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Speaker 1: Hello everybody, Welcome back to the show. Welcome back to

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Speaker 1: the podcast, new listeners, old listeners. Wherever you are in

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Speaker 1: the world, it is so great to have you here.

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Speaker 1: Back for another episode as we, of course break down

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Speaker 1: the psychology of our twenties. Today's episode is going to

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Speaker 1: be a little bit different. We are not talking about,

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Speaker 1: you know, something that every twenty something is going to do,

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Speaker 1: which I typically like to center my episodes on. We're

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Speaker 1: not even talking about psychology all that much, but of

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Speaker 1: course it is still going to be an element of that.

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Speaker 1: What we are talking about is my new book, mainly

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Speaker 1: the process by which I was able to write it.

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Speaker 1: My book took me around four to six months to write,

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Speaker 1: to write the first draft, first draft I was really

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Speaker 1: really happy with, and then from there there were so

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Speaker 1: many extra hidden steps that I think that no one

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Speaker 1: really talks about when they say they want to write

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Speaker 1: a book, or when they're talking about authorship. I think

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Speaker 1: we have this idea in our heads of like, Okay,

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Speaker 1: I'll write a book, I'll put everything into it it. Okay,

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Speaker 1: it will take me a couple months and then it

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Speaker 1: will come out and as soon as I'm done writing it,

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Speaker 1: you know, the next shipment of books that are coming

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Speaker 1: in that's going to have my name on it. It's

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Speaker 1: such a secretive process, almost and I know that so

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Speaker 1: many people have on their bucket list on one of

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Speaker 1: the huge life goals is to write a novel, is

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Speaker 1: to write a book, and having done it, having slugged

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Speaker 1: through it, suffered through it, but also really enjoyed the process.

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Speaker 1: At times, I thought that this would be something interesting

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Speaker 1: to talk about and to also be able to answer

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Speaker 1: the questions that so many of you have been asking

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Speaker 1: me in the lead up to Person in Progress's release.

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Speaker 1: This is such a great opportunity when this is fresh

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Speaker 1: in my mind, to really talk about the secret ins

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Speaker 1: and outs of book writing. So I know this episode

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Speaker 1: might not necessarily appeal to everyone who is a longtime

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Speaker 1: listener of the Psychology of your twenties, but for those

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Speaker 1: of you who it does. Honestly, I find this stuff

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Speaker 1: so fascinating. I listened to so many podcasts when I

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Speaker 1: was writing my book about how to do this, so

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Speaker 1: I thought I'd add my own tips to the story

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Speaker 1: and to the wealth of information out there. If you've

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Speaker 1: ever wanted to write a book, if it's something on

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Speaker 1: your bucket list. If you are currently writing a book,

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Speaker 1: if you just want to understand the artistic process a

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Speaker 1: little bit more, maybe learn something, this episode is for you.

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Speaker 1: I am so excited. We're going to cut the intro

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Speaker 1: nice and short so we can get into the nice,

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Speaker 1: juicy stuff without further ado. Let's talk about how I

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Speaker 1: wrote my book, Person and Progress. Okay, so for the

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Speaker 1: last six months I have been writing all of my

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Speaker 1: thoughts and feelings about book writing in my notes APP.

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Speaker 1: I kind of always knew I wanted to document this,

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Speaker 1: which is great for me now because all of my

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Speaker 1: thoughts it's all here, It's already to be shared. Let

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Speaker 1: me start with explaining why I knew I wanted to

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Speaker 1: write a book, because I think that that why is

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Speaker 1: really really important and often neglected. I want to remind

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Speaker 1: you it's not that you want to write a book.

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Speaker 1: You should want to write the book, a specific book

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Speaker 1: that you know needs to be written, that you feel

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Speaker 1: called to in your heart to put out there that

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Speaker 1: you feel like it just needs to be spoken, It

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Speaker 1: needs to be written down. There is no other option

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Speaker 1: going forward that does not involve you creating this thing.

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Speaker 1: Here are some of the questions I would ask myself,

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Speaker 1: or that you can ask yourself to understand what kind

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Speaker 1: of book is it that you actually want to write.

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Speaker 1: The biggest thing to notice is, if you want to

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Speaker 1: write a book, what is the thing that you already

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Speaker 1: could talk about all day? What is the thing that

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Speaker 1: you think about the most? What is the topic idea

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Speaker 1: conversation that you bring up with your friends all the time.

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Speaker 1: What is the thing you feel like you can't not

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Speaker 1: write about. What we're really getting to hear is trying

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Speaker 1: to find the direction in which you should be placing

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Speaker 1: your efforts and trying almost to uncover the idea that

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Speaker 1: I think we all have. All of us have a

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Speaker 1: brilliant story that only we can tell. All of us

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Speaker 1: have some kind of knowledge or lived experience with the

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Speaker 1: topic that hasn't been told before. The thing is, it's

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Speaker 1: about identifying that now. Another element of this is that

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Speaker 1: there are some books that you might think you can

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Speaker 1: write that you just shouldn't. And it feels strange because

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Speaker 1: maybe you are sitting on a million idea and you're thinking,

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Speaker 1: oh my gosh, I should really write this book, or

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Speaker 1: someone should, but you have no motivation to begin, You

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Speaker 1: have no idea. What would happen with it, You have

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Speaker 1: no storyline, nothing like that. That is either the start

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Speaker 1: of a really great idea or it's a sign that

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Speaker 1: that idea actually doesn't belong to you. So I heard

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Speaker 1: this brilliant analogy by Elizabeth Gilbert, who we've interviewed on

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Speaker 1: the podcast before, and she explains how ideas we don't

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Speaker 1: necessarily own them. Before we create something, all we have

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Speaker 1: is an idea. But until we put that idea into

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Speaker 1: and make it into something tangible, and we put it

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Speaker 1: into fruition, anyone is welcome to come and take it.

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Speaker 1: Anyone is welcome to have DIBs to it. Essentially, what

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Speaker 1: she explains is that there are all these ideas that

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Speaker 1: are kind of existing around us and within the walls.

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Speaker 1: There are all these stories that the universe once told,

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Speaker 1: and they are going to find the person. The universe,

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Speaker 1: the spirits, whatever it is, the Roman gods, the Greek gods,

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Speaker 1: God in general, this force is going to find the

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Speaker 1: person who is going to be able to execute that

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Speaker 1: idea most succinctly and quickly. So, if you have an

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Speaker 1: idea for a book, but you really are actually just

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Speaker 1: not that committed to it, it's kater let that idea

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Speaker 1: go and leave space for a better one, or a

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Speaker 1: more fresh, personal, interesting idea to you, because perhaps that

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Speaker 1: idea doesn't really belong to you. The reason I've put

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Speaker 1: so much time into explaining this is because that happened

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Speaker 1: to me. The initial book that I wanted to write,

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Speaker 1: I now realize was not my book I initially wanted

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Speaker 1: to write. I had two ideas. I initially wanted to

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Speaker 1: essentially keep a journal for two years and then publish

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Speaker 1: though like certain journal entries as like an anthology or

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Speaker 1: a collection of like the twenty something Diaries, which if

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Speaker 1: you follow me on Instagram you'll know is something that

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Speaker 1: I do over there. But I wanted to basically give

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Speaker 1: people almost the ability to buy my diary with like

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Speaker 1: hand written entries in it, on like a mass scale.

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Speaker 1: A couple problems with that. I still think it's a

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Speaker 1: good idea, and if someone else wants to do it,

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Speaker 1: like it's it's not my idea anymore, like not going

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Speaker 1: to make that idea so someone else is welcome to

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Speaker 1: do it. I think the issue with that is that

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Speaker 1: it is quite vulnerable, and what it made me realize

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Speaker 1: is that I would end up writing in my journal

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Speaker 1: in my diary as if there was already an audience there,

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Speaker 1: as if someone was already perceiving everything that I'd written,

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Speaker 1: because I was already committed to the practice. I already

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Speaker 1: journal basically every single day. But at the point that

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Speaker 1: I decided that those journals were going to be published,

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Speaker 1: obviously that was going to completely disrupt the artistic and

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Speaker 1: also the emotional and personal process of that practice. So

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Speaker 1: that was the first idea, and I realized, like, that's

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Speaker 1: not going to work. The second idea was that I

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Speaker 1: wanted to write this book called The Overachiever's Guide to

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Speaker 1: Doing Less, and I wanted to talk about how, through

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Speaker 1: mistakes and errors and faults and flaws and this whole process,

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Speaker 1: I have kind of learned to put less pressure on myself.

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Speaker 1: And I know that there are so many individuals out

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Speaker 1: there who are very Type A and who were raised

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Speaker 1: as gifted overachievers, who to this day struggle with this

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Speaker 1: idea that their output is their entire worth. And I

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Speaker 1: really wanted to write a self help book, I guess,

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Speaker 1: debunking that idea and providing like tangible, practical ways to

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Speaker 1: re center your life on things that you actually enjoy

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Speaker 1: and that bring you joy rather than on what seems

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Speaker 1: impressive for other people, how hard you can work, how

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Speaker 1: much you can push yourself. So those were two ideas

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Speaker 1: that I had before I decided to write Person in Progress.

