Delegator, the COO. THE DELEGATOR, THE COO The DELEGATOR-you, this COO, is the administrator, the project manager—the person who figures out who will be responsible for a task or activity.  When you’re the Delegator, you take those decisions and figure out the best way to pull them off.  If you decide, as the CEO, you need to learn, then the COO or this Delegator-you will research books, courses, and conferences and figure out which ones are best. The Delegator looks into social media solutions and determines whether to hire someone to map out a marketing campaign or a designer to create images. Or the Delegator might delegate all this work to herself and take a DIY approach. In this instance, you might set up Canva to create images for all your social media feeds and Stories. As Delegator, you set up calendars with deadlines. You determine practical matters, like apps to use, editors to hire, and ideal systems to set up, so the work gets done effectively and efficiently.  You’re in this role when you’re researching laptops and asking other writers if they use Scrivener. If you set up a project management system in Trello, ClickUp, or Notion, you’re in this operational mode. And as Delegator, you tackle every English major’s nightmare: how to create invoices, save receipts, and report taxes.  This operations role that pulls off the decisions, usually delegating activities, is a practical,

Embrace These 4 Key Roles for a Flourishing Writing Life

If you're like me, you struggle to carve out time to write...you wish you could uncomplicate life and get more done. Good news! I have business coach and online business manager Kari Roberts on the show to help us think through simple systems that can unlock our writing productivity and creativity. "It's like you're on a treadmill," she says. "You're running in place, but you're not going anywhere. So you're not really getting anything done." Sound familiar? Kari knows our struggles and offers solutions. She says, "You might need to strategize or systematize other things so that you can make the space that you need to do the writing." Kari Roberts is a business coach and online business manager for creative small business owners. She helps them figure out time management and systems that allow them to grow their business while still having enough time and energy for work, business, and home life. Her business advice has been featured on VoyageATL Magazine, The Rising Tide Society, The Speak to Scale Podcast, Creative at Heart Conference and more. Kari is the host of Finding Freedom with Simple Systems Podcast and the creator and host of Overwhelmed to Organized the Summit. When she isn’t being a “serial helper” through one of her businesses she enjoys watching sports with her husband, walking in the park with her 2 dogs, listening to podcasts, sampling tasty bourbons, and catching up on reality TV. Her approach to creating systems? "I like to go in and try to find: What's the simplest way. If we're trying to get X done, what's the simplest way to get to X. It may not be the fancy thing. It may not be with the shiny object. But if we can condense it and make it simple, then that can free up your time and free up your mental space so that you can get other things done." Listen to the interview and you'll learn principles that may transform your approach to writing...and life. Resources: Kari Roberts' websiteKari on InstagramFinding Freedom with Simple Systems PodcastGet your very own copy of Kari's Time-Blocking Schedule: HERESimple Systems Setup course https://youtu.be/xgNp7vmbXpk ANN KROEKER, WRITING COACH Episode 239 Transcript How Simple Systems Can Unlock Your Writing Productivity: Interview with Kari Roberts Ann Kroeker (00:03): It's so hard to find time for writing, isn't it? It's hard to do all the things a writer needs to do these days. If only if only we had a simple system that we could set up to make the rest of our creative life flourish…I have business coach and online business manager Kari Roberts here today to help us think through simple systems we can set up to increase our writing productivity. I'm Ann Kroeker, writing coach. If you're new here, welcome. If you're a regular, welcome back. I'm sharing my best tips and training–skills and strategies—to help you improve your craft, pursue publishing, and achieve your writing goals. Be sure to subscribe for more content. Ann Kroeker (00:44): From time to time I invite guests on. So you can learn from their wisdom, like today's guest, Kari Roberts. Kari is a business coach and an online business manager for creative, small business owners. She helps them figure out time management and systems so that they're freed up to have enough time for work business and home life. Kari is the host of her own podcast, Finding Freedom with Simple Systems. And today she's going to talk about that as it applies to writing productivity. Kari, thank you for being with us today. Kari Roberts (01:13): Thank you for having me. I'm happy to be here. Ann Kroeker (01:16): I am so intrigued by this whole idea that writers who are always pressed for time and always longing for productivity, how simple systems might be the way that they can unlock and unleash that. So first, I read your bio and it tells us quite a bit about you, but I would love you to explain maybe just in simple terms, what you do,

