Finishing the 2nd Draft of the Book

I’m feverishly working on finishing draft #2 of the book I’m working on. Morning, noon, and night. This draft of my holiday window painting book will include original artwork and images. The picture in this article shows the window I’m painting my book artwork on. I took this work-in-progress photo right before washing off “Merry Christmas”, so I could paint “Season’s Greetings” on the glass. I’ll tell you: Making this book is a lot of work, but it’s also rewarding and fun. It’s both a side income project and a labor of love.

A Little Extra Time

Luckily, I’m right in the middle of four days off work. I used the first two days, plus a morning, to finish my 10th, 11th, and 12th paintings and take quality book photos of them. I’m planning to get a lot of writing revisions done in the next two days. I have a graphic artist actively fine-tuning a bunch of images I created for the book. I have my work-in-progress book text and artwork in a 3-ring binder with plastic page protectors. It’s about 100 pages long. By Tuesday, 2/26/19, I should have some solid updates to the book: including my spruced-up art images from the graphic artist and the revised 2nd draft text. Draft #2 of the book will then be almost complete.

Plans for Progress

I was hoping to have the 2nd book draft totally complete by Tuesday, 2/26/2019. Three months ago I set that goal. I’ll be almost finished with draft #2 by then. But I’ll still have some details to complete. The last three painting photos will go to the graphic artist. I’ll take photos of my painting tools. I’ll submit applications for a federal trademark and state business license. I’ll need until Monday, 3/4/2019 to get all that complete.

I’m learning as I go. I’m pretty good at creating a plan and envisioning future workflow. But this book project is quite technical. I’m facing tasks I’ve never faced before. I’m figuring out many things as I go along.

The Painting Workshop

Thankfully, my husband is almost as excited as I am about this book. He originated the idea, provides good ideas regularly, physically flips my 35-pound painting window, and helps me find time to work on it. My 2.5-year-old son has been cooperative too. He loves everything I paint, and he’s whipping up his own flurry of colorful paintings.

I’ve been doing my painting at home alongside my husband and son. We’ve all been co-existing well. I’m grateful for their their supportive cooperation and good company. I’ve also been working alone early in the morning, during my work lunch breaks, and in the evenings. I’m part of an accountability group at work that has been very helpful. Publicly sharing my book efforts in this blog has been motivating. Even with all this book work activity as I finish draft #2, I’ve been working a full time job and living the rest of my life fully. I’m giving attention to necessities like sleep, eating, grooming, and tidiness for myself and my family. Taking good care of ourselves, even while I work hard on the book, has kept everything reasonably balanced and moving forward productively.

Location and Focus Change

I’ll be doing my draft #2 book writing mostly at Starbucks Monday and Tuesday. I plan to work two normal 8 hour workdays there. I’ll complete a 2nd draft of book text that will teach readers how to holiday window paint for pleasure and profit.

Well-Timed Inspiration

I also recently found an inspiring audiobook that came into my life at just at the right time recommended by a friend. It’s called, “The War of Art” (not to be confused with “The Art of War”). It’s written by Steven Pressfield and narrated by George Guidall. It’s about overcoming resistance, being a professional, doing your work, and divine inspiration. My favorite quote in the book is, “The professional masters how, and leaves what and why to the gods.” Pressfield pretty much says it’s best to focus first and foremost on technique and doing the work, so when inspiration and great opportunities come along, your skills can be put into action. I’ve listened to the auidobook 4 times now during my commutes. The book packs a powerful punch. It’s helping me keep my eye on the ball as I move toward completion and marketing launch of this book by Sunday 9/1/19.

Finishing Little by Little

If you’ve made it this far into my blog article, thank you for reading, and thanks for your interest in my book project. I hope you have a creative project in your life that energizes you and makes your life interesting. If you have a yet-to-materialize project in mind that lights you up, I encourage you to find a way to get it started, bring it to life, and finish it. I’ll attempt to successfully carry out the next steps in my book project over the next week. I’ll continue to work with focus, depth, and intensity on finishing draft #2 of this book.

3/4/2019 UPDATE:

I’ve made some excellent book progress, but not as much as I’d hoped. Life is busy. I continue to work hard and truck forward on this book project. I’m realizing I can’t guarantee the book will be a commercial success. All I can do is put out a quality book and make it easily available for purchase. To me, that will be a great success. Onward.