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Speaker 1: And I am fully okay with the fact that, yes,

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Speaker 1: those may have been great ideas, but that was not

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Speaker 1: the book that I was being called to write. The

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Speaker 1: book that I was being called to write was this

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Speaker 1: book was Person and Progress. This is how I figured

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Speaker 1: that out. I figured it out because it was what

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Speaker 1: I was already obsessed with. And I was actually already

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Speaker 1: writing about the podcast The Psychology of Your Twenties, like

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Speaker 1: those episodes could have made a novel. And something that

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Speaker 1: not many people know is that actually most of these

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Speaker 1: episodes are scripted, and that requires me to write, you know,

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Speaker 1: somewhere anywhere between four thousand to seven thousand words for

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Speaker 1: every single script, and I was doing that, like happily.

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Speaker 1: I was so involved in that process of writing my

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Speaker 1: scripts two a week, sometimes ten twelve, thirteen thousand words

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Speaker 1: that I kind of took a step back and was like, oh,

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Speaker 1: I'm already writing this book. I'm writing this book just

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Speaker 1: in a different form. So what's the challenge going to

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Speaker 1: be what's the big difference, Like, this is the book

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Speaker 1: that I'm being called to write. The other thing was

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Speaker 1: that I could not stop taking notes of everything around

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Speaker 1: me that I was almost already committed to putting in

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Speaker 1: the book. Let me explain that. So I remember, specifically,

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Speaker 1: there's a story in the book of one of my friends,

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Speaker 1: and she previously had like the most terrible workplace and

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Speaker 1: she had a terrible boss and it was just an

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Speaker 1: awful experience. And I remember hearing that story and talking

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Speaker 1: it through with her and getting really really involved, and

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Speaker 1: then a part of me was like, wow, like that

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Speaker 1: would be a great part of this book, Like someone

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Speaker 1: could even write a whole book around this. And I

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Speaker 1: wrote down her story obviously, without mission. And there were

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Speaker 1: so many other instances like that, like friends, breakups, things

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Speaker 1: I was learning in my own life, things I was

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Speaker 1: noticing in the news. It felt like the structure was

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Speaker 1: being built by those very ideas, and I just had

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Speaker 1: to kind of fill in the blanks and be committed

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Speaker 1: to making it coherent. So this is my first big

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Speaker 1: piece of advice. If you want to write a book,

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Speaker 1: the idea should almost feel natural to you. It should

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Speaker 1: feel like already in your mind already in what you

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Speaker 1: are noticing in the notes that you are jotting down,

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Speaker 1: you're already committed to writing this book, like you're already

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Speaker 1: doing research. You're already on the lookout for things that

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Speaker 1: will contribute to this story that you know needs to

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Speaker 1: be told that has not been told yet. The next

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Speaker 1: thing I want to talk about, which no one talks about,

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Speaker 1: is how to write a pitch. So there's kind of

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Speaker 1: two ways that you go about writing a book. Either

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Speaker 1: you write the whole book, you write the whole manuscript,

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Speaker 1: and then you start looking for a publisher, or you

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Speaker 1: have the idea and before you write it, you pitch

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Speaker 1: it to publishing houses and see if they'll give you

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Speaker 1: an advance and see if they'll find you a slot.

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Speaker 1: So a slot is basically the time in the year

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Speaker 1: when your book is going to be released. So something

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Speaker 1: that no one told me before I started writing a

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Speaker 1: book is that publishers obviously cannot flood the market with

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Speaker 1: every single book that is proposed to them pitch to them,

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Speaker 1: but also with every single book that they are even

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Speaker 1: working on. You know, they have to kind of stagnate

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Speaker 1: what's it called, like stagger. They have to kind of

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Speaker 1: stagger their release, and so they are looking out for

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Speaker 1: books that are going to fill certain slots in their roster.

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Speaker 1: Most publishing houses they know what books they're going to

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Speaker 1: be publishing two years in advance. They know what book's

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Speaker 1: going to be coming out in April twenty twenty seven.

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Speaker 1: That book is already being written right now, and so

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Speaker 1: even if you haven't written the book yet, they are

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Speaker 1: constantly looking for amazing ideas and stories that could fill

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Speaker 1: those slots. So if you want to go that route,

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Speaker 1: what you need to do is write a pitch. This

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Speaker 1: is exactly what a pitch is going to involve. It's

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Speaker 1: going to involve a small section about you, about your experience,

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Speaker 1: about your background, about anything that you think is relevant

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Speaker 1: to why you are writing this story. Perhaps if you

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Speaker 1: are writing a scientific or a health based book, or

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Speaker 1: a self improvement book or a psychology book, you know

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Speaker 1: you want to say, I have a bit of credibility,

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Speaker 1: so I have a degree, I have worked in this space, YadA, YadA, YadA.

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Speaker 1: Maybe if you're writing a fiction book, you want to say, all,

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Speaker 1: this is where I've had pieces published before, that kind

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Speaker 1: of stuff, A little bit of it about me section.

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Speaker 1: Then you want a section that is about the book.

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Speaker 1: Who is the audience going to be, what is the

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Speaker 1: plotline going to be, who are the characters, what's the

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Speaker 1: story going to be based around? What are the major

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Speaker 1: themes going to be? Why do you think people will

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Speaker 1: read this book? Maybe noticing certain trends, like if you're

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Speaker 1: writing a romance book, saying well, look, this is the

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Speaker 1: romance industry is absolutely thriving, like this is where I

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Speaker 1: see my book fitting in here basically selling your book

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Speaker 1: and saying you're going to make money off of this

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Speaker 1: hopefully here's why. Here is exactly why, and exactly who's

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Speaker 1: going to buy it? Then typically you're going to want

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Speaker 1: to give kind of a section outline, a story outline.

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Speaker 1: For me, obviously, I wrote a non fiction book, so

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Speaker 1: I wrote a chapter outline that will change, but it's

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Speaker 1: basically just like I've thought about this enough to have

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Speaker 1: something that I can give you to show that I'm

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Speaker 1: prepared to put effort into this and I'm prepared to

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Speaker 1: watch this evolve. So I did like a I basically

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Speaker 1: just gave them my table of contents what I expected

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Speaker 1: my table of contents to be, and then I wrote

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Speaker 1: two sample chapters two sample chapters that I basically was like,

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Speaker 1: I believe these will end up in the final manuscript.

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Speaker 1: And they did end up in the final manuscript, obviously

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Speaker 1: deeply changed and edited, but the overall theme of them

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Speaker 1: was the same. And that's an important component of this,

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Speaker 1: because again, they want to know your tone. They also

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Speaker 1: want to know that you're a good writer. They want

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Speaker 1: to know that, yeah, you're going to be capable of

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Speaker 1: creating something that they actually think is worthy of reading,

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Speaker 1: worthy in their minds. Personally, I think anything that you've

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Speaker 1: written is worthy of reading and rereading and changing even

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Speaker 1: if no one else is buying it. Like, it's still

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Speaker 1: a beautiful process just to write something and create something

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Speaker 1: even if no one ends up buying it. But what

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Speaker 1: they're looking for is sometimes a specific way of writing

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Speaker 1: or a specific yeah, a specific tone, a specific process

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Speaker 1: that they have kind of seen work for them in

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Speaker 1: the past. I don't really know if I can give

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Speaker 1: you any further detail about that, because I think I

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Speaker 1: just went into it being like, this is what I

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Speaker 1: would want to read, this is how this is my

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Speaker 1: writing style. So I'm just going to write these chapters

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Speaker 1: the way that I would do it if no one

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Speaker 1: was watching and luckily for me, they really really liked them. If,

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Speaker 1: of course, perhaps you're writing a fiction book, you might like.

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Speaker 1: For me, it was very easy to do true chapters

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Speaker 1: because they were I think fifteen pages each, so thirty

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Speaker 1: pages in total of my book, and like all the

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Speaker 1: chapters are distinct, right, So like if I was to

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Speaker 1: show you the table of contents, if you have the book,

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Speaker 1: like you'll know that each chapter is its own packaged

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Speaker 1: kind of If you're writing a fiction book, it might

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Speaker 1: be a little bit different. You might have to flesh

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Speaker 1: out the storyline a little bit more, perhaps provide the

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Speaker 1: first few chapters, like the first you know, the first

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Speaker 1: critical part of the book before they say yes, we

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Speaker 1: want you to write this. That is how to write

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Speaker 1: a pitch. You are then welcome to find people's emails.

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Speaker 1: Maybe you find an agent. I had an agent, which

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Speaker 1: I was very lucky to have through like previous relationships

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Speaker 1: that I had. Basically I said to the person who

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Speaker 1: manages my podcast, like, I really want to write a book,

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Speaker 1: and she was like, I'll get you in touch with

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Speaker 1: a friend. His name was he works for UTA, and

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Speaker 1: he basically handled a lot of this for me. So

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Speaker 1: I can't say that I'm an expert in this part,

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Speaker 1: but essentially what I believed he did was send that

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Speaker 1: pitch to a bunch of people in the industry he knew,

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Speaker 1: and then there is kind of basically it's called taking

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Speaker 1: it to market, and then people bid on your book.