How Simple Systems Can Unlock Your Writing Productivity, with Kari Roberts

What if the stories we've been told about success are wrong? What if you could unlock secrets that shave years off your writing journey? In this interview, Ron Friedman demystifies the writing process and introduces a surprising path—a fast track, if you will. He says "it is the path by which so many writers and artists and inventors and entrepreneurs have succeeded." What's the path? Reverse engineering. https://youtu.be/agCtQaSQfXw To reverse engineer, we start with extraordinary projects and work backward to figure out how those writers pulled it off. "By comparing the ordinary against the extraordinary," Ron says, "we can't help but identify the elements that make extraordinary work succeed, and thereby improve our skills." With this book Decoding Greatness (June 2021), Ron hopes to offer "tools to not just execute at a higher level, but to embrace some of those dreams they've abandoned from, from their youth." Listen to our conversation for practical insights you can apply right away. When you hear and implement his ideas, your approach to writing will never be the same. You will, after all, learn the secret—the fast track—to writing success! Resources Decoding Greatness website Ron Friedman, PhD's websiteDecoding Greatness on Amazon (affiliate link)Decoding Greatness on BookShop (affiliate link)Learn from the Best: Copywork for GrownupsLearn from the Best: Imitate but Don't PlagiarizeGrow as a Writer: Surround Yourself with ExcellenceWhen You're Not the Writer Your Want to Be ______________________________ Ready to write a book, but you can’t quite articulate your idea? Join the FREE 3-day challenge: Craft Your Book’s Big Idea, and you’ll finally put words to the idea you long to write. In just three days, you’ll nail your book’s big idea (and generate a working title)! Sign up and finally move forward with the message that’s in you…just waiting to come out! Sign up today!

Decoding Greatness: Discover the Fast Track to Writing Success

I watched the professor of my advanced poetry class open the lid of a metal box crammed with 3x5 cards. He wiggled out one of the worn cards covered with notes and held it up.  On this card was the title of one of his poems along with the date of the latest version. Below that he had written names of literary magazines where he’d submitted that poem, followed by their response. “One poem per card,” he said. He showed us how he tucked the card behind the month when he was supposed to hear back—a simple system to track and follow up with every submission.  He passed one of the cards around the room. I held it in my hand and studied the notes he’d scrawled on the front and back.  The Box There was no magic to his system. It was not fancy or expensive. Yet, he was a respected, prolific poet on campus for a semester, showing us how it’s done. When the last student finished looking at the sample card and handed it back to him, he slid it back in its spot.  I stared at that box. I was in an advanced poetry class because I’d already had The Moment; that is, I’d already begun to think of myself as a writer. I viewed myself as a poet. The day of the box was different. After class, I walked straight to the bookstore, bought a pack of 3x5 cards and a maroon plastic box with a hinged lid, then headed to my room where I started logging each of my poems on those cards: one card per poem.  The Shift While I’d had The Moment, this was different. I walked into that bookstore because I'd experienced "The Shift." What's "The Shift"? It's when I shifted from viewing the work as an assignment or hobby to something deeper, more serious.  It's when I committed. Like that poet with his metal box packed with poems, I too was committing to the craft and to a lifetime of word-work.  It would still be several years before I made any money as a writer, but I saw myself differently. I was a working poet. And because of this shift and the resulting commitment, I organized myself—however simply and humbly—with the intention of writing and submitting my work to publications. Looking back, that plastic box seems like so much more than a storage container. It held my intentions, my resolution.  I don’t know what it’s like for other writers, but for me, the day I bought that little box was the day my life tilted in a new direction. The Practice The professor gave us vision. We got a glimpse of who or what we could become. He nudged us to take a step forward. And it worked. I was ready to send my work. I was ready to ship. One card per poem.  One piece at a time.  I had to write the poem, record it, track it, and ship it. Seth Godin recently released The Practice: Shipping Creative Work. On the first pages, he explains why he chose those three words in the subtitle. The first word, “shipping,” he says, is “because it doesn’t count if you don’t share it.”1 He included “creative”: “because you're not a cog in the system...you’re a creator.”2 And he added work “because it’s not a hobby. You might not get paid for it, not today, but you approach it as a professional...and the work is why you are here.”3 The Shift led to The Practice. The Shift was my realization that the work was why I was here, a writer.  The Practice was how I would fill that box. Compelled to action, I stepped out and followed through to get in the game and take the hits.  I began the practice of writing, recording, tracking, and shipping the work. The Pro Over time, I saw new possibilities. Next thing you know, I was, in the words of Steven Pressfield, “turning pro.”4 Because The Practice makes The Pro. Jason Pinter, interviewed for the podcast How Writers Write, says: "If you're really going to be serious about writing and you want to either make a career out of it, make a living out of it, or even just make a little bit of money out of it in any sort of way,

How Close Are You to “The Shift” in Your Writing Life?

