Only 2 days until Launch Day!!! Aaaaahh!! This is so exciting and also completely nerve-wracking!
Today I have a section taken from the final chapter, Chapter 5 - Attaching Your Butt to Your Chair. It's about the 'Writing
Writing Syndromes
For me the hardest part is the emotional drain that writing has on me. Here are some nasty illnesses that you might want to keep an eye out for:
· Your brain – ‘You’re not a writer! And you’re definitely not a specialist in [insert chosen area here]. How dare you ever think that you could write a book! No one’s even going to read it.’
Diagnosis – Imposter Syndrome
Remedy – You’d be surprised by how much you know about your chosen topic compared to the average person. I didn’t think I knew much about Self-Publishing until I realised that my friends didn’t know what I was talking about when I mentioned ‘Print on Demand’ or ‘KDP Select’. The moment you publish your book you become the authority on your chosen area anyway. Also, the research that goes into writing most books will educate you to become an authority anyway. If you don’t feel like a specialist now, trust me, you will by the time you publish.
· Your brain – ‘You’re wasting your time. No one is going to read your book. No one cares what you are writing. You’re spending hours inside on your own when you could be outside socialising and embracing life.’
Diagnosis – FOMO (Fear of Missing Out)
Remedy - Yes, you need a balance in your writing life and social life but the key thing is balance. Remember what your 'WHY?' was. There is a specific, probably long term, reason that you are writing a book. You are sacrificing short term enjoyment (of that pint and packet of salty nuts) for a long term reward (your 'WHY?'). Focus on what will make you happier in the long run.
· Your brain – ‘You’re going to fail so why bother starting?’
Diagnosis – Fear of Failure
Remedy – Identify your measure of success and then aim for that. Also, identify the moments of success along the way. If you complete your first chapter, that is a major moment to celebrate. If you finish the first draft, again a time to cheer. Got your front cover sorted? Do a victory dance. You’ve finished all the edits? High five a stranger. The book is published. Break out the champagne. The key is to realise that every milestone is a moment of success and even if you don’t achieve your overall goal of making a certain figure in sales, for example, you will have already achieved so much and learned so much along the way. Even if you fail, you win!
· Your brain – ‘This writing is rubbish. How do you even know if it is any good?’
Diagnosis – Validation desperation
Remedy – If you are that desperate for validation then head down the Trad route. You won’t find any immediate validation in the Self-Publishing route. You will have Editors (who will tell you where you’ve made all your mistakes) and you will have Beta Readers (who might, possibly, tell you something positive about your book) but in the main, no one is going to say if your book is worthy, whatever that means, until you hit that publish button and get your first 5 star review. Understand that the reason you are Self-Publishing is because you don’t need validation. You want to have complete control to produce the work how you would like to. Be strong. Trust in the process.
· Your brain – ‘You thicko! You just don’t know what to write.’
Diagnosis – Writers’ Block
Remedy - Just a quick one as I STRONGLY believe that Writers' Block does not exist and is just an excuse for people to not write. If you are stuck for what to write then you haven't planned it out correctly or you're nervous about putting down what is in your brain. Don't be afraid, especially in the first draft phase. It doesn't matter what you write down. No one is going to see this first draft anyway. All that is important is that you DO writer it down.
· Your brain – ‘That’s not quite right. I’m sure you could use a better way to describe that. And that. And that.’
Diagnosis – Perfectionism
Remedy - Again to be avoided at all costs during the first draft phase. Dodge the perfectionism bullet by refusing to edit as you write.
· Your brain – ‘Everyone else is so much better at writing / adventuring / public speaking / being a human being (*delete as appropriate) than you are!’
Diagnosis - Comparisonitis
Remedy - The worst of them all! If you are an adventurer you know this feeling. You've probably experienced it a hundred times before. This adventurer has been to a far more extreme place than you. That adventurer has travelled further than you. This adventurer gets paid more per speaking gig than you. That adventurer has a way sexier beard (yes, I'm looking at you Sean Conway!). There is no way to avoid Comparisonitis other than the classic method of denial. It doesn't matter what other people are doing or where they are going or what they are writing. What YOU are writing is important and the world needs to hear it!