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Speaker 1: If you're lucky enough to have multiple people interested. Sometimes

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Speaker 1: you might just have one person interested and they go, yep,

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Speaker 1: we love this book, We'll buy the rights. This is

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Speaker 1: how much we'll offer you. Maybe they'll only offer you royalties,

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Speaker 1: whatever it is the deal that you're getting, or you

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Speaker 1: might have multiple people, which is just like so amazing

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Speaker 1: if you do, and so incredible. Literally, someone just reading

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Speaker 1: your manuscript is already a huge success. One person by

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Speaker 1: wanting to buy your book is an even bigger success.

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Speaker 1: Two people wanting to buy your book is just insane.

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Speaker 1: So that is something that some people encounter where they've

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Speaker 1: taken it to market. There's kind of a bidding war,

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Speaker 1: and the people the publishing houses will say, well, this

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Speaker 1: is what we can offer you if you publish with us.

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Speaker 1: There was also the opportunity to self publish, to say, okay,

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Speaker 1: I'm going to put a grand two grand, which is

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Speaker 1: a lot of money, but however much you're willing to

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Speaker 1: put into it, to make copies of this book myself

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Speaker 1: and to get them printed at a local printer, and

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Speaker 1: then to go into bookstores and say, hey, I'm a

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Speaker 1: local author, will you stop my book? And you know what,

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Speaker 1: there have been some incredible success stories from people doing this.

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Speaker 1: I don't know if anyone knows this. I guess it's

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Speaker 1: a novel. This book. It's called The Diary of an

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Speaker 1: Oxygen Thief. That book, I remember it being huge and

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Speaker 1: it's like a very gripping story. The anonymous author of

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Speaker 1: that book actually, you know, managed to get a full

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Speaker 1: time retailer and a full time publisher from initially pitching

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Speaker 1: it to local bookstores who were like, yeah, we'll buy

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Speaker 1: a couple of copies and we'll sell them, and then

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Speaker 1: they couldn't keep them because people were like, Wow, this

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Speaker 1: is such a good book, and we're recommending it to

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Speaker 1: their friends. So there are so many routes through which

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Speaker 1: you can do this that aside, let's now talk about

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Speaker 1: how to actually write a book, how to actually get

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Speaker 1: to that seventy eighty thousand, ninety thousand word limit and

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Speaker 1: enjoy the process. Because I know this is going to

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Speaker 1: sound dramatic. Writing a book is like birthing a child.

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Speaker 1: Quite literally, you spend more time with that book than

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Speaker 1: someone spends with a child in their womb. Like it

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Speaker 1: takes so many months. It is a labor of love.

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Speaker 1: But there are also some tips and tricks and practices

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Speaker 1: that make it a lot easier and that make it

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Speaker 1: something that you actually feel quite fulfilled by. So we're

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Speaker 1: going to take a short break, but when we return,

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Speaker 1: let me give you my five best tips for the

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Speaker 1: very act of writing your dream. Now. Okay, so I

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Speaker 1: have five pretty large tips, five pretty broad tips for

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Speaker 1: you on how to write a book. So most books

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Speaker 1: that you read are unless it's like a short story

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Speaker 1: like a Clare keyan kind of book is probably going

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Speaker 1: to be above sixty five thousand words. I think that

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Speaker 1: was my minimum word count for my book. It ended

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Speaker 1: up being I think around eighty five thousand. But by

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Speaker 1: that stage, like I was on a roll, like there

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Speaker 1: was no stopping me. I genuinely think at one point

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Speaker 1: my publisher was like, please please stop writing so much

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Speaker 1: like some of this is garbage. Maybe they would deny that,

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Speaker 1: but yes, there is a certain word limit that you

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Speaker 1: want to get to. In order to get to that

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Speaker 1: word limit, the first thing that you need to do

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Speaker 1: is think before you write, but not too deeply. Basically,

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Speaker 1: what I mean by that is have some vague idea

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Speaker 1: of where your story, your novel, where your book is

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Speaker 1: going to go. Don't just expect that you can sit

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Speaker 1: down and say, I've had this great idea. Check, I

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Speaker 1: know I need to write this book. Check I feel

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Speaker 1: like it's writing itself. Check. At some point that book

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Speaker 1: is going to stop writing itself and you are going

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Speaker 1: to have to push hard. Like I explained it to

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Speaker 1: a friend recently, is anyone who's ever written a book

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Speaker 1: has gotten to this like large chasm, this large like

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Speaker 1: empty space where you're on one side and where you

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Speaker 1: want to go is the other side, and you have

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Speaker 1: to find a way to ferry your book or get

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Speaker 1: your book over that large space in between. However you

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Speaker 1: do it, it's a metaphor. You jump, you build a bridge,

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Speaker 1: you find a detour. Like there is going to be

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Speaker 1: a difficult point. You can kind of avoid the difficulty

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Speaker 1: of that snag by having some premeditated idea of where

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Speaker 1: you think your story is going to go. So for me,

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Speaker 1: I like I explained, had that entire chapter outline. So

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Speaker 1: the day I started writing my book, which was January

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Speaker 1: twenty eighth, twenty twenty three. Yeah, January twenty eight, twenty

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Speaker 1: twenty three, I remember, I'd just gotten back from Japan. Like,

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Speaker 1: I knew what I had to write, and I knew

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Speaker 1: how much of the book I needed to write every

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Speaker 1: single week and month in order to get to my deadline.

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Speaker 1: So my publisher had set a deadline. I also set

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Speaker 1: a personal deadline. That is something I would really encourage

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Speaker 1: you to do if you were committed to writing a book.

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Speaker 1: You can't just say I'm going to write a book

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Speaker 1: because and not give that an end date because you

402
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Speaker 1: probably won't do it. It's like saying having a vague

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Speaker 1: idea of like I want to get fit, I want

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Speaker 1: to get healthy, when how with who? Whereabouts? Like you

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Speaker 1: need to create structure around what is a huge endeavor

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Speaker 1: and a huge I would say you need at least

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Speaker 1: four months to write a book if you have and

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Speaker 1: a lot of us have full time jobs, like I

409
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Speaker 1: obviously was still writing the podcast as my full time

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Speaker 1: job alongside writing the book, Like four months is a

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Speaker 1: push anywhere between four to twelve months no more than

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Speaker 1: twelve months, though, because suddenly that becomes something that you

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Speaker 1: can delay and something that you can kind of put off.

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Speaker 1: I think the sweet spot is around six to seven months.

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Speaker 1: That's kind of where you have enough of the urgency

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Speaker 1: to write and to be actively involved in the writing process,

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Speaker 1: but not enough urgency that you feel stressed out by

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Speaker 1: this process and you feel stressed out by the end day.

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Speaker 1: Knowing I had a deadline in mind was really really

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Speaker 1: important for me, and it kind of leads me to

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Speaker 1: tip number two, which is to create and commit to

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Speaker 1: a routine. Commit to a routine that is X number

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Speaker 1: of chapters per day, per week, per month, maybe a

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Speaker 1: specific time in the day when you will sit down

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Speaker 1: and write for two hours. For me, I did three

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Speaker 1: days a week where my only job was to write.

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Speaker 1: So I would do Sundays, Mondays and Tuesdays were my

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Speaker 1: writing days, and then Wednesday's Thursday Fridays, and then the

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Speaker 1: first half of Saturday was like when I would work.

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Speaker 1: And I found that really really worked for me because

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Speaker 1: it allowed me to kind of compartmentalize and keep the

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Speaker 1: true distinct things that I was doing separate because they

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Speaker 1: also were kind of similar. So I just felt like

434
00:24:39,359 --> 00:24:41,640
Speaker 1: it would be very easy for having done that, to

435
00:24:41,920 --> 00:24:43,679
Speaker 1: flick from one to the other to one to the

436
00:24:43,720 --> 00:24:46,760
Speaker 1: other and feel like I was losing my mind. So

437
00:24:46,760 --> 00:24:51,000
Speaker 1: that's how I structured it. I know people do it differently.

438
00:24:51,240 --> 00:24:56,600
Speaker 1: There's a very famous writer called Murakami. I'm what's some

439
00:24:56,640 --> 00:24:59,560
Speaker 1: of the stuff that he's written. Oh, I cannot remember

440
00:24:59,720 --> 00:25:03,360
Speaker 1: men talking about women. I think is maybe one of them.

