In this article, we’ll look at why you’re procrastinating – and how Book Magic can help you overcome writer’s block, so you can get your business book out into the world.
You know that writing a book is a great way to promote yourself and your business. Publishing a book creates a valuable intellectual property asset while telling the world that you’re an authority in your field.
But you keep putting it off. Or maybe you keep starting, getting a few thousand words in and never getting your book over the finishing line.
In this article, we’ll look at why you’re procrastinating – and how Book Magic can help you overcome writer’s block, so you can get your business book out into the world.
The main reasons you’re procrastinating on writing your book…
In working with thousands of experts, entrepreneurs and business leaders, we’ve observed the five main reasons they put off getting that book finished (or even started):
- They don’t know where to start
- They don’t plan before writing, and therefore…
- Get confused and overwhelmed during writing – and give up
- They try and do it alone with no support
- They don’t take expert advice and guidance.
Do any of these sound like you?
You’re an expert in your field, but writing a book is brand new to you. How are you going to structure it? How many pages should each chapter have? What software are you going to use? What book writing strategies are out there to help you?
With so much to think about, it’s not surprising that many people let the fear of failure get the best of them, put their book on the back burner and stick to projects that are more in their comfort zone.
Or maybe you’ve tried to beat procrastination by diving right in, pounding away at your keyboard without a real plan. You can keep going as long as you have the inspiration and the enthusiasm, but procrastination can start to kick in as soon as you run out of ideas – or momentum.
If you’ve written thousands of words with no real plan or structure, it’s easy to become overwhelmed. Your book seemed like such a good idea when it was in your head. Now it’s spilling out onto the page, it’s messy and imperfect… Especially if you have perfectionist tendencies, you can quickly begin to procrastinate if your book starts to feel out of control.
Another common cause of procrastination is the idea that writing a book can only ever be a solo effort. You might be the sole author, but you still need support and accountability, and you can still benefit hugely from expert advice and guidance. If you’re determined to write your book alone without help – or you’re the only person who even knows you’re writing it – your book will slip further and further down your list of priorities.
Adopt the AUTHOR mindset
To avoid the trap of procrastination, it’s important to get into the right mindset. At Book Magic, we recommend the AUTHOR strategy for writing books:
Attention
Pay attention to the work your subconscious can do for you by planning your writing sessions ahead of time to avoid procrastination. Decide on the subject of a writing session the day before, make a note of the title, and tell your subconscious to prepare.
Understanding
Understand your personal preferences and styles for thinking, planning, organising and meeting deadlines. You know what helps you work effectively and what circumstances encourage you to procrastinate: consciously use your strengths and mitigate any weaknesses to help you push through.
Trust
Trust your reticular activating system – the part of your brain that acts as a gatekeeper to your conscious awareness. It protects you from overwhelm by filtering out the unnecessary and less important aspects of life, and you can train it to help you overcome writer’s block by focusing on your book and filtering out distractions.
Help
Ask for help when you need it: both book writing help and help in other areas of your life. You’ll find it much easier to overcome writer’s block and get your book written if you make use of advice – and you may need help from those around you to block out the time to write.
Order
Maintaining order in your writing – planning out a structure and sticking to it – will help avoid the confusion and overwhelm that can lead to procrastination. And having an order to your daily and weekly activities will help you create the writing habits you need to keep writing, even when you’re running short on inspiration or willpower.
Reaction
Think about the positive reaction your book will earn: the value it will bring to more people than you can imagine. The longer you procrastinate, the longer it’ll take for your book to reach the people who could benefit from it!
Follow the WRITER process
Book Magic takes aspiring writers like you through a six-stage process to get your book finished: Write, Review, Improve, Test, Edit and Repeat.
In other words, you’ll have lots of opportunities to improve your first draft once you’ve written it. But you can’t edit a blank page: the first stage is to write your first draft, and by following our plan you can get it done in 6 weeks.
5 ways to overcome writer’s block and procrastination
1. Outline a solid plan for your book
One of the most important ways to overcome writer’s block starts before you’ve even written a word. The best way to avoid being confronted by writer’s block when you sit down at your laptop is to make sure you have a detailed plan, so you know exactly what you’re supposed to write in that session.
Book Magic helps you plan your content and list every section of every chapter, including every piece of research and every case study. It also guides you through how long each section is going to be. So writing your first draft becomes as easy as filling in the blanks.
2. Create a consistent writing habit
If you only write when inspiration strikes or when you’re in the ‘writing mood’, you’ll never get your book finished. Instead, you need to build a consistent, realistic habit that trains your brain to get into writing mode. If possible, try to write in the same place and at the same time every day. You can use Book Magic to create a custom schedule that works around you, receiving daily or weekly reminders to help you stay on track.
3. Leverage technology and tools
In an ideal world, every writer would have an assistant to help them plan their time and a coach to help them push through procrastination. But if you don’t happen to have an army of staff on hand, with Book Magic’s AI technology you can access the wisdom of human book coaches – all in a handy, affordable platform.
4. Get the right support
Of course, nothing beats support from other people who have been in the same situation as you, so they can share tips on how to overcome writer’s block with your book. Asking experts for constructive feedback on your work in progress is invaluable to the writing process.
Whether you’d like help with planning, a complete review of your first draft or a quick question answered, you can arrange a one-to-one session with a Book Magic book coach from within the app.
5. Celebrate milestones
Book Magic makes writing your book quicker and easier, but completing and publishing a book is still a massive achievement. Don’t wait until you hit the bestseller lists to open the champagne: keep yourself motivated by sharing your progress and rewarding yourself every time you complete a section of your book or a stage in the writing process.
