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Writing The Damn Book: How to Start, Write And Publish A Non-Fiction Book For Creative People Who Have A Hard Time Finishing Things
by Stacy Nelson
Kindle Edition, 83 pg.
BadAss Publishing Co., 2016
Practical Magic for Alchemists Who Like to Play in the Esoteric Sandbox
by Erika Nall
(I had the privilege of reading this book before it was released to the masses.)
The “Who Is Your Reader?” section is the MOST IMPORTANT section. It stopped me dead in my tracks!
I’ve bought countless courses and trainings but something always felt off. I couldn’t quite put my finger on it. All of them had me “start with the end in mind.” I was painting these beautiful pictures of my days, my 3 months from now, my 1 year from now, and beyond. It was so yummy. It tapped into my superpower of visioneering. It satisfied my romanticism. It validated my idealism. Then I reversed engineered to create that in the present.
However, when it came to my readers and clients the “guru” always had me start at the beginning of their journey. “What are her pain points?”
EVERY. SINGLE. TIME. I start there my stomach clenches and my heart shrinks. Inside I feel small and powerless. I get confused and lack clarity. OUCH! It’s painful.
I can hear it now:
Guru: “Lean into your discomfort. Just push through it. This is good for you. This is an opportunity to grow.”
Me: “Um, I don’t think you understand this is not uncomfortable like my shoes are a little too tight or I have a bit of indigestion from the pepperoni pizza I just ate. This is killing me inside.”
Guru: “Well, that’s just a thought. Notice the thought. Let it go back from where it came. Back into nothingness.”
Me: “I don’t think you heard me. THIS IS LITERALLY KILLING ME INSIDE! I avoid death as much as possible thank-you-very-much.”
(And as an alchemist, I know I can excel in the dark art of manipulation to get what I want. I always felt like I went there when I started with pain. “I can help you. Or, better yet “I can save you.”)
Why do I die inside when I start with pain?
My reader is me. I am her. When I talk about her beginning, I am talking about my beginning. When I talk about her insecurities, I am talking about my insecurities. And believe me, they like to show up and be a part of the show anytime they can.
Now, I understand why the beginning is a terrible place to start. Brains are pretty clueless. Whatever it’s thinking, it perceives as reality. That’s its job. And, mine does it very well.
Now I understand that those sensations. That experience is also what happens when I am insecure.
When I wanted to share my message through writing, my self-assurance, my self-confidence, my self-trust was nowhere to be found. Frozen, I just stared at that incessant blinking damn cursor for hours as the insecurities played and had their fun in my head. Frustrated and feeling rather poorly about myself, I would give up. I’d walk out of my office thinking, “What’s wrong with me? How can I usually write so freely and unabashedly with great perseverance one minute, but not the next.”
I wrote the answer, “who is your reader going to BE at the end of the book?” (Honestly, I wasn’t sure if this was going to work.)
And, I felt it. For the first time I felt that what I wrote was coming from a deep place inside of me and not my head. I expected the sensation to be like a blast of, or at least a pulsating, bright light. (Well, that what I thought was suppose to happen when you are passionate and empowered.) Instead, my stomach was relax and I felt a gentle pressure across my chest. It was a constant glow and warmth like after the fire burnt up the firestarters -the tender and the kindling- and it’s just being a fire, doing what fires do. Sure there was an occasional popping of pitch, but I didn’t stop. My fingers just pounded a bit harder on the keyboard.
My breath deep and long. Every once in awhile tears would run down my face. My mind quiet. There was no judging. I just typed. I didn’t set a timer like I usually do to keep me on track. When I felt like I got up into my head, I paused, looked out the window and watched the birds for a little bit, took a few deep breaths, and went back to writing. When all that I had inside was out in black and white -unedited and raw- I looked at the clock and only 50 minutes had passed – talk about flow, baby.
I took a deep breath, exhaling slowly, coming back to my surroundings. Then my intuition said, “Is this making her BE EMPOWERED?” And, I cried.
Several times since then, I’ve tapped back into empowered and I’ve cried every time. Not because I am sad, or happy, or relieved because now I can feel the glorious ginormity of it. How badly, how passionately I want that for my readers AND for me.
You see, I was asking the wrong question. I was starting in the wrong place.
Now when I begin with the energetics of empowerment, I write within the place of security. My assurance, confidence, and trust will be front and center. And, when the writing gets hard and there is a call to perseverance, THIS is what will pull me through the challenges of spreading my message in whatever form I choose.