441
00:25:03,680 --> 00:25:06,479
Speaker 1: He just look him up. He's written some fantastic things,

442
00:25:06,520 --> 00:25:10,280
Speaker 1: like it's escaping my mind right now. But my dad

443
00:25:10,359 --> 00:25:14,199
Speaker 1: was telling me how when this man is committed to

444
00:25:14,240 --> 00:25:17,199
Speaker 1: writing a new novel, how he does it is that

445
00:25:17,240 --> 00:25:20,760
Speaker 1: he's really into running, right, and he uses running as

446
00:25:20,760 --> 00:25:24,000
Speaker 1: a reward. So he says, I have to write fifteen

447
00:25:24,040 --> 00:25:28,120
Speaker 1: pages before I'm allowed to run. That kind of positive

448
00:25:28,160 --> 00:25:32,960
Speaker 1: reinforcement rewards cycle is something that really works for people saying, Okay, well,

449
00:25:33,000 --> 00:25:35,160
Speaker 1: I'm not going to go see my friends, and until

450
00:25:35,160 --> 00:25:37,960
Speaker 1: I've done my one thousand words for the day, until

451
00:25:38,000 --> 00:25:41,040
Speaker 1: I've done my chapter for the week, I can't go

452
00:25:41,080 --> 00:25:43,800
Speaker 1: out on a Saturday unless this is done. I know

453
00:25:43,880 --> 00:25:47,679
Speaker 1: that feels quite clinical and disciplined, and maybe that's not

454
00:25:47,720 --> 00:25:51,280
Speaker 1: how you see storytelling and story writing. And obviously this

455
00:25:51,359 --> 00:25:53,439
Speaker 1: is just my perspective, so you can do it however

456
00:25:53,480 --> 00:25:55,960
Speaker 1: you want. But I will say having that kind of

457
00:25:56,000 --> 00:26:00,560
Speaker 1: discipline is something that maybe we're missing a little bit.

458
00:26:00,920 --> 00:26:02,840
Speaker 1: Think about the time when you were most productive in

459
00:26:02,880 --> 00:26:05,359
Speaker 1: your life. It was probably when you were in primary

460
00:26:05,359 --> 00:26:08,400
Speaker 1: school or high school or in college, when you had

461
00:26:08,440 --> 00:26:13,159
Speaker 1: structures to your day. You had timelines, you had end

462
00:26:13,280 --> 00:26:16,600
Speaker 1: dates and deadlines and goals that you had to meet.

463
00:26:17,200 --> 00:26:19,439
Speaker 1: You were able to manage so many things because you

464
00:26:19,520 --> 00:26:24,000
Speaker 1: provided your brain with a goal based environment and a

465
00:26:24,080 --> 00:26:28,919
Speaker 1: goal winning structure in which it can operate easier. The

466
00:26:28,960 --> 00:26:31,679
Speaker 1: other thing is that writing a book is still fun.

467
00:26:31,840 --> 00:26:36,439
Speaker 1: Right for all the discussions around creating a routine and

468
00:26:36,480 --> 00:26:39,040
Speaker 1: being disciplined in commitment and blah blah blah, it's just

469
00:26:39,080 --> 00:26:43,040
Speaker 1: that it's a unique kind of fun called type two fun.

470
00:26:43,280 --> 00:26:45,920
Speaker 1: So someone explained this to me the other day. There

471
00:26:45,920 --> 00:26:48,960
Speaker 1: are three different types of fun, Type one fun, Type

472
00:26:48,960 --> 00:26:52,080
Speaker 1: two fun, Type three fun. So type one fun is

473
00:26:52,200 --> 00:26:54,879
Speaker 1: stuff that's just always going to be a blast, like

474
00:26:54,880 --> 00:26:58,119
Speaker 1: a trampoline park, like a comedy show, like things that

475
00:26:58,160 --> 00:27:02,359
Speaker 1: are just innately enjoy global without requiring too much effort

476
00:27:02,400 --> 00:27:05,360
Speaker 1: from you. Type two fun is the kind of fun

477
00:27:05,520 --> 00:27:09,120
Speaker 1: that writing a book is or running a marathon. It's

478
00:27:09,200 --> 00:27:13,760
Speaker 1: not necessarily all that fun when you're doing it, but

479
00:27:13,800 --> 00:27:16,480
Speaker 1: it's fun at various points when you can look back

480
00:27:16,520 --> 00:27:19,600
Speaker 1: and see how far you've come, or see the outcome

481
00:27:19,640 --> 00:27:22,679
Speaker 1: of your hard work, or get to read what you've written.

482
00:27:23,160 --> 00:27:25,959
Speaker 1: Type three fun is just not fun at all, right.

483
00:27:26,119 --> 00:27:28,280
Speaker 1: Type three fun is the kind of fun that none

484
00:27:28,320 --> 00:27:31,840
Speaker 1: of us really want to get into. Hiking everest, like

485
00:27:32,040 --> 00:27:34,960
Speaker 1: ending up doing things that are very very dangerous or

486
00:27:35,400 --> 00:27:40,200
Speaker 1: going to actually leave you very scared, lonely and capable.

487
00:27:40,640 --> 00:27:43,119
Speaker 1: They're not even fun in hindsight, Like there was the

488
00:27:43,160 --> 00:27:46,760
Speaker 1: potential for type two fun, but that potential wasn't there.

489
00:27:47,000 --> 00:27:51,760
Speaker 1: Lean into the type two fun of this moment. Yes,

490
00:27:52,119 --> 00:27:55,879
Speaker 1: writing a book is hard. If it wasn't hard, everyone

491
00:27:55,920 --> 00:27:57,919
Speaker 1: would be doing it. There is a reason that not

492
00:27:58,040 --> 00:28:02,520
Speaker 1: everyone writes books. That's also a really enjoyable and romantic

493
00:28:02,560 --> 00:28:06,320
Speaker 1: part of the process. I think it is quite beautiful

494
00:28:06,400 --> 00:28:09,359
Speaker 1: that you are committing your brain and your body and

495
00:28:09,400 --> 00:28:13,160
Speaker 1: your mind and your soul to not a sprint, a

496
00:28:13,200 --> 00:28:17,600
Speaker 1: marathon of creativity, knowing that you're unsure of the outcome,

497
00:28:17,800 --> 00:28:20,240
Speaker 1: but knowing even more so that this is something that

498
00:28:20,280 --> 00:28:23,360
Speaker 1: you need to do. I will also say write at

499
00:28:23,359 --> 00:28:27,199
Speaker 1: your best times, not at the ideal time. So I

500
00:28:27,240 --> 00:28:29,879
Speaker 1: definitely feel that there is this pull and sense that

501
00:28:30,320 --> 00:28:33,720
Speaker 1: we need to do our work during business hours, even

502
00:28:33,800 --> 00:28:37,240
Speaker 1: if what your work is is completely self driven and

503
00:28:37,280 --> 00:28:39,960
Speaker 1: self motivated, Like if you're writing a novel, you need

504
00:28:40,000 --> 00:28:45,560
Speaker 1: to be writing between nine to five. That's delusional. Not everyone,

505
00:28:45,760 --> 00:28:48,440
Speaker 1: like the whole nine to five system is quite delusional.

506
00:28:48,840 --> 00:28:52,680
Speaker 1: The fact that everyone thinks our peak operating times is

507
00:28:52,760 --> 00:28:56,560
Speaker 1: during such a limited period of hours is ridiculous. Every

508
00:28:56,600 --> 00:29:00,200
Speaker 1: single one of us actually has our own unique circadium

509
00:29:00,440 --> 00:29:05,560
Speaker 1: and cortisol and arousal rhythm, and we also have our

510
00:29:05,600 --> 00:29:08,720
Speaker 1: peak attention and peak performance times that are going to

511
00:29:08,760 --> 00:29:12,440
Speaker 1: occur at unique points in the day that probably differ

512
00:29:12,520 --> 00:29:18,240
Speaker 1: from most other people. For me, writing at nine pm,

513
00:29:18,680 --> 00:29:20,640
Speaker 1: oh my god, it was like the words for fire.

514
00:29:21,200 --> 00:29:26,200
Speaker 1: It was like I could not stop these thoughts from

515
00:29:26,240 --> 00:29:30,760
Speaker 1: like pouring out of me. Writing at ten am when

516
00:29:31,080 --> 00:29:35,360
Speaker 1: everyone was suggesting I should be at my peak productivity,

517
00:29:35,520 --> 00:29:37,960
Speaker 1: it was miserable, Like I genuinely felt like I could

518
00:29:37,960 --> 00:29:41,320
Speaker 1: not keep my eyes open. I think I ended up

519
00:29:41,320 --> 00:29:43,720
Speaker 1: realizing that the best times for me to write were

520
00:29:43,760 --> 00:29:48,760
Speaker 1: between seven to nine am, two to five pm, and

521
00:29:48,880 --> 00:29:52,760
Speaker 1: nine to eleven PM. Obviously that's only six hours. There

522
00:29:52,760 --> 00:29:55,280
Speaker 1: were times when I did have to push myself during

523
00:29:55,280 --> 00:29:57,680
Speaker 1: those days that I was writing, But if I had

524
00:29:57,680 --> 00:30:00,200
Speaker 1: the option to do other things during that time, I'm

525
00:30:00,240 --> 00:30:03,480
Speaker 1: you best believe I was taking them because I just

526
00:30:03,520 --> 00:30:06,520
Speaker 1: knew that I was better well spent on doing some

527
00:30:06,560 --> 00:30:11,080
Speaker 1: of these other less intense tasks during this time than

528
00:30:11,680 --> 00:30:14,120
Speaker 1: doing them when they were perhaps more expectant, like in

529
00:30:14,160 --> 00:30:17,120
Speaker 1: the morning or the evening, when I was going to

530
00:30:17,160 --> 00:30:19,760
Speaker 1: be more primed for writing. So pay attention to when

