Thirteen Fridays ago, I made a plan to write my next nonfiction micro book during Q2. My last twelve articles have been about that journey. Today I am seated at a table for eight in a ski cabin in Park City, Utah.
The oval wooden table has two leaves extending its length. It’s the kind of table a big, happy family has when they go on vacation together, eating meals alongside one another after a day enjoying nature. And maybe that scene will unfold over this weekend. My teen daughters and I are visiting my husband, who works here on location. We were so excited to finally see the spot where Eric has been working since last August. So much has happened since then to prevent us from visiting, so he has been the one to travel home. This weekend is special.
Regardless of what is happening, Friday writing is non-negotiable for me.
It’s been fifteen months since I started my Friday Zoom writing rooms, and the practice has changed my life. I have worked on books with interesting women who cover a vast array of interests from tech, to art, to psychology. My goal is to get women writing, and specifically to finish a micro book that builds their business or shares their message.
My Q2 goal of writing a micro book has almost come to a conclusion and to fruition. Until today, I had not once had to write alone during my Zoom writing hour. This morning, no one showed up.
I have always told myself that it doesn’t matter if someone is there or not, because no matter what, I am going to write. An hour is a wonderful chunk of time to do it.
I prefer the company of others to keep me on point, but today that didn’t happen, and it turned out to be the best thing that could have happened. Here’s why.
I have been struggling with some structural items in the book. I wanted a certain type of reader experience and I wasn’t getting it quite right. So today, as I started writing, I noticed a few things that could be changed, things that would be highly effective.
The Zoom starts at 8:00 am. By 8:54 am, I was having an epiphany.
My “book within a book” idea finally came true. I was able to stack something in a new way, and the parallel author/reader experience finally aligned. Because no one else was on the call with me, I didn’t watch the clock the way I normally would. When 10:00 am struck, a full hour later than I usually end, I had completely changed my sequencing. It made me absolutely love this book. It made me excited about it again.
Sometimes we have the best and biggest intentions for what we are growing, but the actual growth feels small and slow.
This morning was a reminder that it’s okay when things don’t work out perfectly as planned because sometimes they end up even better.
The last thirteen weeks have not been easy. Life happened. The only promise I kept to myself was that I would keep going with the manuscript, regardless of how it was feeling. That promise held.
I have four more days to finish the first draft. Next Friday marks the start of Q3 and a new goal. I’ll do a full wrap-up of this experience as soon as it’s done.
Until then, happy writing.
WEEK 13 BOOK WRITING UPDATE
What’s working: Not being afraid to change things up.
What got done: Restructured something major that was bothering me.
What felt hard: Restructured something major that was bothering me. :)
What surprised me: That I am actually almost done.
6/27-29: Read through entire first draft revising daily
6/30: Compile first draft into one document and begin revising the second draft in July
Still on target to talk to my publisher on 7/1, Jessica DeBry about next steps. My goal is to publish in Q4!