Stop Stalling and Get Writing: What You Need to Do to Actually Write That Book
Have you been thinking about writing a book? Is it a perennial entry on your New Year's Resolution list or that idea that keeps popping up? Is it that promise that you make to yourself, "Someday I'm going to sit down and write my masterpiece!" Writing a book is an extremely gratifying experience, and also an incredibly daunting one. It's challenging to sit in front of a blank screen or blank piece of paper and start knocking out the words. Here is a step by step process that can kickstart your journey to becoming an author. 1. Clarify why you want to write a book. There are a lot of reasons to write a book, and it's crucial to … [Read more...]
Monday Morning Mash-Up – The Terror of the Blank Page
A new year is a fresh start. While it's easy to get caught up in the rah-rah excitement of a new beginning, it's also important to acknowledge the fear that comes with it. Writers talk about the trepidation that a blank page can create, because both the possibility of success and failure are present in the beginning. What if you can't think of anything to write? What if what you do write sucks? I released five books this past year and the start was always daunting. It doesn't matter how much I've written, a blank page (or computer screen) is always scary. I know that every time I dive into a writing project there will be ups and … [Read more...]
Moving Past the Damming (and Damning) Power of Getting It Right
I've found that one of the biggest challenges for myself as an entrepreneur and creator is the desire to get things right. I know that it sounds a little backwards, but I've found that one of the best ways to not make forward progress is to worry about making sure your progress is the best it can be. Perfection Gets You Stuck Getting stuck because of this focus on perfection manifests in different ways for different people. For some it's analysis paralysis, where they keep accumulating more and more data instead of acting. For some it's constant revision and changes on their projects which prevent them from being released into the … [Read more...]
On LinkedIn, Show and Tell Should Be: Show, Don’t Tell
LinkedIn profiles are really cool. Think about it; you get to have a website that it as all about you. It highlights your experiences, your skills, your education... your story. But most of us aren't that experienced in telling (and writing) our story. So we get flustered when we are putting together our profile. One of the most common traps people fall into when writing their LinkedIn profile is that they approach it just like they were writing a resume. This has a lot of negative effects, but one of the biggest mistakes is that people fall back on using resume-speak: the jargon and empty phrases that are used when putting together a … [Read more...]