By Terry Whalin @terrywhalin
How
do you eat an elephant? It's an old joke and the answer is you eat an elephant
one bite at a time. It the same way to accomplish any huge task—one action at a
time. Recently I began to write another book. It doesn't matter that I've done
it over and over through the years. Each time it looks daunting to write an
entire book manuscript. No matter what others will tell you for everyone getting
started is hard. The writing in the middle is hard and finishing is hard. Yes
the task is difficult and looks impossible. So how do you get it done? One bite
at a time.
What is the deadline for completing your book? If you don't have a deadline, then I suggest you set one. After you have a deadline, how many words a day are you going to write to complete the deadline? Make sure you build in some extra days for the unexpected (happens to everyone) but make sure you hit your deadline.
Or maybe your goal is tied to your social media. You want to reach a certain number of followers on Twitter or a certain number of connections on LinkedIn. Are you actively working on these networks? Are you posting a number of times each day? Are you connecting with new people? Without your regular actions, then it will be hard to increase your presence and meet your goals.
Do you want to appear on more radio shows or podcasts and talk about your latest book? There are thousands of radio stations and podcasts which use guests on their program. These bookings do not happen just sitting back and waiting for them to call. Your phone will be silent if you wait. Instead, you need to be actively pitching the producers of these programs.
Or maybe you want to write more magazine articles? Waiting for the phone to ring will likely not happen. What proactive steps are you taking to either go ahead and write the article then submit it to the publication? Or you can write a query letter and send it simultaneously to different publications and get an assignment?
Many are surprised that I have written over 60 books through the years. There are several keys in this process but one of the most important is consistent writing. It is a matter of writing one paragraph, then another paragraph which becomes one page then another page. It is the same process as eating an elephant—doing it in bite-size pieces.
Do you break your writing into smaller pieces? I'd love to have your tips and insights in the comments below.
Tweetable:
How do you eat an elephant? Learn the secret in this article from this prolific writer and editor. (ClickToTweet)
What is the deadline for completing your book? If you don't have a deadline, then I suggest you set one. After you have a deadline, how many words a day are you going to write to complete the deadline? Make sure you build in some extra days for the unexpected (happens to everyone) but make sure you hit your deadline.
Or maybe your goal is tied to your social media. You want to reach a certain number of followers on Twitter or a certain number of connections on LinkedIn. Are you actively working on these networks? Are you posting a number of times each day? Are you connecting with new people? Without your regular actions, then it will be hard to increase your presence and meet your goals.
Do you want to appear on more radio shows or podcasts and talk about your latest book? There are thousands of radio stations and podcasts which use guests on their program. These bookings do not happen just sitting back and waiting for them to call. Your phone will be silent if you wait. Instead, you need to be actively pitching the producers of these programs.
Or maybe you want to write more magazine articles? Waiting for the phone to ring will likely not happen. What proactive steps are you taking to either go ahead and write the article then submit it to the publication? Or you can write a query letter and send it simultaneously to different publications and get an assignment?
Many are surprised that I have written over 60 books through the years. There are several keys in this process but one of the most important is consistent writing. It is a matter of writing one paragraph, then another paragraph which becomes one page then another page. It is the same process as eating an elephant—doing it in bite-size pieces.
Do you break your writing into smaller pieces? I'd love to have your tips and insights in the comments below.
Tweetable:
How do you eat an elephant? Learn the secret in this article from this prolific writer and editor. (ClickToTweet)
W. Terry Whalin is an
acquisitions editor at Morgan James Publishing. His work contact information is
on the bottom of the second page (follow this
link). His
latest book for writers is 10 Publishing Myths,
Insights Every Author Needs to Succeed. One of
Terry's most popular free ebooks is Straight Talk From the
Editor, 18 Keys to a Rejection-Proof Submission. He lives in Colorado
and has over 200,000 twitter
followers.