About seven years ago, I partnered with Charity Singleton Craig to co-author On Being a Writer. While working on the draft, we often pulled up one of our shared Google Docs to review our drafts and notes in real time. In this way, we wove together our stories and experiences with relative ease. If we had a grade school report card at the end of the project, the teacher would have checked off “Plays nice with others.” Writing is most often a solitary act. But sometimes we get an opportunity to write with others. These occasions may involve brief connections or extended collaboration. Quite often, they're just plain fun. The Energy of the Inklings Have you heard of the Inklings? They met weekly for beer and conversation, according to Diane Glyer in an article at the official C. S. Lewis website. While they didn't officially collaborate, like Charity and I did on our book, their discussions affected the shape and direction of countless projects. Glyer writes in "C. S. Lewis, J. R. R. Tolkein, and the Inklings" that the men would gather, make tea, and begin pulling out drafts of their work. As one person read, "the others would settle down to listen, to encourage, to critique, to correct, to interrupt and argue and advise. They’d continue this way, reading aloud, energetically critiquing, until two or three in the morning.1 Years ago I craved that kind of creative community. I even considered moving to a college town, thinking I'd be more likely to find a gathering like the Inklings there. Find Your Creative Community The good news is that it's easier than ever to find like-minded writers without moving to live near a university. These days, I know writers who meet at cafes (or they did before 2020, and they'll start up again soon, I’m sure) to discuss technique or simply to write on separate projects in the same space. Some chai, a chat, then back to the works in progress. Writers who contribute to anthologies feel part of a project-driven community. Writing retreats are a fun way to power through personal goals with a posse of fellow writers. Churn out a few thousand words, then relax with others who appreciate your creative challenges. Then there are in-person and online communities that write together, like: silent or guided writing sessions via Zoom (in guided sessions, a moderator might offer writing prompts)silent or guided writing rooms on Clubhouse (these exist!)social media writing challenges that use a shared prompt or hashtag Look for existing writing groups where you can jump into a writing challenge and meet new people, broadening your network as you make new friends. Form Your Own Community But don't forget you can create your own little gathering. Do you know another writer? Someone with similar goals? Ask if they'd be a writing buddy. The two of you can text each other each day when you complete your daily word count goal. Treat it like a short-term experiment at first, to test the waters. You never know? Perhaps you'll find another word nerd who sends you grammar memes and Hemingway quotes. Generate Our Own Creative Energy Diane Glyer said the Inklings "generated enormous creative energy."2 I love the sound of that, don't you? We may not find a group as vibrant, educated, or British as the Inklings, but we can form our own gathering. We can generate our own creative energy.  Or we can join an existing community that exudes its own personality and flavor. We may forge lifelong friendships like those men who authored great literary works; but more likely, we'll enjoy something simpler. We'll laugh. We'll have fun. We'll play nice with others. And that's a good place to start, isn't it? Links & Resources See if something below is exactly what you need for your creative journey: Join the hope*writers 7-day Instagram writing challenge (they run this periodically; the next one starts Monday, May 10,

It’s fun to write with others!

I listened to Allison Fallon's The Power of Writing It Down while jogging through my neighborhood. Those weren't my best runs, because I kept pulling out my phone to thumb-type a great quote before picking up the pace again. And yet they were fantastic runs, because Allison's words inspired me to re-establish a daily journaling practice. On that first outing—with her voice in my ears—I listened through the first chapters and returned refreshed and motivated. Allison's invitation to "unlock your brain and reimagine your life" spurred me to set a timer and launch the first 20-minute personal writing session I'd attempted in a long time. I continued the practice the following days and discovered I was indeed "getting limbic," as Allison calls it—I was slipping past the nagging to-do list items and scheduled tasks to explore feelings, memories, and struggles. Nothing dramatic transpired (yet), but I've found myself diving deeper and opening up on the page, in private, before the day presses in. I'm not new to this practice, but I'd fallen out of the habit. I'm so grateful for Allison's convincing call to return to it and reap the benefits. In this interview, Allison mentions Julia Cameron's Morning Pages, which reminded me of Writing Down the Bones and Natalie Goldberg's explanation of freewriting as a way to get to our "first thoughts." Allison makes a strong case for why and how a private writing practice like that feeds directly into our professional writing, whether through ideas or memories we unearth that can be woven into our work in progress, or through shifts in perspective that add depth and insight to our piece. Will you join me in revisiting this simple but fruitful activity that can enliven and inform your writing pursuits and projects? I predict you'll begin to see how a daily writing practice will truly unlock your creativity. And please enjoy my discussion with Allison Fallon. Allison is an award-winning author, sought-after public speaker, and nationally recognized writing coach. She has worked with thousands of people to realize their writing potential and become published authors. She's host of the podcast Find Your Voice, an excellent resource for writers, and author of The Power of Writing It Down: A Simple Habit to Unlock Your Brain and Reimagine Your Life. https://youtu.be/A_qGKJDhUAk Interview Excerpts On Allison's writing practice: My daily writing practice happens for 30 minutes every morning, and it's me just sitting down and dumping out my first thoughts of the day. The great thing about this is it's a beautiful practice for absolutely anyone whether or not you want to be a published author. It can bring so much value and goodness into your life, regardless of what other kind of writing you do. On mimicry as a way to learn writing: There's something about being able to copy an author that we really admire, appreciate, and adore that helps us get into the groove of finding our own way to say it. On the right to tell your own truth in your own voice: Don't I have the right to share my own unique experience of what it was like to live in that household? Don't I have that right as much as he has that right? That's what it means to find your voice. It’s to be able to stand on both feet, to say, “This is how it was for me.” And even if it was different for you, that doesn't change the fact that this is what was true for me. On how our brain's "catalog" stories and we reinforce those stories through repetition: If you have a detail in your life that seems to repeat itself, it's a hint for you that there's a story there that you've told yourself and it's been cataloged. And that limbic part of your brain is driving the ship in ways. It's not that it's your fault. It's just you're helping co-create that reality over and over again. On falling in love with writing instead of pursuing platform: If I could only give one piece of advice,

