Get clear on your idea
Your Ultimate Writing Kickstart Strategy
Get clear on your idea
Your Ultimate Writing Kickstart Strategy
Your Quiz Results:
Get clear on your idea
You know you want to write a book. Perhaps you’ve dreamed about it since you were a kid, or maybe it’s a new idea that just won’t leave you alone. Either way, something is pulling you to the page. You’re just not quite sure what to do with it yet.
Even acknowledging you want to write a book is huge. So many people shrug off their dreams like they’re no big deal. But you are being honest with yourself. You know this is something you want—even if you' don’t know what it looks like yet. Acknowledging your dream sets you on the path.
Why we want to get clear
Now it’s time to
kickstart your writing strategy
Why we want to get clear
Now it’s time to
kickstart your writing strategy
Before you can get to writing, publishing, and holding your book in your hands,
you need to get clear on what this book idea actually is.
How we'll get clear
We are going to…
Wrangle the mess of ideas in your brainso you can get clear on what this book really is
~
Identify who needs to hear your messageso your writing can make a meaningful difference in someone’s life, and
~
Figure out what your book looks likeso you have a container to pour your ideas into,
and can start writing with ease.
How we'll get clear
We are going to…
Wrangle the mess of ideas in your brainso you can get clear on what this book really is
~
Identify who needs to hear your messageso your writing can make a meaningful difference in someone’s life, and
~
Figure out what your book looks likeso you have a container to pour your ideas into,
and can start writing with ease.
Sound good?
Here’s how we do it…
The three steps below are your easy-to-follow strategy tailored to where you are in the writing process right now. This is your personalized roadmap to finally write (and finish!) your self-help or business book. They take some work, but you are more than capable. Take the steps one at a time and start making real progress. You’ve got this.
Step 1. Wrangle the mess of ideas in your brain
You need to brain dump all your ideas out of your head onto somewhere you can see them.
Write fast bullet points for every idea in your head. Use as few words as possible—just enough to remind you what the idea is.
Use Word, Google Docs, the notes app on your phone, a pen and paper, chisel and stone, or a scrap of tissue paper. It truly doesn’t matter. Just get the ideas down, short and fast. Rough and jumbled is fine for now; you can assess and organize them later.
Once the ideas are out of your head, you can see what you’re working with, and it will feel far more manageable.
Step 2. Identify who needs to hear your message
Want to know if that long list of ideas is any good? You’re really asking if they’re good for your ideal reader. So, you need to know who that reader is.
Write about who will benefit most from what you have to share AND is ready, willing, and eager to hear your message. You already know this person; remind yourself of who they are and what they need by journalling on it.
This is magic because when you START considering your reader, you STOP feeling overwhelmed with your own stuff.
Step 3. Figure out what your book looks like
Writing a book feels overwhelming when you can’t envision it. So, let’s get clear on the vision.
Head to a bookstore, Amazon, the local library, or your most nerdy friend’s bookshelf, and flick through a bunch of non-fiction books. Online bookstores sometimes have a “look inside” feature that’s helpful here.
The goal is to see their contents, structures, and styles, and figure out what you like (“Ooh, that’s good. I’d love mine to be like that.”) and what turns you off fast (“No way. That’s awful.”)
Keep flicking through at books until you have a sense of what you’d like yours to look like. Then your beautiful brain will take that inspiration and map your idea onto it—which will be motivating as all hell.
With these three steps, you will have wrangled your ideas out of your brain and onto the page (screen, napkin), figured out who your ideal reader is so you can focus on HELPING THEM, and created a clear vision of what your ideas—written for your person—might look like when brought together in a book.
Getting clear like this will give your writing the great big kickstart you need. I can’t wait to see what happens next.
Let me intro myself: get clear
Let me intro myself: get clear
Let me introduce myself
I’m Liz Green, the editor, book coach, and ghostwriter behind Green Goose Writing.
I’ve written nineteen books, taught college writing classes, and am an Author Accelerator certified book coach specializing in memoir.
But those I work with don’t think of themselves as “real writers.” They’re everyday folks like you who want to write a book that will inspire others but are stuck trying to get the words on the page.
Maybe you're used to getting things done in other areas of your life, and you’re frustrated that, for some reason, your book just isn’t working. But you know now is the time to push through and do this.
And I love that. I love working with people who are stepping outside their wheelhouse, maybe feeling a bit scared or intimidated, but doing it anyway because they know they have something worth sharing. If that’s you, you’re my kind of person!
I am here to help you kickstart your writing, finish your book, and feel proud of sharing your words with the world.
Get Clear inspiration
“Clarity of mind means clarity of passion, too.”
—Blaise Pascal, 17th century French mathematician
Get Clear inspiration
“Clarity of mind means clarity of passion, too.”
—Blaise Pascal, 17th century French mathematician