531
00:30:19,800 --> 00:30:24,600
Speaker 1: you feel most invigorated by your book. You feel most

532
00:30:24,640 --> 00:30:28,000
Speaker 1: in a flow state, you feel like the whole process

533
00:30:28,080 --> 00:30:31,200
Speaker 1: is a lot more effortless. I will also say adventure

534
00:30:31,320 --> 00:30:35,280
Speaker 1: in between times where you are really committed to writing,

535
00:30:35,440 --> 00:30:40,000
Speaker 1: So whether that means taking your writing to a retreat,

536
00:30:40,320 --> 00:30:42,960
Speaker 1: going out of town for a little bit, booking is

537
00:30:43,000 --> 00:30:46,240
Speaker 1: secluded airbnb by yourself, and just committing to writing for

538
00:30:46,280 --> 00:30:50,479
Speaker 1: the weekend, and then in between sessions going for nature walks,

539
00:30:50,560 --> 00:30:55,600
Speaker 1: going outdoors, going to wineries, seeing friends. Our brain thrives

540
00:30:55,680 --> 00:31:00,200
Speaker 1: on novelty and newness, and especially those of our with

541
00:31:00,280 --> 00:31:03,160
Speaker 1: a creative mind. We need more of that than the

542
00:31:03,160 --> 00:31:06,920
Speaker 1: average person. That novelty and newness is how your brain

543
00:31:07,000 --> 00:31:10,560
Speaker 1: creates new connections. It's also how it creates new ideas,

544
00:31:11,000 --> 00:31:14,600
Speaker 1: and how it turns abstract thinking into concrete thinking into

545
00:31:14,680 --> 00:31:17,680
Speaker 1: creative thinking. You know, someone who is sitting in a

546
00:31:17,720 --> 00:31:22,360
Speaker 1: plain white room is not going to write anywhere near

547
00:31:22,360 --> 00:31:25,440
Speaker 1: a greater book as someone who is writing that same

548
00:31:25,520 --> 00:31:31,520
Speaker 1: novel in the countryside or somewhere where there is stimulation

549
00:31:32,000 --> 00:31:36,720
Speaker 1: and new experiences and new encounters and human interactions that

550
00:31:36,800 --> 00:31:39,520
Speaker 1: can inspire them. So make sure you do not lose

551
00:31:39,560 --> 00:31:43,760
Speaker 1: your need for novelty and freshness and adventure in the

552
00:31:43,800 --> 00:31:46,280
Speaker 1: discipline and routine of writing a book. In fact, I

553
00:31:46,280 --> 00:31:49,120
Speaker 1: think the more fun you have in between writing sessions,

554
00:31:49,480 --> 00:31:52,080
Speaker 1: the better that book is actually going to end up being.

555
00:31:52,360 --> 00:31:55,440
Speaker 1: This next tip is probably my favorite one, and it

556
00:31:55,480 --> 00:31:59,040
Speaker 1: is also the tip that I learnt the hardest of

557
00:31:59,080 --> 00:32:02,440
Speaker 1: all ways, and it is that sometimes you have to

558
00:32:02,640 --> 00:32:08,240
Speaker 1: kill your darlings. Sometimes you write something that you think

559
00:32:08,360 --> 00:32:10,880
Speaker 1: is really really good. Well that isn't actually that good,

560
00:32:10,960 --> 00:32:12,920
Speaker 1: but it took so much of you to write it

561
00:32:13,520 --> 00:32:17,400
Speaker 1: that you think it deserves a place in your final manuscript.

562
00:32:18,200 --> 00:32:21,440
Speaker 1: There was a particular chapter in Person and Progress that

563
00:32:21,680 --> 00:32:25,720
Speaker 1: did not make it to the final print edition that

564
00:32:25,920 --> 00:32:31,640
Speaker 1: I spent two weeks on, two weeks on one chapter,

565
00:32:31,760 --> 00:32:34,680
Speaker 1: and it didn't even make it. And here's the thing.

566
00:32:35,320 --> 00:32:38,680
Speaker 1: From the very beginning, I knew it was a bad chapter.

567
00:32:39,200 --> 00:32:41,120
Speaker 1: I knew the flow wasn't there. I knew the idea

568
00:32:41,160 --> 00:32:42,840
Speaker 1: wasn't there. I knew the commitment wasn't there. I knew

569
00:32:42,840 --> 00:32:44,800
Speaker 1: there was just nothing for me in this chapter. It

570
00:32:44,840 --> 00:32:46,720
Speaker 1: didn't belong in the book, but I was forcing it

571
00:32:46,760 --> 00:32:48,720
Speaker 1: and forcing it, and I had to write it. And

572
00:32:48,760 --> 00:32:51,280
Speaker 1: then when my editor was like, this is not a

573
00:32:51,280 --> 00:32:55,560
Speaker 1: good chapter. I'm gonna cut it, I was like, you can't,

574
00:32:55,760 --> 00:32:58,120
Speaker 1: because that took so much from me. Even though I

575
00:32:58,240 --> 00:33:00,120
Speaker 1: know it's not good, it took so much for me.

576
00:33:00,760 --> 00:33:03,800
Speaker 1: I don't regret writing it. I don't regret putting all

577
00:33:03,800 --> 00:33:06,000
Speaker 1: my thoughts down onto the page because maybe it could

578
00:33:06,040 --> 00:33:09,520
Speaker 1: have turned out amazing. But at some stage you will

579
00:33:09,560 --> 00:33:14,400
Speaker 1: have to kill plotlines, kill characters, change characters, kill storylines,

580
00:33:14,880 --> 00:33:18,000
Speaker 1: kill certain arcs because they just aren't working. You're gonna

581
00:33:18,040 --> 00:33:21,160
Speaker 1: have to kill your darlings. It is better to have

582
00:33:21,240 --> 00:33:23,840
Speaker 1: had a first draft and to have committed to a

583
00:33:23,960 --> 00:33:27,200
Speaker 1: bad idea and killed off that idea, then committed to

584
00:33:27,240 --> 00:33:30,120
Speaker 1: no idea at all. So if there is an instinct

585
00:33:30,120 --> 00:33:33,360
Speaker 1: to write something, even if it's difficult, still write it.

586
00:33:33,840 --> 00:33:36,800
Speaker 1: You can always cut it and remove it. And yes,

587
00:33:36,840 --> 00:33:38,800
Speaker 1: it might feel like a loss, but it also means

588
00:33:38,800 --> 00:33:42,600
Speaker 1: that the better parts of your book speak louder. So

589
00:33:42,680 --> 00:33:45,560
Speaker 1: don't be afraid to go back and say, yeah, this

590
00:33:46,000 --> 00:33:48,680
Speaker 1: probably wasn't my best work. Something better is going to

591
00:33:48,720 --> 00:33:52,680
Speaker 1: take this chapter or this sentences or this storylines place.

592
00:33:52,920 --> 00:33:56,400
Speaker 1: Here are my two final tips. This second last one

593
00:33:56,440 --> 00:33:59,280
Speaker 1: is something we've already spoken about, but I want to

594
00:33:59,600 --> 00:34:04,240
Speaker 1: really really nail this point home. Write this book for

595
00:34:04,360 --> 00:34:09,160
Speaker 1: you first, not for anybody else. What I mean by

596
00:34:09,200 --> 00:34:13,400
Speaker 1: that is that when you are writing your novel, your book,

597
00:34:14,040 --> 00:34:16,760
Speaker 1: there is a great deal of pressure and an instinct,

598
00:34:16,840 --> 00:34:21,880
Speaker 1: I think, to constantly be ruminating and trying to dissect

599
00:34:22,320 --> 00:34:25,239
Speaker 1: what you think the reader would want to read or

600
00:34:25,320 --> 00:34:31,239
Speaker 1: hear or see happen next. There is an obsession with

601
00:34:31,920 --> 00:34:36,120
Speaker 1: how this novel, this book is going to be perceived,

602
00:34:36,719 --> 00:34:40,359
Speaker 1: and that intense awareness of other people's perception can mean

603
00:34:40,400 --> 00:34:43,120
Speaker 1: that you write a book that is not actually in

604
00:34:43,200 --> 00:34:45,880
Speaker 1: your own voice and not actually something that you actually

605
00:34:45,920 --> 00:34:49,080
Speaker 1: wanted to write because you were so fearful of other

606
00:34:49,120 --> 00:34:54,120
Speaker 1: people's disapproval. A bad book that you enjoyed writing and

607
00:34:54,160 --> 00:34:57,840
Speaker 1: that sounds like you is better than an okay book

608
00:34:57,880 --> 00:35:00,399
Speaker 1: that sounds like anyone else could have written it. And

609
00:35:00,440 --> 00:35:04,640
Speaker 1: it's better than an okay book that everyone's like eh about.