Develop a Daily Writing Practice to Find Your Voice: Interview with Allison Fallon

[Ep 234] On this episode of the podcast, I hosted two novelists: Shawn Smucker and his wife, Maile Silva, for a literary discussion. Imagine you're at a writing conference and we're on stage to discuss the challenges they face as two writers at different points in the writing journey, living and working and raising a family together. How do they offer support and input? How do they find time to write? What are they proudest of? Shawn and Maile touch on topics like creative legacy, writing rejections, self-publishing versus traditional publishing, and being faithful to the work. Maile Silva and Shawn Smucker (used with permission) Shawn is an award-winning novelist by night and a collaborator and co-writer by day. He has an honors degree in English, and has been making a living as a writer for eleven years. Maile has an honors degree in English, has written three novels, and is currently in the querying process, so if that's where you're at, she knows your pain. She has raised six children in the last 17 years and is beginning to have more time to dedicate to her first love…no, not Shawn. Writing. She has taught writing in different settings, including as a table leader for the Black Barn Online. You might know them from their podcast, The Stories Between Us. At the end of our chat, they’ll be filling you in on their new program, The Nine Month Novel. I'm thrilled to share it with you and gladly promoting it—in fact, if I were a novelist, I’d already be signed up. You can learn more about The Nine Month Novel at my affiliate link: annkroeker.com/ninemonthnovel. Interview Excerpts Shawn, on the writing journey: One thing that I'm always trying to get across to other writers is that it doesn't matter where you're at in the process, there's always something else that you want. If you don't have an agent, you want an agent, and then when you have an agent, you want to get a book deal. Or if you're self publishing, you want to sell more books than you're currently selling. And then once you have books published, you wish you could sell more copies, or what's the next series going to be about, or what's the next book. I think it's good to have goals and it's good to have things that you're shooting for, definitely, but I think one of the most important parts of the writing life is to somehow also enjoy where you're at and to enjoy the writing that you're doing—and for that to be the thing that gets you by. Because if the thing that gets you by is getting to the next level, there are going to be certain levels that you don't hit or certain levels that are really challenging to get to or take a really long time. And those can burn you out if that's your only motivation. So even though Maile and I are at different places in the journey, we're always encouraging each other: Stay focused on the writing. Enjoy the writing. The writing is never going to let you down. There are so many parts of the writing journey that will be disappointing, but the writing is always there for you. It's always there for you to work on. It's always there for you to dig into. Maile, on what she's proudest of: I think what I would be most proud of is the creative legacy that we're leaving for our kids. And by prioritizing creativity in my own life, I see our kids starting to do that. And that just fills me with so much joy to know that they see the value of doing these things not because they're making money, not because they're getting notoriety from it, but because it's a good thing to do—because it's part of who we are. I love that a creative inheritance is being passed down and they're chasing after their creative dreams...And I love that more beauty and art is entering into the world just through our little clan of kids. And I think it's because they see us pursuing it. Maile, on criticism: Because I don't have any published work yet,

Shawn Smucker & Maile Silva on creative legacy, rejections, and being faithful to the work

