tension.

Once I saw the difference between being ‘writing ready’ and ‘publisher ready’ – the paralysis lifted.

And off I went.

Here’s how writing a book, at the very beginning, felt to me.

There was tension between two quite different ways of writing.

First, there was the simpler way.

A way of writing that feels natural and, somehow, automatic.

Fluent.

Immediate.

Tourettes-like.

It’s relatively easy, writing like this.

So long as I am concentrated and disciplined, of course.

Because writing like this is an extension of who I am.

I’m confidently saying what I want to say, out loud, as interestingly and as coherently as I can.

Buggering about exploring humour, pace, influence, structure and what keeps me interested and moving forward.

This is simply being ‘writing ready’ – and I like it.

There’s a second way to start writing a book, though.

And that second way starts with a small stack of smart questions.

1. Who is the book for? Answering narrowly and precisely.
2. What’s the book about? One sentence.
3. What’s the hook? The simple, empowering truth the reader will see.
4. What widely believed assumption does this book dispel?
5. How will the reader change? 
6. Why will they buy this book?

There are more.

Anyhow, when I first decided to write, I looked at this second way first.

And that was a mistake.

Because this second way focusses me on being ‘publisher ready’.

And it forced me to write with clear objectives in mind.

And I don’t like that.

I was measuring far too much, far too soon.

It was rubbish.

And unenjoyable.

I get that being publisher ready is obvs the best way to get published.

But it’s not the best way to write.

Not at the beginning.

Not for me.

Writing right at the beginning with a publisher in mind feels… paralysing.

So I chose the first way first.

I chose being ‘writing ready’.

I just start writing, writing how I write, learning and getting better as I go, creating a body of work that I’ll later consider against the stack of questions that help me to become ‘publisher ready’.

Seeking out the thread that will be there, invisibly binding everything together.

I’m no expert at, and I have no experience of, writing books.

But I am working with and learning from published experts.

Eleanor Tweddle, and others, have helped me to bypass the tension – and start writing.

Because once I saw the difference between being ‘writing ready’ and ‘publisher ready’, the paralysis lifted.

And off I went.