610
00:35:04,760 --> 00:35:06,920
Speaker 1: Write this book in your style, even if you think

611
00:35:06,960 --> 00:35:09,279
Speaker 1: they might not like it, even if you think there

612
00:35:09,280 --> 00:35:11,799
Speaker 1: are decisions that you are making that they wouldn't make,

613
00:35:12,400 --> 00:35:14,439
Speaker 1: Like this is your book. At the end of the day,

614
00:35:14,920 --> 00:35:17,399
Speaker 1: you know you could finish writing this manuscript and only

615
00:35:17,440 --> 00:35:20,560
Speaker 1: one person could buy it, and you actually haven't written

616
00:35:20,640 --> 00:35:22,880
Speaker 1: the book that you wanted to write. And then in

617
00:35:22,920 --> 00:35:25,319
Speaker 1: the future, twenty years down the line, when you dig

618
00:35:25,400 --> 00:35:26,879
Speaker 1: up an old copy and you find it and you're

619
00:35:26,920 --> 00:35:30,279
Speaker 1: reading it, you're thinking, ugh, like, why did I do that?

620
00:35:30,360 --> 00:35:33,200
Speaker 1: Why did I try and sound so smart? Why did

621
00:35:33,280 --> 00:35:35,480
Speaker 1: I try and sound so pretentious? Why did I use

622
00:35:35,520 --> 00:35:38,080
Speaker 1: words I didn't know? Why did I say things I

623
00:35:38,120 --> 00:35:42,040
Speaker 1: didn't actually believe in? Oh, it's because of this arbitrary

624
00:35:42,840 --> 00:35:47,680
Speaker 1: ghost to like amalgamation of a reader who I don't

625
00:35:47,719 --> 00:35:50,799
Speaker 1: even know or care about, but whose fantasy opinion I

626
00:35:50,920 --> 00:35:54,120
Speaker 1: was gearing towards this is your book. The act of

627
00:35:54,160 --> 00:35:58,600
Speaker 1: writing it in itself is a healing, beautiful, sacred practice.

628
00:35:59,480 --> 00:36:01,719
Speaker 1: Who cares if no one likes it? If you like it,

629
00:36:01,800 --> 00:36:04,360
Speaker 1: if you had fun writing it, that is all that matters.

630
00:36:04,520 --> 00:36:07,680
Speaker 1: I would also call you to constantly reflect on the why.

631
00:36:08,280 --> 00:36:10,200
Speaker 1: Like I said, there will come a point where there

632
00:36:10,280 --> 00:36:12,960
Speaker 1: is a chasm, there is a drop off, there is

633
00:36:12,960 --> 00:36:14,799
Speaker 1: a space that you have to bridge to get to

634
00:36:14,840 --> 00:36:18,239
Speaker 1: the other side of writing this piece of work. The

635
00:36:18,320 --> 00:36:20,600
Speaker 1: thing that will actually really help you get there is

636
00:36:21,200 --> 00:36:24,120
Speaker 1: why do I actually want to write this? What is

637
00:36:24,400 --> 00:36:29,200
Speaker 1: my intrinsic motivation for producing this piece of work. I

638
00:36:29,239 --> 00:36:31,000
Speaker 1: can't give you that motivation. I can't give you the

639
00:36:31,040 --> 00:36:35,040
Speaker 1: answer to that question. There are a few different whys.

640
00:36:35,520 --> 00:36:38,239
Speaker 1: Maybe you're wise that this is a story that you

641
00:36:38,400 --> 00:36:40,920
Speaker 1: feel needs to be on a page for you to

642
00:36:40,960 --> 00:36:44,160
Speaker 1: have closure. Maybe you're wise that this is the book

643
00:36:44,200 --> 00:36:46,319
Speaker 1: that you wish that you had and you wish that

644
00:36:46,360 --> 00:36:49,400
Speaker 1: you would read. Maybe your why is that you're just

645
00:36:49,400 --> 00:36:52,400
Speaker 1: so endlessly fascinated by the story, or that you've always

646
00:36:52,400 --> 00:36:54,360
Speaker 1: wanted to be a writer and this feels part of

647
00:36:54,400 --> 00:36:57,160
Speaker 1: your destiny. We're all going to have a different motivation.

648
00:36:57,760 --> 00:37:00,480
Speaker 1: Make sure you are clear on what yours is and

649
00:37:00,560 --> 00:37:04,600
Speaker 1: make sure you continuously reflect on it. For me, my

650
00:37:04,800 --> 00:37:07,760
Speaker 1: why was this is the book that I really needed,

651
00:37:07,800 --> 00:37:10,600
Speaker 1: and I wish that people had been more honest about

652
00:37:10,600 --> 00:37:13,439
Speaker 1: certain topics that went into the book. I didn't really

653
00:37:13,480 --> 00:37:16,480
Speaker 1: find that honesty and anything else I was reading. My

654
00:37:16,560 --> 00:37:18,200
Speaker 1: other why was that I was doing it for my

655
00:37:18,239 --> 00:37:20,440
Speaker 1: future self. You know, since I was a child, I

656
00:37:20,520 --> 00:37:22,479
Speaker 1: really wanted to be a writer, and I really wanted

657
00:37:22,480 --> 00:37:25,759
Speaker 1: to be an author. But I also knew that my

658
00:37:25,920 --> 00:37:28,759
Speaker 1: older self really would have wanted to know what I

659
00:37:28,840 --> 00:37:31,720
Speaker 1: was thinking and feeling at this point in my life.

660
00:37:32,320 --> 00:37:35,120
Speaker 1: And although I didn't end up using that diary idea

661
00:37:35,160 --> 00:37:37,880
Speaker 1: I was talking about at the beginning, person in Progress

662
00:37:38,640 --> 00:37:43,520
Speaker 1: is it's not biographical, but there definitely are biographical elements

663
00:37:43,520 --> 00:37:46,799
Speaker 1: to it and stories that I think my future self

664
00:37:46,800 --> 00:37:49,080
Speaker 1: would really get a kick out of reading. And I

665
00:37:49,120 --> 00:37:51,200
Speaker 1: think that this was an endeavor that I knew was

666
00:37:51,200 --> 00:37:54,120
Speaker 1: always going to be worthwhile even if no one bought it,

667
00:37:54,120 --> 00:37:56,960
Speaker 1: because I would have the opportunity to say I did that.

668
00:37:57,040 --> 00:37:59,480
Speaker 1: I did the hard thing. I wrote a book. At

669
00:37:59,480 --> 00:38:02,840
Speaker 1: some stage my life, I had enough good thoughts, or

670
00:38:02,880 --> 00:38:05,120
Speaker 1: at least what I thought were good thoughts to put

671
00:38:05,200 --> 00:38:07,960
Speaker 1: eighty five thousand words down on a page and print

672
00:38:08,000 --> 00:38:10,600
Speaker 1: it off and if nothing else, give it to family

673
00:38:10,640 --> 00:38:14,240
Speaker 1: and friends. So that was my long standing motivation. Okay,

674
00:38:14,360 --> 00:38:17,200
Speaker 1: we are going to take a short break, but when

675
00:38:17,239 --> 00:38:20,520
Speaker 1: we return, I want to answer some of the questions

676
00:38:20,520 --> 00:38:23,640
Speaker 1: you guys asked me over on Instagram about how to

677
00:38:24,000 --> 00:38:26,200
Speaker 1: write a book. Very very simple question, the one we've

678
00:38:26,200 --> 00:38:28,480
Speaker 1: been talking about this entire time. But I wanted to

679
00:38:28,480 --> 00:38:38,200
Speaker 1: hear from you guys and your specific questions, so stay tuned. Okay,

680
00:38:38,280 --> 00:38:39,600
Speaker 1: so you guys know, this is a new thing that

681
00:38:39,640 --> 00:38:42,399
Speaker 1: we're doing where I get you guys to ask your

682
00:38:42,480 --> 00:38:46,600
Speaker 1: questions about any episodes or ideas that we are discussing.

683
00:38:46,680 --> 00:38:50,480
Speaker 1: And today the questions had to do with the act

684
00:38:50,560 --> 00:38:55,880
Speaker 1: and the process of writing. This first question comes from Lauren.

685
00:38:56,520 --> 00:38:59,279
Speaker 1: How do you know where to start? Now? I think

686
00:38:59,320 --> 00:39:02,040
Speaker 1: for me that was quite I did initially start with

687
00:39:02,400 --> 00:39:05,760
Speaker 1: the first chapter. However, as I went along, I started

688
00:39:05,800 --> 00:39:09,880
Speaker 1: jumping between sections. So Person and Progress has four sections.

689
00:39:09,960 --> 00:39:12,759
Speaker 1: Each of them are very different from the last. One

690
00:39:12,800 --> 00:39:15,160
Speaker 1: of them is about work, one of them is about relationships,

691
00:39:15,440 --> 00:39:17,040
Speaker 1: one of them is about healing. One of them is

692
00:39:17,040 --> 00:39:21,040
Speaker 1: about everyday twenty something experiences. I would just choose the

693
00:39:21,160 --> 00:39:23,919
Speaker 1: chapter that I felt I most wanted to write that day,

694
00:39:24,560 --> 00:39:26,759
Speaker 1: until I ended up at the chapter at the very

695
00:39:26,880 --> 00:39:29,799
Speaker 1: end that I at least wanted to write, which ended

696
00:39:29,880 --> 00:39:31,759
Speaker 1: up being the one on heartbreak. But how I would

697
00:39:31,800 --> 00:39:34,760
Speaker 1: answer this question is that where you need to start

698
00:39:34,920 --> 00:39:37,920
Speaker 1: is where you feel most called to start and most

699
00:39:38,320 --> 00:39:40,680
Speaker 1: passionate to write about. What is the chapter, the section,

700
00:39:40,800 --> 00:39:44,239
Speaker 1: the component of the book that you feel most exhilarated by.