When you seek traditional publishing for your nonfiction book, you don’t just write the book and send it off. Instead, you craft what’s called a book proposal—an essential business document expected by publishing professionals like agents and editors. With this document, you’re hoping to attract the attention and interest of industry gatekeepers so they’ll partner with you to publish your book. Before the Book, the Book Proposal If you’re seeking traditional publishing for your nonfiction book, you do eventually have to write an entire manuscript. But before that, you have to land a book deal. To land a book deal, you need to attract agents and publishers to your project with a pitch that convinces them to request your proposal for review. A convincing pitch followed by a polished, professional book proposal will do the work of “selling” your book to these decision-makers. Its job is to convince these agents and publishers you have what they’re looking for. That’s why you craft a compelling proposal. In it, you’ll describe your project, of course. But as you do, your proposal has to pull off three big things. What a Winning Proposal Needs to Convey Let's cover the three things your proposal must convey to attract the attention of industry gatekeepers like agents and Acquisitions Editors (AEs). 1. A Concept That Pops When someone's reviewing a stack of proposals—whether that's a literal stack on their desk or a list of virtual files on a computer—you want yours to stand out. The way to do that is to have a book concept that pops out from all the others. These agents and acquisitions editors are flipping through maybe 20 or more proposals a day. They’ve seen the same types of projects over and over; writers pitch similar topics time after time. But these industry professionals keep reading and reviewing proposals because they're hoping to discover promising new books. They’re on the lookout for an author who brings a fresh angle. Develop a concept that proves you know your audience’s problems, struggles, and issues. In the proposal, show them you have a book that offers a promise—and delivers on that promise.  Demonstrate you’ll contribute something valuable to the broader conversation on this topic. Do all that, and the agent will stop and say, “Wow, this is different—and it looks like it could sell. I’d better dive in and take a closer look.” When you nail your concept and convey it clearly in the proposal, you’re on your way to attracting an agent or editor. But when you land on a concept that pops, it’s not enough. 2. Writing That Sings The second thing this project needs in order to attract decision-makers is captivating, quality writing—writing that sings. The agent or editor reviewing your proposal will hear hints of your writing voice in the various elements of the proposal—but where you'll shine is in the sample chapters. They can tell if you’ve landed on an appropriate voice for the project and its intended readers. They want to see if you know what your reader responds to. After all, the tone and style of writing you’d use for a leadership book for CEOs will differ from the tone and style meant to engage a stay-at-home mom of preschoolers.  You don’t have to write like Annie Dillard to land a book deal, but editors appreciate solid, clear writing appropriate for that project. And be sure your proposal is error-free so decision-makers feel confident you’re a professional writer who handles words well. With a concept that pops and writing that sings, you have two out of three things in place for your proposal. Decision-makers who see that ingenious concept and sense your compelling prose will flip through your proposal, excited to find out something else. They’re hoping you have in place one more major element. 3. Personal Brand & Platform In this proposal, you’re trying to prove that you are the ideal person to write this book.

Winning Book Proposals Need These 3 Things

If one of your New Year’s resolutions is to write a book in the year ahead, you’re going to have to do several things. One of those things you’ll have to do is...some math. But don’t worry—I’ve got a calculator! We’ll do the math together to determine the number of words you need to write each day to complete your book in the year ahead. I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised to find out that this number is within reach. You can pull this off. You can watch the video, listen with the podcast player above, or read the article. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mLvH9fJ7QUo Average Word Count for Trade Nonfiction Books The length of a typical trade nonfiction book can really vary: a memoir or biography can be quite long; a gift book, quite short. If you’re writing a typical trade nonfiction book, it might on average range between 45,000 and 55,000 words. This is arguable. You’ll find plenty of exceptions on either side of that range, and trends shift so that the average changes, but for the sake of this discussion, let’s  split the difference and say we’re talking about a 50,000-word book. Yours might be longer or shorter. Publishers like to think in terms of word counts. After all, there’s a lot of variability in the number of chapters that you might break your content into compared with another author writing on a similar subject: a 20-chapter book and a 12-chapter book could have the exact same word count divided up differently. So let’s just talk about word count. Map Out the Number of Chapters And yet when we think through the number of words we’ll be writing each day, we do need to think about the number of chapters you’re planning. Eventually—obviously—you do have to write the full 50,000 words. But did you know that if you’re seeking traditional publishing of your non-fiction book—that is, you’re going to seek an agent who then will take it to a publisher, or a friend offered to introduce you to her editor...either way— you’re going to have to provide what’s called a book proposal.  In this book proposal you’ll map out your entire book. You have to explain the book’s concept and content, describing what’s going into it. You’ll provide a table of contents that you’ll have to annotate, providing chapter summaries. When you submit the proposal to the agent or provide it by request to an acquisitions editor at a publishing house, you’ll include a few sample chapters as part of the complete proposal. For new writers, I recommend you supply three sample chapters, though an agent may only request one or two. If you write three, you can show these decision-makers and gatekeepers that you can build on your ideas and move this project forward. That’s all you need to write until you get a contract. So at a bare minimum, you’ll write at least three chapters of your book to be able to submit it with the proposal. Pull Out the Calculator Now let’s do the math. Option 1: Write the 50,000-word Draft in 90 Days Let’s say you’re going to self publish this 50,000-word book, and you’d like to have a draft done in 90 days.  50,000 words divided by the 90 days, you’ll end up with 555.555556, so we’re just going to round that up to 556. That means if you write every single day with no breaks at all, you need to write 556 words a day to produce 50,000 words at the end of the 90 days. Option 2: Write the Proposal and Sample Chapters But as I mentioned, if you’re going to go to the traditional publishing route and submit this nonfiction book to agents and acquisitions editors, you’ll need that proposal and the three chapters. To calculate your daily word count, you need to know how many chapters are going to be in your book. Use some of the techniques I explained in “How to Structure Your Nonfiction Book” to develop your project and arrive at the number of chapters that you think will be necessary to convey your book’s idea.

