The harsh truth about writing a book

Hi Reader,

A client told me the other day she wants to write and publish a book for her business.

Nice goal.

Writing a book can help you build credibility, make an impact and sell more offers.

The problem? Nine out of 10 people say they want to write a book, but FAR fewer people turn this goal into reality.

I was part of that nine out of 10 for far too long. I wanted to write a book ever since I read the BFG by Roald Dahl when I was 14.

For years, I didn’t take concrete steps to make this dream a reality. Then, my first son was born. Becoming a Dad taught me a few painful lessons about turning up and doing the work.

(I wrote a book all about that a few years later.)

A doctor doesn’t say, ‘I don’t feel like operating today.’"

A carpenter doesn’t say, ‘I’m not feeling working on this table today’."

Writing a book or running a creator business isn’t much different. It demands the same level of commitment.

Don’t let anyone peddling nonsense about woo-woo creativity striking tell you otherwise.

So, I forced myself to turn up at my writing desk and write 300 words every morning.

When work or life intervened, that meant writing my 300 words late at night instead of leveling up on Call of Duty.

Still big into gamification, I recorded my daily work count in a spreadsheet and the time I spent revising, like a video game score. I tried beating my word count every week.

300 words a day equals 2100+ words a week, 8000+ words a month, and 50,000+ words in six months.

Boom! A draft for an entire book. Now all you need to do is launch.

(Conversely, every day you don’t write is 300 words you’ll never get back. That’s 109,500 words - or two books - every year.)

Somedays, I went well past 300 words. My first book wasn’t very good, but reaching The END taught me a valuable lesson.

The years accumulate much faster than any words I can put on the page. So keep turning up.

Playing the game of words helped me write book number one. And then book number 2 and 3. And it helped me start a creator business.

I work full-time on my creator business today. I write on social, daily emails, and sometimes book chapters for an hour or two every morning. I spend the afternoons coaching clients.

But it all started with 300 words a day.

Write on,
Bryan Collins

PS The results are in from Friday's suvrey. It's Telegram. Join my private group of creators here

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