701
00:39:44,520 --> 00:39:48,359
Speaker 1: You know. I heard about this author through my friend

702
00:39:48,440 --> 00:39:52,080
Speaker 1: Alex actually, who runs Basic Bitch book Club, and she

703
00:39:52,120 --> 00:39:54,719
Speaker 1: was telling me how one of these authors, and she

704
00:39:54,800 --> 00:39:57,520
Speaker 1: was telling me that one of the authors of her

705
00:39:57,560 --> 00:40:03,879
Speaker 1: favorite book actually started writing the book at the end,

706
00:40:02,760 --> 00:40:07,720
Speaker 1: like in the last three chapters. So the last chapters

707
00:40:07,760 --> 00:40:09,880
Speaker 1: that we read when we read that book were the

708
00:40:09,880 --> 00:40:13,280
Speaker 1: first chapters she wrote because the story she was telling,

709
00:40:13,920 --> 00:40:15,560
Speaker 1: the reason she wanted to tell it was because it

710
00:40:15,600 --> 00:40:18,720
Speaker 1: had a specific ending that she really wanted to capture,

711
00:40:18,760 --> 00:40:22,279
Speaker 1: and then she worked backwards from there. Some people like

712
00:40:22,400 --> 00:40:25,399
Speaker 1: to begin at the very beginning. I don't think that's

713
00:40:25,440 --> 00:40:30,080
Speaker 1: necessarily always the best way for everyone. Start where you

714
00:40:30,120 --> 00:40:33,520
Speaker 1: feel most called to begin, And if you don't know

715
00:40:33,560 --> 00:40:36,520
Speaker 1: where to start, start by just fleshing out some key ideas.

716
00:40:36,920 --> 00:40:41,480
Speaker 1: Start by maybe even writing a mini chapter from someone

717
00:40:41,480 --> 00:40:44,799
Speaker 1: else's perspective on the main character and what they look like.

718
00:40:45,280 --> 00:40:48,920
Speaker 1: Someone once gave me this brilliant writing exercise. If you

719
00:40:48,960 --> 00:40:51,520
Speaker 1: want to flesh out your main character or a character

720
00:40:51,600 --> 00:40:54,640
Speaker 1: in your book more, imagine what someone would see or

721
00:40:54,680 --> 00:40:57,799
Speaker 1: know about them from encountering them in a coffee shop.

722
00:40:57,880 --> 00:41:01,680
Speaker 1: So write a minich from the perspective of a third

723
00:41:01,719 --> 00:41:06,560
Speaker 1: party watching, learning looking at your main character. It might

724
00:41:06,600 --> 00:41:09,040
Speaker 1: not end up in the book. It probably won't end

725
00:41:09,120 --> 00:41:10,960
Speaker 1: up in the book, but it will give you more

726
00:41:10,960 --> 00:41:13,319
Speaker 1: of an idea of where to go from there and

727
00:41:13,320 --> 00:41:16,719
Speaker 1: more of an inspiration. This next question, I love. How

728
00:41:16,719 --> 00:41:19,760
Speaker 1: to finish a draft. I just keep rewriting the first

729
00:41:19,880 --> 00:41:25,080
Speaker 1: three chapters. I totally get this. If you're a bit

730
00:41:25,120 --> 00:41:28,400
Speaker 1: of a perfectionist like myself, it can feel like you

731
00:41:28,880 --> 00:41:32,759
Speaker 1: cannot move on from a chapter unless it is up

732
00:41:32,800 --> 00:41:36,640
Speaker 1: to your incredibly high standards. I don't think that's necessarily

733
00:41:36,640 --> 00:41:39,080
Speaker 1: a bad thing. I think it shows care and love

734
00:41:39,120 --> 00:41:42,160
Speaker 1: and appreciation for your work. However, I do understand that

735
00:41:42,160 --> 00:41:44,759
Speaker 1: it's frustrating, and that if you have a book that's

736
00:41:44,760 --> 00:41:47,200
Speaker 1: going to end up being thirty chapters and you've only

737
00:41:47,239 --> 00:41:49,360
Speaker 1: written three, you kind of want to get the ball rolling.

738
00:41:49,520 --> 00:41:52,279
Speaker 1: My biggest tip for this is to put those three

739
00:41:52,360 --> 00:41:55,919
Speaker 1: chapters aside, put them in one document, start chapter four

740
00:41:55,920 --> 00:41:58,600
Speaker 1: in a new document, so that there is not the

741
00:41:58,719 --> 00:42:02,400
Speaker 1: pressure or the kind of urge to go back and

742
00:42:02,440 --> 00:42:05,120
Speaker 1: scroll up a little bit and just start changing words

743
00:42:05,120 --> 00:42:08,480
Speaker 1: here and there, or you know, finding synonyms or antonyms

744
00:42:08,520 --> 00:42:11,160
Speaker 1: for this word or that word, or changing very very

745
00:42:11,200 --> 00:42:14,399
Speaker 1: minor things. Pretend that you are starting the book from

746
00:42:14,760 --> 00:42:18,560
Speaker 1: chapter four and start writing it from there. Another great

747
00:42:18,600 --> 00:42:22,279
Speaker 1: way to basically force yourself to write is to put

748
00:42:22,280 --> 00:42:24,880
Speaker 1: on a fifteen minute timer or a twenty minute timer

749
00:42:24,920 --> 00:42:28,000
Speaker 1: and say this does not have to be good, this

750
00:42:28,080 --> 00:42:31,960
Speaker 1: doesn't have to even be comprehensible. I'm just going to

751
00:42:32,000 --> 00:42:35,080
Speaker 1: write for fifteen minutes and see what comes up and

752
00:42:35,160 --> 00:42:37,880
Speaker 1: see what flows through me. I think the roadblock that

753
00:42:37,880 --> 00:42:40,719
Speaker 1: you are facing is one of perfectionism, and I also

754
00:42:40,719 --> 00:42:43,720
Speaker 1: think it's one of a fear of failure, which often

755
00:42:43,800 --> 00:42:47,440
Speaker 1: they go hand in hand. Giving yourself space and room

756
00:42:47,680 --> 00:42:51,400
Speaker 1: for whatever you're writing to be imperfect. Maybe not that

757
00:42:51,520 --> 00:42:54,520
Speaker 1: great will also provide you with a lot of freedom

758
00:42:54,600 --> 00:42:57,560
Speaker 1: to just make mistakes and to make creative errors that

759
00:42:57,600 --> 00:43:01,400
Speaker 1: actually end up being creative doorways. Here's our next question.

760
00:43:01,920 --> 00:43:03,960
Speaker 1: I've always wanted to write, but I feel like no

761
00:43:04,040 --> 00:43:06,719
Speaker 1: one cares about what I have to say. This is

762
00:43:06,800 --> 00:43:09,160
Speaker 1: kind of similar to this question from Ella, how do

763
00:43:09,200 --> 00:43:14,720
Speaker 1: you push through imposter syndrome? Will anyone read this? Maybe

764
00:43:14,719 --> 00:43:16,640
Speaker 1: no one will read it. I do think people will

765
00:43:16,640 --> 00:43:19,800
Speaker 1: read it. Firstly, I will say that, but maybe they won't.

766
00:43:20,320 --> 00:43:23,640
Speaker 1: My question is why is that a bad thing? Why

767
00:43:23,719 --> 00:43:27,560
Speaker 1: is it that every single form of creation has to

768
00:43:27,600 --> 00:43:31,480
Speaker 1: receive outside acknowledgment and can't just be for our own

769
00:43:32,080 --> 00:43:34,239
Speaker 1: for you know, the sake of it, for our own

770
00:43:34,280 --> 00:43:38,879
Speaker 1: internal pleasure and enjoyment of the activity that aside, Because

771
00:43:38,880 --> 00:43:41,759
Speaker 1: I know that's quite a nihilistic view of things and

772
00:43:41,840 --> 00:43:45,120
Speaker 1: quite a pessimistic view, and maybe not for everyone. If

773
00:43:45,160 --> 00:43:48,160
Speaker 1: you are thinking, why should I write a book? No

774
00:43:48,160 --> 00:43:51,080
Speaker 1: one cares what I have to say. No one cares

775
00:43:51,120 --> 00:43:54,160
Speaker 1: what anyone has to say until they say it. The

776
00:43:54,280 --> 00:43:57,560
Speaker 1: question I always like to ask people is why not you?

777
00:43:59,000 --> 00:44:02,440
Speaker 1: Genuinely why not you? And you might come up with

778
00:44:02,480 --> 00:44:06,000
Speaker 1: a couple of reasons. All of those reasons are your

779
00:44:06,040 --> 00:44:09,680
Speaker 1: self doubt trying to sabotage you. And when self doubt

780
00:44:09,680 --> 00:44:13,040
Speaker 1: tries to sabotage you, it's actually trying to protect you.