Resolved to Write a Nonfiction Book This Year? Let’s Do the Math!

[230] You're tackling a non-fiction book and you're making progress. You're doing research, you're writing, and now you're staring at all those ideas. Your book needs form. It needs organization. It needs...structure. But how do you land on the best structure? How do you create it, craft it, build it? While there's no one standard way to organize your material—there's no one way to structure your nonfiction book—I offer four approaches you can take to determine what will work best for your work in progress. To learn ways to structure your nonfiction book, you can read, watch, or listen. https://youtu.be/5ToyfQds11o Think about how different kinds of bridges are needed for different situations. To land on the best method of bridging a ravine or body of water, an engineer will study the surrounding landscape and obstacles to decide whether a drawbridge, suspension bridge, or arch bridge will work best. Just as an engineer needs to study the situation to address any given crossing and can refer to several core types of bridges, you get to do the same with your book. As you study your material, and you get to decide the best way to structure your nonfiction book. Feel free apply these four approaches to structure to your short form writing, but I'm going to be talking about it as it pertains to a non-fiction book, because a book is more unwieldy and can feel a little overwhelming to organize. Once you get a handle on how you to structure your WIP, you can feel more confident moving forward with your draft. If you're feeling overwhelmed by structure, you're in good company. In a Writer's Digest interview, Michael Lewis said this: I agonize over structure. I'm never completely sure I got it right. Whether you sell the reader on turning the page is often driven by the structure. Every time I finish a book, I have this feeling that, Oh, I've done this before. So it's going to be easier next time. And every time it's not easier. Each time is like the first time in some odd way, because it is so different.1 The book you're working now is different from any other book you've worked on. It's different from Michael Lewis. It's different from mine. You need to discover what that the best structure for this book. Method 1: Discovery The first way is by discovery. Through the discovery approach, you're going to write your way into it. On her podcast QWERTY, Marion Roach Smith recently interviewed Elizabeth Rosner about her book Survivor Café. Elizabeth Rosner chose different terms and concepts and horrors related to the Holocaust and presented them early on in the book using the alphabet. The alphabet was a way of structuring that content. Rosner said the alphabet was a way to explain, "Here are all the things I'm going to talk about that I don't really know how to talk about. Here are all the words I don't know how to explain." Marion asked how she arrived at this alphabet structure, and here's what Rosner said: I love getting to talk about structure and decisions. And when we talk about them after they’ve been made, it all seems so thoughtful and careful and deliberate and...everything in reality is so messy and chaotic for me, that it’s always amazing to me how neat and coherent it seems afterwards.2 You can see that Rosner sort of stumbled on this approach. It serves as an alternative table of contents for the book, she said, and of course a table of contents reflects the structure of a book. And she came upon by discovery. Discovery Methods: Sticky Notes, Scrivener, Index Cards, freewriting Authors might use Post-its to organize their notes. Susan Orlean has described an index card method (she uses 5x7 cards) in an interview.3 Others like using Scrivener to organize their research and notes. It doesn't really matter the method; you just need to gradually move toward clarity. When you stay open to possibilities,

