Three Book Writing Secrets Every Author Needs To Know
By: Alun Richards
Tags: Book Writing, Content Creation, Authors, Book Publishing, Book Marketing

Book Writing | Book Marketing | Book Authors

Three Book Writing Secrets Every Author Needs To Know

Image by Alun Richards, based on Gerd Altmann from Pixabay

Have you started your book but not yet finished? If so, you’re in good company. So many established authors find themselves in this position from time to time. And it can be incredibly frustrating. You so want to get published.

If you want to finish writing your book, the question is, how do you complete the writing of your book in the most effective & efficient way? In this article, I’ve compiled recommendations from seasoned authors that they use daily. So read on to finish your book.

Tip No. 1: Do A Little Bit of Writing Every Day

You want to know the quickest way to finish writing your book? Keep writing! As an author, you probably know it’s not as easy as all that. So here’s something that may help you.

With writing, routine is everything. Successful authors all say the same thing: spend a little bit of time writing every single day. You should spend at least 30 minutes creating content for your book. Sometimes you will write more, sometimes less. But the discipline of just doing it every single day gets results.

Realistically, some days your writing will be better than others. Some days you’ll just want to dump it all. But keep at it. It’s practically impossible to write rubbish every day for, say, five days straight. The only way to fail at this is to stop writing. And of course, if you’re not creating content for your book, you’ll never get it finished. So just keep at it.

“Keep a small can of WD-40 on your desk – away from any open flames – to remind yourself that if you don’t write daily, you will get rusty.”

– George Singleton

Why Writing Every Day Is Essential

If you try to do all your writing all at once, for example, on one day a week, it simply won’t get done. You’ll put it off and put it off and then wonder why you haven’t made any progress at the end of the month. Little and often is the key. It keeps your book’s content fresh in your mind.

And the discipline of sitting down to write at a consistent time when you’re unlikely to be interrupted helps enormously. Once you establish a habit like this, you’ll find that your unconscious mind will be ready to supply the new content that it’s been working on in the background.

Published authors often mark off 20–30 minutes a day on your calendar in advance to write. It’s fine if you do more. But that appointment every day will go a long way to your success.

Tip No. 2: Reduce Distractions

Look, you know yourself better than anyone. You know when and how you distract yourself. The key is not to beat yourself up about it – it’s to spot when it’s happening, and to redirect your energy (probably low at the time!) back to writing your book.

For example, some people can waste a ton of time on social media (like Facebook, LinkedIn, Pinterest, etc.) and have very little to show for it. Others begin to find even dusting the skirting board interesting. The point is to spot when it’s happening and get back to writing.

Social media, in particular, can be a terrible time-suck. Some aspiring authors have heard they need to spend time on social media connecting with their audience. This is true, to an extent. But many aspiring authors spend time doing the WRONG things at the wrong time on social media. And this just leads to a ton of wasted time and delayed publishing timescales.

When To Use Social Media

The correct time for using social media is when you have completed your book writing. You can use it effectively in advance of your publication date by fitting it in with editing and formatting. Or even better, while someone else if editing and formatting your book.

Don’t neglect this tip as if you spend your time on the wrong things, you’ll end up compromising your publishing date. Just focus on the right thing at the right time.

During the time you’ve assigned for writing, turn off your phone and sign out of social media accounts while you write. Even 20–30 minutes of uninterrupted writing can produce significant results.

Tip No. 3: Getting Over Writer’s Block

Most authors suffer from writer’s block at some stage in their book creation. And If you haven’t faced this yet, it is likely you’ll come across it sooner or later.

It does seem to affect some more writers than others. But it can be something that can bring your writing to a complete stop. So as an author, you need strategies to get over writer’s block as it can mean the difference between success and failure.

“So even now I don’t think, ‘I can’t write today; I’ve got writer’s block.’ At newspapers, the idea of having writer’s block would be considered a joke.” – Michael Connelly

What Strategies Are Effective?

Why not learn from successful authors? There are several things you can try that have worked for established authors.

Is Your Outline Fit for Purpose?

The purpose of an outline is to allow you to see the totality of your book, where a chapter fits in and also, critically, to spur you on to write. So, assuming you’re writing from an outline, and you’re stuck at a particular point, it may be that the outline is not decomposed to a level that allows you to write.

This is a personal thing. Different people get motivated by different levels of decomposition, and this may even vary from chapter to chapter.

To see whether this will help, decompose the section that you’re stuck on to another level down. Notice whether this changes your desire to write. If it doesn’t, drill down another level. You want to find the point at which you can start writing.

Ask Questions In Your Outline

In order to get yourself writing, whatever level of decomposition you’re at, pose a question. Literally write in a question to your outline that will generate the content you want. This works as your mind likes to answer questions. So type questions for every part of your book’s outline where you’re stuck. When you come back to it, all you do then is answer the questions.

Finish Writing Your Book!

In this article, I’ve tried to incorporate advice from seasoned writers to help you finish writing your book. Why not try out the one that most appeals to you first, and see what results you get?

Then, if you choose, you can use each of these three tips to become a successful author and finally, finally finish writing your book.

If you’d like some more quick tips check out my other Medium articles on book writing, starting here: