5 Tips For writing your book

At the beginning of 2021, I had never written even a single paragraph for an actual book in my entire life. 

By the end of 2021, I had written and self-published my memoir.

In less than 10 months I wrote, edited, formatted, and learned how to self publish an entire 230 page book. 

So when I hear people say "I wish I could write a book, but..." I get a little fired up. 

Fired up because I PROMISE you, if you are speaking that sentence or having that thought you are absolutely more than capable of writing a book. 

Sure, when we were kids, before the age of KDP and self-publishing and Google University, publishing a book was more difficult. But with the tools available now if you have the desire in your heart and connection to the internet, you 1,000,000% can write and publish a book. 

Here's a few tips on how I made it happen:

1. Just start writing - you probably have the beginning of many many stories in your mind right now. Start writing them out! Once your fingers start tapping away at the keys you'll know pretty quickly where to go from there. Like many things, getting started can be the hardest part.  

2. Trust yourself and the story! - I'm working into the first chapters of my second book. A fiction story based on my experiences. What I've learned in my writing is that if the pieces of the story already exist in your mind, the entirety of the story already knows how it wants to be told. Let yourself just be vessel through which it becomes real. Trust the story to guide you. Trust that it has chosen you to tell it in your own unique way and that there is no one more qualified than you to bring it into the world. 

3. If outlining stresses you… don’t outline. - This one could also be my number 1 tip. A major thing that held me back in ever even considering writing a book was the idea of having to outline the story. I haaaaaate outlining. I got some great advice from a Clubhouse (LOL, remember when it was the THING for like 3 months) room that if the outline was all that was stopping me, then don’t write an outline. It was that simple. Someone else’s permission to do things how I wanted was really all it took for me. I wrote the first 3 chapters so I had an idea of what the story would be, then made a BASIC outline of stories I wanted to add. It was more of a list than an outline. 

4. Pray, meditate, and ask for guidance - Writing is an art form. Most artists will tell you, they don’t create from their minds. They create from tapping into the connection to their bodies, to their souls, to the greater energies we are all connected to. When I was ready to start my second large writing project, I began to ask for guidance months before I started writing any words. In my daily spirituality practice, I would ask for the stories to come to me as they wanted to be told. I asked for the stories to form and build and for them to flow through me easily and without resistance. So put in whatever verbiage you use… pray, meditate, rituals, spells… whatever you call it. Do that with the intention for the story you are meant to tell to make its way to you.

5. Ask for advice but only when you are confident in your direction - We tend to want the validation of other’s. Especially when it comes to creative works. The flaw in that is creative works are often not loved by everyone who experiences them. They aren’t mean to be. They are meant to exist in a way to reach the people they are meant to reach. When writing, not everyone is going to love the story or even the style in which you tell it. That is not only ok, that is exactly how it should be happening! So avoid the urge to send every chapter to every person you know as soon as you write it. You will get so many different opinions, ideas, suggestions… and it will all just muddy the story for you and make it harder to finish. Like number 2 says, trust yourself and trust the story. Get assistance for things like grammar and clarity and flow, but don’t let other’s influence overshadow your relationship with the story and how it wishes to be told. 

Ok, that’s it for today. I have SO many more I want to add to this list, but I think I’ll break them up and share them over time. Drop any questions you might have below and I’ll be sure to answer them in the future posts!

I hope the stories you’re meant to tell find you. I can’t wait to read them!

Love you big,

Jessi ♥️