How to Structure Your Nonfiction Book

You're a writer. So you write. But do you read? Of course you do, but how do you read? Do you read like a writer? There are ways writers can read that can be both inspiring and instructive, and that's what we're going to cover today, so you can see how reading, as Stephen King says, can serve as your  "creative center." As we learn to read like a writer, you might be a little afraid I'm going to ruin a reading for you—that you'll no longer be able to read for pleasure, but don't worry. You'll still be able to read for fun and distraction.   You can listen, read, or watch to learn more. https://youtu.be/cHaeAOVodaQ Read to Collect Content for Your Work But if you want to read like a writer, you will benefit from reading with an analytical eye. So the first way we're going to read as writers is to go ahead and read for inspiration and information, just like we always do. You need to understand a topic better, so you research and read about it. You want to expand your knowledge, so you read and take notes. You want to improve yourself, so you grab a book that's going to help you gain a skill or solve a problem. We writers are always collecting ideas and content. All that you read can feed into your writing. In fact, we've probably always done this our entire lives. If not consciously, then maybe subconsciously, we've been doing all this collecting. But now I want you to be more intentional about it. Even as you're casually reading the back of a cereal box, a tweet, or a magazine article, start to take notes about where this content came from, who wrote it, and how it impacted you. Because this is all now material that you can use in all of your work. Read Authors As Your Teachers There's another big way that we can read as writers and that's to start viewing these authors and these writers as teachers. They can instruct us. Francine Prose in her book, Reading Like a Writer said this: I've heard the way a writer reads described as "reading carnivorously." What I've always assumed that this means is not, as the expression might seem to imply, reading for what can be ingested, stolen or borrowed, but rather for what can be admired, absorbed, and learned. It involves reading for sheer pleasure, but also with an eye and a memory for which author happens to do which thing particularly well. So we read and pay attention to the choices that an author makes that results in such engaging work. In literature, especially in poetry courses, we talk about a close reading where every idea, every sentence, even every word is examined. A close reading reveals all: from the highest level of themes and ideas, organization, and structure all the way down to the details of sentences and word choices. We see what works and why it works. And while we do want to look to the best to be able to level up our work, we don't have to always be looking at Shakespeare and Dickinson to be able to improve as writers. Our teachers, our model texts, can be from the kinds of writing we want to pursue. We might find a blog post that is an excellent example, and we can follow that to discover the tone and the topics that were covered and the length and the layout. And we can learn from that, as well. So find your experts, your teachers, your models, wherever they may be. Read Close by Annotating Another way we can read like a writer is to annotate. Mortimer Adler in his book How to Read a Book, written with Charles van Doren, wrote this: Full ownership of a book only comes when you have made it a part of yourself and the best way to make yourself a part of it, which comes to the same thing is by writing in it. He claims that full ownership of a book happens not when you purchase it. It happens when you interact with it on the page. You annotate, you underline, you write in the margins, and in that way you make it your own. And the book becomes a part of you.

How to Read Like a Writer

You want to start out strong as a writer and succeed at your work. I want to encourage you that a lot of different strengths are at play to keep us at the keyboard or page, and the good news is—you may already have some of these strengths. If not, you can develop them over time. And some of them may surprise you. Let's look at five strengths you need to succeed as a writer: Today I'm trying something new, sharing this both in audio and video format. Let's hear from you: After you watch or listen, let me know in the comments what you see as your greatest writing strength—and if I've left off a critical writing strength, add to this list! Look, you can subscribe for free coaching!

5 Writing Strengths You Need to Succeed

[Ep 228] You have an idea for your next writing project. That's great! Before you get too far—before you write too much—you need to be sure this idea is going to fly with your audience. You need to validate it so you move forward with a concept that, depending on your purpose, will truly resonate, connect, teach, persuade, inform, or entertain. Let's look at three ways to validate project ideas: Validate “in house”: run it through personal filtersValidate through research: check what exists alreadyValidate through audience: ask, survey, and test the idea Validate “In House” The first method to validate is to run it through personal filters. Ask yourself if it fits with your brand, if it will serve your audience, and if it’s a fresh angle on your primary topics. This may take only a minute or two, but sometimes we rush past it in our excitement over an idea that captivates us. If we skip this step, we may create content that draws an audience uninterested in anything else we write. If I as a writing coach started producing content about style because I'm interested in a trend, I might click publish on an article about fall colors that draws a new audience of women who like to discuss shirts, skirts, and shoes. But if I pause and validate “in house,” asking myself if this is a good fit for my primary purpose and audience, I’ll probably focus my energy elsewhere. After all, I’m creating a place online for men and women looking for support with their writing, so devoting a long post to discussing red pumps and French braids won't reach or retain a wide range of writers. But let’s say it passes this initial “in house” test. You believe your idea will serve your audience well and you haven't explored this topic at length in the past. The next step is to do some research—see what else is out there on this topic.  Validate Through Research The main way to research is, of course, to type keywords, key phrases, key ideas, and key concepts related to your project’s idea into a search engine and see what it pulls up. I suggest you quickly jot down everything you know about this idea before the search. Then you can compare all the articles, videos, podcasts, and memes with your existing knowledge and slant. Don’t be discouraged if you find a ton of material—don’t assume it’s all been said before. In fact, that’s a good sign that people are searching for this kind of content. You'll see how to contribute to the greater conversation. And that’s the key. As you explore what other authors, bloggers, and speakers in your niche have created, you realize how your project will be similar, but different, and broaden or deepen readers' understanding. If need be, return to 6 methods to right-size your next writing project to find a different slant. You can continue to work through those until you land on that distinct spin you can bring to this project. Pro tip: As you’re cruising the internet and clicking through to interesting content, be sure to grab all citation information while you’re there. Because if you decide to quote an expert in the field or to include an excerpt from one of the articles, you want that citation information at your fingertips. Quoting people builds credibility—and so does proper citation. We told our high school debaters it's always good to bring an expert to the podium with you to raise your credibility. I think it’s the same with writers—when we cite other sources, we bring a level of integrity and credibility to our work. Search engines give you a broad look at what’s existing on this topic, but you can conduct a more academic search, as well. Libraries will give you access to journals and publications to find peer-reviewed studies. Also, you’ll be able to search countless newspapers and magazines. Just go online to your library’s portal and find out what’s available to you. I’d like to highlight a few specific websites where you can focus...

