Move the Story Forward

My staycation week of writing was an incredible experience! I finished the entire first draft of the short book I’m writing. It’s far from perfect, but it’s done. I’m so happy to “move the story forward” on this daunting-yet-exciting book project.

All month I prepared, researched, and planned. I took a week of vacation from my full-time medical sales job. Then I did all my writing work at my neighborhood Starbucks, spending entire days there, just like it was my full-time job. I used my trusty work routine and timer, and the system worked well. I got a lot of writing done.

Plus I had a great time! I worked outside, and inside, during the Portland heat wave. I stayed extremely caffeinated, quickly befriended some wonderful Starbucks regulars, and wrote tons and tons.

This was one of the best weeks of my life. It was very self-actualizing. I really love doing this kind of thing.

I’m writing a short how-to book about a teachable artistic skill that I have. I’m hoping this book will be truly useful and empowering to its readers. It’ll be an ebook and also a print-on-demand book. As I explained in my blog article at the beginning of my 30-day challenge, I’m interested in creating intellectual property to develop a source of passive income.

My Approach to Getting Things Done

At the beginning of the week, I got started by creating a detailed table of contents for the book, along with corresponding Google docs for each chapter. I also storyboarded the entire book, imagining all the visual elements it’ll include. Then I systematically wrote each chapter. Once the writing was complete, I compiled all the chapters into one master document. I backed up all my work in several ways.

Throughout the week, I worked obsessively, whether I felt like it or not. All at Starbucks, I put in 8 hours per day on weekdays, and 4 hours per day on each weekend day, for 9 days in a row. But even as I was working, I had so much fun too. I thoroughly enjoyed my breaks and socialized a lot to recharge.

I love having a big, independent, too-big-to-handle creative project like this. It makes me feel alive. I felt confident and joyful during much of my writing. And I also lost my way a few times and seriously questioned my approach in writing this book. But I persisted and got back on track.

My husband, son, and parents have been outrageously supportive in many ways. I’m very grateful to them.

At the end of the week, I assessed my writing progress. I also considered my next steps for book creation. I wrote out everything I need to do to complete the book from here. There’s a lot of work ahead. One important thing I learned is that it often takes nine or more months to officially copyright a book. I also need to self-publish, do a ton of artwork for the book, revise and edit the text, develop the marketing website, and create a book launch plan. So realistically, I’m hoping to release this book by September 1st, 2019. I’m a little overwhelmed by all the work ahead. However I’ll nurture my faith I’ll get it all done and enjoy the process.

It’s a long, tedious project. But at the same time, it’s an absolute joy. I’m so glad to be doing this.

Thank you for reading Thoughts on the Good Life. I greatly appreciate your interest and support. As always, I wish you the very best! I hope the rest of your summer is absolutely beautiful.

Next Week: “Budget for 15 Minutes per Day – 30-Day Personal Challenge Begins”