781
00:44:13,320 --> 00:44:15,520
Speaker 1: It doesn't want you to get hurt. It doesn't want

782
00:44:15,520 --> 00:44:18,000
Speaker 1: you to feel embarrassed, it doesn't want you to feel rejected,

783
00:44:18,440 --> 00:44:20,760
Speaker 1: and so it will keep you in the safest place,

784
00:44:20,840 --> 00:44:24,000
Speaker 1: which is the place where you were doing nothing. Every

785
00:44:24,000 --> 00:44:26,160
Speaker 1: single person I think who has written a book has thought,

786
00:44:26,200 --> 00:44:29,440
Speaker 1: and I've definitely thought this, like why am I doing this?

787
00:44:29,520 --> 00:44:32,040
Speaker 1: No one cares what I have to say, No one's

788
00:44:32,080 --> 00:44:34,640
Speaker 1: going to buy a copy, Everyone's going to hate it.

789
00:44:35,480 --> 00:44:38,360
Speaker 1: And then I just remind myself that if that's the case,

790
00:44:38,760 --> 00:44:40,759
Speaker 1: I still got so much out of it up up

791
00:44:40,880 --> 00:44:44,760
Speaker 1: until this point. And everyone had to write their first draft,

792
00:44:44,800 --> 00:44:47,760
Speaker 1: everyone had to put out their first book. Every single person,

793
00:44:47,880 --> 00:44:51,040
Speaker 1: every single author that you admire, has had those same thoughts,

794
00:44:51,520 --> 00:44:54,120
Speaker 1: and they still were committed to writing it when they

795
00:44:54,120 --> 00:44:56,640
Speaker 1: were or nobody, when no one knew who they were,

796
00:44:57,120 --> 00:45:01,280
Speaker 1: and their novels, their books, their manuscripts ended up changing lives.

797
00:45:01,400 --> 00:45:04,120
Speaker 1: So I hope that helps you feel better about either alternative.

798
00:45:04,800 --> 00:45:07,200
Speaker 1: So this final question is was actually a really really

799
00:45:07,239 --> 00:45:10,400
Speaker 1: common one. How do you go about getting a publisher

800
00:45:10,560 --> 00:45:13,520
Speaker 1: slash agent? What's the process like and what are the

801
00:45:13,640 --> 00:45:17,960
Speaker 1: chances of being rejected? All right, I'm not gonna lie.

802
00:45:18,120 --> 00:45:22,400
Speaker 1: The chances of being rejected are quite high. However, rejection

803
00:45:22,520 --> 00:45:26,000
Speaker 1: is a doorway, rejection is redirection, rejection is a mirror

804
00:45:26,040 --> 00:45:29,880
Speaker 1: rejection as a motivator. Rejection is not something to be

805
00:45:29,920 --> 00:45:33,239
Speaker 1: afraid of. Here's the other thing. You can get rejected

806
00:45:33,239 --> 00:45:36,040
Speaker 1: by the same publishing house like six or seven times,

807
00:45:36,480 --> 00:45:40,080
Speaker 1: Like they might say, go away, fix this, bring it back.

808
00:45:40,280 --> 00:45:42,279
Speaker 1: We still don't like it. Go away, fix this, bring

809
00:45:42,360 --> 00:45:45,840
Speaker 1: it back. Just because something was rejected in its current

810
00:45:46,000 --> 00:45:49,480
Speaker 1: form doesn't mean it's going to be rejected again, doesn't

811
00:45:49,520 --> 00:45:52,359
Speaker 1: mean it's going to be rejected by someone else. There

812
00:45:52,400 --> 00:45:54,600
Speaker 1: have been so many examples of authors who have gone

813
00:45:54,640 --> 00:45:58,400
Speaker 1: on to write incredible books who have been rejected many,

814
00:45:58,440 --> 00:46:01,120
Speaker 1: many times, and I'm sure those publishing houses were sitting

815
00:46:01,120 --> 00:46:06,200
Speaker 1: there being like, oh, we really screwed up, We really

816
00:46:06,239 --> 00:46:08,799
Speaker 1: dropped the ball on that one. As long as you

817
00:46:08,880 --> 00:46:11,600
Speaker 1: believe in yourself, I know that you are going to

818
00:46:11,760 --> 00:46:15,640
Speaker 1: work hard and you are going to find new avenues

819
00:46:16,160 --> 00:46:19,880
Speaker 1: to get your work out there. When it comes to

820
00:46:20,040 --> 00:46:23,479
Speaker 1: finding a publisher. A couple of tips that I would

821
00:46:23,560 --> 00:46:28,520
Speaker 1: give is go to heaps of industry events, cold email,

822
00:46:29,160 --> 00:46:32,040
Speaker 1: ask other established authors or people that you know who

823
00:46:32,040 --> 00:46:36,000
Speaker 1: have written books to read your manuscript. Try not to

824
00:46:36,080 --> 00:46:39,040
Speaker 1: focus on needing a publisher to write. Just write the thing.

825
00:46:39,400 --> 00:46:41,800
Speaker 1: I do feel like having a book that's already written

826
00:46:41,960 --> 00:46:45,080
Speaker 1: is perhaps a selling point because they can tell if

827
00:46:45,120 --> 00:46:47,239
Speaker 1: they like it or not, and they can kind of

828
00:46:47,560 --> 00:46:49,239
Speaker 1: get a sense of where they might want to take

829
00:46:49,239 --> 00:46:53,080
Speaker 1: that initial draft. And remember, there are so many ways

830
00:46:53,120 --> 00:46:57,600
Speaker 1: to be published. I'd also say start submitting chapters to magazines,

831
00:46:58,200 --> 00:47:02,759
Speaker 1: to journals, to literary magazines as well. Just try and

832
00:47:02,800 --> 00:47:06,359
Speaker 1: get your work out there and know that the right

833
00:47:06,400 --> 00:47:10,000
Speaker 1: people will find it. It might just not be your

834
00:47:10,080 --> 00:47:12,479
Speaker 1: time now. It doesn't mean that your time isn't going

835
00:47:12,520 --> 00:47:14,800
Speaker 1: to come. I think that's all we have time for today.

836
00:47:15,160 --> 00:47:17,400
Speaker 1: Thank you so much, all of you for being so

837
00:47:17,520 --> 00:47:20,920
Speaker 1: invested as to make it this far into the episode.

838
00:47:21,280 --> 00:47:23,560
Speaker 1: If you did make it this far, I want you

839
00:47:23,680 --> 00:47:26,800
Speaker 1: to leave the name of the book that has changed

840
00:47:26,840 --> 00:47:29,920
Speaker 1: your life. What is the book that you are so

841
00:47:30,160 --> 00:47:33,319
Speaker 1: glad someone wrote and then it feels like they wrote

842
00:47:33,320 --> 00:47:37,080
Speaker 1: it just for you because Honestly, I need some reading recommendations.

843
00:47:37,160 --> 00:47:40,120
Speaker 1: I am so sick of reading my own book. It

844
00:47:40,160 --> 00:47:42,120
Speaker 1: feels like all I do is read my own book,

845
00:47:42,200 --> 00:47:44,920
Speaker 1: Like I read it at events, and I read it online,

846
00:47:44,920 --> 00:47:46,440
Speaker 1: and I read it out loud, and I read it

847
00:47:46,440 --> 00:47:48,399
Speaker 1: from the audiobook, and I'm like, I'm sick of you.

848
00:47:48,719 --> 00:47:51,360
Speaker 1: I don't want to look at you anymore. Just kidding.

849
00:47:51,400 --> 00:47:53,880
Speaker 1: I love her so much, but I'm ready to read

850
00:47:54,120 --> 00:47:59,359
Speaker 1: something else inspiring. I'm ready for a palette cleanser. I'm

851
00:47:59,400 --> 00:48:02,480
Speaker 1: ready just to you, you know, I'm ready just to

852
00:48:02,480 --> 00:48:05,200
Speaker 1: see what was going on in other people's brains, as

853
00:48:05,560 --> 00:48:08,840
Speaker 1: delivered through their words. So leave a comment below and

854
00:48:08,920 --> 00:48:12,399
Speaker 1: share this episode with someone who you believe might need it,

855
00:48:12,480 --> 00:48:16,680
Speaker 1: might enjoy it, might love it, might appreciate these tips.

856
00:48:16,840 --> 00:48:20,560
Speaker 1: Make sure you're following me on Instagram at that Psychology

857
00:48:20,600 --> 00:48:24,440
Speaker 1: Podcast to ask future questions for future episodes. Finally, I

858
00:48:24,480 --> 00:48:26,960
Speaker 1: can't leave without saying this. If you have the means,

859
00:48:27,280 --> 00:48:30,799
Speaker 1: please consider buying a copy of Person and Progress. It

860
00:48:30,840 --> 00:48:36,160
Speaker 1: would be greatly appreciated. Until next time, stay safe, be kind,

861
00:48:36,360 --> 00:48:40,359
Speaker 1: be gentle with yourself, and we will talk very very soon.