Validate Your Idea to Produce Your Best Project (Back to Basics)

Have you ever written a blog post and found it's growing too big and unwieldy? Or you set out to develop a book only to realize you don't have enough material to fill a 45K- or 50K-word manuscript?  If so, you're struggling with Goldilocks Syndrome: your idea is too big or too small for the project’s purpose and the way it’ll be published or shared with the world. You’re trying to cram everything you know about, say, computers into 800 to 1,000 words. You’ve got the makings of a book when you set out to write a blog post. How do you narrow it to a reasonable length? Or you’re trying to stretch the idea of cooking with crackers into a book-length project, but it’s not enough material. How do you broaden the concept to produce a compelling cookbook? What does it take to land on that just right length for your next writing project?  The 6 Right-Sizing Methods Test these six methods for narrowing—or broadening—your next writing idea and you’ll land on the perfect length, approach, and slant to suit this project’s audience, purpose, and medium. In the process, you’ll gain clarity and solidify your ideas.   The six different methods to right-size your projects are: TimeLocationCategoriesAudienceIssueStructure Let me describe each one, starting with time. When does it mean to right-size your project using time? TIME You can use time to focus on decades, a stage of life, or an era. For example, depending on your topic, you might limit your idea to focus only on the 1950s, only early childhood, or only on the Middle Ages.  If you’re writing a memoir, you’ll limit the scope of your book to a specific time in your life in which you experienced struggle and transformation. If you’re writing about plants, you could focus on the planting stage.  If you need to broaden your idea because it’s too narrow, you can simply expand from the 1950s to the first half of the 20th century or from early childhood to Kindergarten through sixth grade. LOCATION Location is another way to land on the right size for your project. You could focus on geography, meaning anything from a continent or country all the way down to a city landmark, neighborhood, or business.  But you could think of location on an object or a space. The gardener may want to write about an area of the garden or the location on a specific plant, such as the roots or petals. If you’re writing about flight, you could focus on small airports in a given state or areas within a specific airport. CATEGORIES We can also use categories to think through an idea we find to be too big and broad or too small and narrow. Find some commonalities and group those things that are similar. If you’re the garden blogger, you could focus on one category—vegetables—instead of flowers, trees, or groundcover. Dial down even more by categorizing nightshades or spring vegetables or weeds. The blogger who writes about planes can narrow to categories such as biplanes, jets, or airliners. By focusing on a small category, you easily narrow your idea. And then you can broaden by including multiple categories. AUDIENCE First-time authors often want to write a book for everyone in the whole world. That’s not realistic. The first step in right-sizing will be to narrow your audience. For a specific project, you could narrow even further, selecting a sub-group within your target audience. Maybe you write for parents, so to narrow the topic you outline an idea for parents of preschoolers or parents of teens.  So you can use a subgroup of your broader group to narrow. Including more types of people in your audience will broaden the idea and inform how you write it. ISSUE Many topics have issues baked into them: gun control, parenting philosophies, technology use. Writers may take one side or another on these topics to automatically right-size their idea. Addressing only one issue related to their idea or topic,

Back to Basics: 6 Methods to Right-Size Your Next Writing Project

Learn from writing coach Ann Kroeker how to achieve your writing goals (and have fun!) by being more curious, creative, and productive.

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Ann Kroeker, Writing Coach

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