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Odds ‘n ends over the week about books and reading that caught my eye. You’ve probably seen some/most/all of them, but just in case:
This Week’s New Releases I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon. Okay, that’s a lie — I don’t have time for all these this month (ignoring the stack of things on my shelf and Kindle I do need to get to) — you probably won’t see these soon, you’ve either seen them here, or maybe later this year. But I’d like to read them all now.:
- Harry Potter and the Cursed Child: The Official Script Book of the Original West End Production Special Rehearsal Edition by J.K. Rowling, Jack Thorne, John Tiffany — Good thing that I mentioned this, right? None of you has heard of it. Picked up my copy today, I may get to it this coming week (assuming I have the time and my daughter lets me near it)
- Blood of the Earth by Faith Hunter — I blabbed about this before, if this isn’t the best thing that Hunter’s done, it’s in the running. I just hope book 2 is almost as strong.
- Repo Madness by W. Bruce Cameron — I did not expect The Midnight Plan of the Repo Man to get a sequel, it didn’t need one. But I’ll gladly read it.
- Enter Title Here by Rahul Kanakia — No, that’s not my placeholder text, that’s the actual title. It’s supposedly Gossip Girl meets House of Cards, but looks better than that.
- Spiderlight by Adrian Tchaikovsky — a subversive traditional fantasy. If it’s 60% as good as Jeff Somers says that it is, I’ve gotta give it a shot.
- Amaryllis and Other Stories by Carrie Vaughn — I like non-Kitty Norville Vaughn stuff, just not as much. Still, this collection of her shorter works from across genres seems pretty appealing.
- The Hike by Drew Magary — Wired says: “It’s kind of a more cynical version of The Phantom Tollbooth mixed with a game of Dungeons & Dragons.” ‘Nuff said.
- The Bad Decisions Playlist by Michael Rubens — a little more YA material. I liked Rubens’ SF work from a couple of years ago, will give this a glance when I can.
- The Coaster by Erich Wurster — Again, I’ve already talked about this, so read that if you’d like. This first novel is promising enough to make you want more from Wurster.
Lastly, I’d like to say hi and welcome to alittlebirdtweets, kmelerine , and Peter Ranger for following the blog this week.
It almost seems as though any book that gets famous enough is going to earn some complaints and criticism. These usually come from parents looking to protect their children from topics and material they deem unfit for consumption. When a complaint is formally submitted with the intent to remove reading material from a library or required reading list, it is known as a challenge. A successful challenge results in a ban.
Although it may seem like a positive thing from the outside, challenges are usually met with much resistance from educators and faculty member. The team at Readers.com researched and illustrated a timeline of some of the most feared and banned books in history and tracked why people wanted to get these works banned in the first place. Check out the graphic to see the entire list! How many of your favorite books actually made it on that list?
(thanks to Bryan from Readers.com for asking me to post this and for writing the intro)
So, here’s what happened here in July.
Books (etc.) Read:
Still Reading:
Reviews Posted:
How was your month?
Second week in a row that I’m late with this…blame my wife insisting that I should interact with people in this “Real World” she keeps going on about. Oh, and sleep — my chief foe (and welcoming friend).
Odds ‘n ends over the week about books and reading that caught my eye. You’ve probably seen some/most/all of them, but just in case:
This Week’s New Releases I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
- The Summer that Melted Everything by Tiffany McDaniel — I’ve gushed enough about this already, but it’s officially out now — get reading!
- How did I miss Outfoxed by David R last week? Seriously, what’s wrong with me? Andy Carpenter, a dog on the cover, with crime and jokes inside — a recipe for fun.
- Nevernight by Jay Kristoff — after The Lotus War I’ve gotta give whatever he puts out a shot. Doesn’t hurt that this looks really good.
- GUN by The Gun Collective — an experimental, collaborative novel put out my the mavericks over at Fahrenheit Press.
- City of Wolves by Willow Palecek — A “gaslamp fantasy noir” — I’m not really sure what that means (but I have a pretty good idea), but it looks like a fun read.
Lastly, I’d like to say hi and welcome to Grace Crandall for following the blog this week. Thanks to ThemisAthena for all the encouraging likes and to Bookstooge for catching my BookLikes goof.
Odds ‘n ends over the week about books and reading that caught my eye. You’ve probably seen some/most/all of them, but just in case:
This Week’s New Releases I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
- Nightshades by Melissa F. Olson — Crime Fighting and Vampires — sounds like a good idea from someone (see above) who knows their way around Policing the Supernatural.
- The Dragon Lords: Fool’s Gold by Jon Hollins — the tag line definitely grabs your attention: Guardians of the Galaxy meets The Hobbit in this rollicking fantasy adventure.” And the description makes it sound like it’d be worthwhile seeing if the book is nearly as good.
- Flying by Carrie Jones — looks like I might enjoy spending an afternoon with this, and it could be a new obsession for my Doctor Who loving daughter.
Lastly, I’d like to say hi and welcome to wanderlustexplored, ThemisAthena and kittensandhumans for following the blog this week.
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