Monthly Archives: July 2012

Hello Wriders!

Day 15 in my bicycle wriding went well. A number of items came to me on the wride and a plethora of great music met my ears. I pull out one of the greatest voices of all time, Karen Carpenter, for my song of the morning. My ears delighted to the pleasure of one of her best, more obscure tunes, Ordinary Fool.

The key topic for today and many days to come deals with an upcoming live webinar produced by myself titled, “Go Write and You Won’t Go Wrong! Write Your Book in Thirty Days.” I ran through a trial webinar and I also scheduled myself to teach a live class through the Flagler County Adult Education program.

I put a load of thought and preparation into the upcoming webinar. As long as participants to what I say, they will walk away with a first draft manuscript of approximately 30,000 words in thirty days. This project required more thought and effort than I first imagined.

Part of the issue for me stemmed from the fact I have written nine books in three years, the last manuscript taking only eight days to complete the draft. While churning out a book has become relatively simple to me, I found most people struggle like I once did.

In my first presentation of the webinar, I actually lay out everything anyone needs to complete a book in thirty days. What I found was that few people will actually follow my step-by-step instructions without encouragement and motivation. During my trial webinar, certain issues came to light that reflected writing issues I struggled with for years myself.

Therefore, I instituted a number of ‘coaching’ techniques and motivational techniques to help potential authors complete their manuscripts. I found, without constant, daily encouragement, people who wish to write a book fall into old patterns of complacency and idleness. I’ve heard all the excuses and given many myself. I worked hard to put together encouragements that address most of the issues of writing – especially for newer writers.

Let me first identify some parameters for my new webinar. I recommend the book the writers undertake be a non fiction book. Writers can complete their fiction book using the same techniques, but fiction books tend to run more in the 50,000 words and up category. My view for a novel would be to stretch the writing out over sixty days. A novel can be completed in thirty days. For my webinar purposes, though, the fiction writer will need to write twice as much as the non fiction writer.

I have competed in the Nanowrimo contest each of the past five years. I won three out of five. Winning Nanowrimo is as simple as writing 50,000 words in thirty days during the month of November. The two months I did not complete the challenge, I wrote 32,000 and 37,000 words. This is precisely why I say a first draft can well be completed in thirty days. I’ve accomplished the feat three times myself.

With respect to the webinar, I’m providing two daily emails to each participant encouraging them to write. I’m also including a short recorded phone call each day to touch participants in another form of media. The webinar also includes a privately shared Google Spreadsheet where each participant is required to post their daily word count.

I’m also including a private Facebook Group account where participants can interact with each other and keep their motivation high. I’ve found whenever writers take on an endeavor, the only true support they receive comes from other writers. The Facebook Group account allows participants a forum that is safe and encouraging.

In addition to all the above, I’ve hired professional accountability coach Janice Karm to call each participant weekly. This fifteen minute accountability call will help us determine where the writer stands with regard to the plan and also helps motivate the writer. Encouragement, motivation, and accountability all wrapped up in one webinar should help most writers reach their thirty day goal.

Also included in the webinar is my books, “Go Write and You Won’t Go Wrong!” and “Rock Your Business! Your Book as Your Business Card.” These books walk writers through the process of writing their book. The first book also contains an appendix that delivers daily encouragements to the writers. These encouragements get referenced in the daily emails I send out to the participants.

Not to be lost in all this encouragement, motivation, and accountability, the webinar is presented live over four weeks. Beginning Monday, August 20th, 2012, I will present the webinar myself. The first webinar, as stated earlier, will deliver everything the writer needs to know and accomplish to get their book written in thirty days. The next three live webinars, I will run through some writing encouragements and provide lengthy Q&A sessions to help keep participants on track.

I’m currently working on the edits for my book, “Go Write and You Won’t Go Wrong!” I have a lot of work ahead of me as far as marketing the webinar. Heck, for that matter, I have a lot of work ahead of me getting the rewrites and edits done on the book. Timelines will all begin converging soon, so I foresee some hectic times on the near horizon.

I also got word today that the proof for my first novel, co-written with my fellow Rogues Gallery Writers Jeff, Bridget, and Nancy, will arrive in forty-eight hours. This is exciting. The proof will be the first hardcover edition ClearView Press Inc (my publishing company) has produced since Loves Lost and Found in 2009.

I also have three other book projects in progress with other authors. Needless to say, my blog will be somewhat ‘book-driven’ for the next six weeks. I promise I’ll still interject meditations from my morning wride. That wride may be the calming, sanity-saving act I perform each day…