The Writing Life

It takes a lot of hubris – or ignorance – to want to write a bestselling novel. Before you cement the idea that I am a blowhard fool, let me explain. 

I know that best-selling books are few and far between for non-celebrities like me. 

I don’t want bestseller status because I want to be famous. (Okay, sure, I’ll take a wee bit of fame.) 

But my real motivation to write a bestselling novel is two-fold. I always want to share what I have learned. I hope readers of my novel will gain insights into their own imperfect relationships. 

This goal springs from my values of inspiration and community. 

My second reason for writing a bestseller is to help me be a better writer. I am deep in learning mode. How to craft a story that has a complete and satisfying narrative arc? How to develop characters that I care about so the reader can care about them? How to write one good sentence, for goodness’ sakes?!?!? (I’ve pulled off one or two so far.)

This goal honors my values of excellence, love of language, honesty, and creativity. 

I’m human, so this bestseller goal probably also stokes my ego. But if I keep my values front and center, this dream comes from and goes toward a place of depth, not shallow ego.

Part of me knows this goal might not agree with everyone. That I might be ‘coming from the wrong place’ to have such a lofty dream as an outcome. It took me quite awhile to accept and understand my motivations for this novel. They’ve changed over time. 

Knowing what’s important from a deep level is rocket fuel for me when I need a boost to stay with a hard scene. My values keep me steady when I work to assimilate feedback that means a lot more work ahead. 

Do you use your values to recognize and honor your writing motivation?

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Writers are lucky – we don’t require a lot of tools for the job. We can use a simple notebook or an app like Word, Google docs, or Evernote. 

Yet there are more complex systems out there for writing. I have avoided things like Scrivener. Most people I know who use it are fairly savvy when it comes to using complex apps. The trouble comes when people spend more time learning how to use the system than doing the writing. I have seen this happen, and it’s a shame to waste so much time setting up the ops. I get suspicious that the helpful app is functioning more as a procrastination ally. 

But with my current novel in progress, this time I needed to lay out the scenes in a different way than index cards. I leaned toward Scrivener. Then the learning curve loomed. What do I already have that could work, I thought? 

Notion! I have Notion, and have invested considerable time and energy into using it to run my business. I poked around and found a template online ($10). It took less than 3 hours to set up my scenes and chapters. Scriborg is simple yet has everything you would need to organize your novel. It has a lot of features I don’t use for productivity. But seeing the three acts of my novel laid out, with each scene having its own card, is so useful.

Do you use an app or program other than basic word processing for your novel? Leave a comment below! 

I hadn’t been much interested in AI. I know it’s here, I know it’s going to change everything. Focused on my projects, I haven’t wanted to go down the rabbit hole of learning and assessing AI as a tool for work and writing. 

But when LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman mentioned ‘research assistant’ on a podcast, I rushed right over to the computer and got my ‘assistant’ to work. 

In a book proposal, you have to make a claim, evidenced by stats, that there is a large market for your book. I am terrible at researching this kind of thing. I had done several Google searches. But when I used AI to research, I got much more specific results. Granted, the information doesn’t go past 2021, but I can live with that. I also have to fact-check the AI results, but still, it’s helpful.

I have used ChatGBT to help me with my writing projects: 

Comparative titles:

• Searching for any I missed
• Getting summaries to see if I missed anything in what I already wrote 

Alternative titles for my book

It was fun to see some words I wasn’t using that could be considered more mainstream. For instance, I don’t necessarily use ‘creative potential,’ but I liked it when it popped up in an alternative title. It speaks to what I want for us all – that we live up to our potential as people and creators. 

I’ve pointed clients to how to use AI for their book proposals, and one even got a new title for her book using it. 

I played with ‘book launch ideas’ to help brainstorm new ideas for my marketing section in the proposal. I pretty much knew all of them already, which was more validating than informative.. 

Not sure how to use it for my novel-writing, but one day, I had an idea. I strive to write in a certain style. I hope to write in a lyrical way, a way that emphasizes saying something in a beautiful, original way. I say striving because I feel far from achieving that.

I copied a paragraph of my novel into AI and asked it to describe the style of writing. This is what I got back: 

The writing style of this fiction is descriptive and uses vivid imagery to paint a picture of the scene and the emotions of the characters. The author also uses internal dialogue to give insight into the protagonist’s thoughts and feelings. The language is informal and uses slang, creating a sense of intimacy and authenticity. The author also employs metaphors and clichés to add depth to the character’s observations and to convey the physical sensations of the experience. The overall tone is sensual and romantic, with an emphasis on the physical pleasure and emotional connection between the characters.

That made me feel like I was getting closer to the kind of writing I want. Not totally there yet. And clichés? OY! Not so great. It sent me into the paragraph to hunt down what could be cliché and eliminate it. 

I feel ethical about how I have used AI. I’m not getting it to write my paragraphs for me. Having a better research tool is super helpful, especially in the promotion/launch phase of a book.

Have you used AI for your writing? Share how by leaving a comment below!

Typically, I wouldn’t be working on more than one major project at a time. I am happiest when I have a behemoth to work on. 

Before I get into the nitty-gritty of how it’s working for me to juggle two beasts, let me confess this: I rarely FEEL like working on these projects. Both of them carry a lot of emotional baggage. Both of them feel just beyond my skill set. 

I wrote in a recent article about the feelings we think we need to do a project. Instead of thinking I need a certain feeling to start the work, I go for the feeling I want to have after I’ve written. I’ve achieved that consistently. After work on my projects, I feel:

• empowered
• in integrity
• a triumphant sense of progress 
• greater confidence. 

It’s hard to describe, but I also feel a wholeness when doing these projects. As I’ve said before, they’ve both been on my list for years, and giving them the space they deserve just makes me feel better about life. 

It helps to keep a separate notebook for each project. I use the Hahnemühle Diary Flex because it’s small and easy to take everywhere. I do my reflective writing about my process in them. I make notes during meetings and also capture ideas and insights. More about how I use an ‘author notebook’ here. 

Specific deadlines make all the difference for me. I use the structure of my coaching group, Write ON, to have a weekly agenda for writing. These fluctuate according to what else is on my calendar. Having to declare what I will do by Friday makes it easier to keep on track every single week. 

External deadlines like working with an editor and going on a trip help me stay focused. This is especially helpful when I don’t ‘feel’ like doing the work. I want to feel free and at ease when I go away, knowing I’ve set myself up to come back easily to the project. 

In March, I was taking a class for the book proposal. I wanted to get as much done as I could during that time, so that creativity chastity belt helped me stay with it every day. I had to devise my own deadlines after that. 

I often wake up between 3 and 4 am, and it takes a while to get back to sleep. This is when thoughts of the novel float in. I get insights. It’s like this quiet, dark, liminal space allows me to see more and get ideas. Luckily, I remember them and write them down in my novel’s notebook. 

Most days (except weekends), I do a bit on each project. A book proposal is vastly different than a novel. When it gets hard, and I get squirmy, switching to the novel feels easy. I like variety in my days, always have. I call this ‘mode switch’, where I am able to get things done by moving among disparate tasks and projects.

I always want to do more. There never feels like enough time in the day. But I also know that writing is a sloooooooooow medium. Patience and persistence win the day. I love the feeling I have from working on both of these books. I am eager to finish them and get them into your hands because while these are my passion projects and I gain a lot from doing them, I am writing these for you.

What about you? How do you juggle more than one big project at once? Share your thoughts by leaving a comment below!