We’re back after what it feels like a long and unexpected break. In this solo episode, I’m sharing some updates on what’s been happening behind the scenes both in life and in my writing world.
I’ll take you inside what it’s really like to write a book: the pivots I’ve recently made on the book I’ve been working on, the structure and planning, and the very real self-doubt that shows up no matter how many books you’ve written.
I’m excited to be back for this new season of the podcast. If you’re a writer, leader, or creative building something that matters, this episode offers an honest look at the process, both emotionally and strategic, as well as a bit of insight into how I’m approaching this differently.
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- YouTube @stacyennisauthor
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What it’s really like to write a book transcript | Episode 237
These transcripts were generated by robots, not writers.
Stacy: And yet, if you’re writing your first chapter and you get done writing that first chapter and like man, that was not my best work. Okay, well first of all, if you’re a first time author, that was the first chapter you’ve ever written, so be easy on yourself. But second of all, if you’re an experienced author, that was the first chapter you’ve written of this book. So be easy on yourself. Just like every childbirth experience is different, every book writing experience tends to be different. Even with similar types of books in the same genres.
Stacy: Hello. Hello. I am back after a longer break through than planned. If you’re on my newsletter, which you can join by going to Stacey ennis.com join.
Stacy: You know that I had, I don’t know what the word is right now at this exact moment, but not a great start to the year. We had just chaos at home in December in our actual physical house and then we got plagued by the flu and that included multiple hospital trips and da da da. So it’s taken a little bit to get kind of into the year and rolling fully and back to the podcast, layering in the fact that I’m working on a new book, which is what I’m going to talk about a little bit in today’s episode. It’s just made recording the podcast a little bit harder than it normally is, which doesn’t mean that it’s not a priority. It just means it took us a little bit of time to restart. So I’m very excited to be back. Back to the races.
Stacy: We’ll be making more booktip episodes for YouTube. I have some awesome guest episodes coming. In fact, later today I’m recording another episode with an incredible guest. I’M so excited. So we have a lot of really wonderful things in store for you this season. I guess we can call this a new season of the podcast. Definitely this new year, although it’s already February. So, a little update from my side and the topic of today’s episode is what it’s really like to write a book. I mentioned already that I’m working on a new book. If you’ve been part of my ecosystem for, let’s say, more than a year, you know, I was already working on another book, and I’ve actually switched now to a new book.
Stacy: And I want to explain why I did this, because many authors go through things like this, and I think it’s important to share so you know you’re not alone if you have pivoted book ideas. So I wrote a proposal for a book on location independence, which I pitched out to agents. I had some interest from agents, but the problem with that book, even though I think it would be a fabulous book and I know I would do a great job writing it, is that my platform is not built around location independence. And, and to be honest, I didn’t really want to build that direction. I love talking about location independence. I love inspiring people toward living a location independent life.
Stacy: Of course, we talk about it all the time on this podcast on my YouTube channel, and it’s not the place that I want to build toward from a brand and business standpoint. And so while I had some. Some ideas that I wanted to implement under the umbrella of my business and brand, agents were struggling a little bit to see the bridge. And I understood that. So even though I wanted to write the book, I had a fabulous outline, great positioning, and so many things were very well done about that book. The marketing side of it, I think, would have been a bit trickier.
Stacy: And to be completely honest with you, once I started writing the book, I realized that to do a great job on it, I needed a lot more stories and a lot more research in it than I had immediate access to. So, of course I have tons of interviews on this podcast and I have tons of colleagues and clients who have lived a location independent life. But unlike what I’m writing about now, I didn’t have a career of practice and study, and not only in, you know, true academic sense, but also in lived experience and coaching others experience. And so I decided to put that book on the shelf. But I’m bumped for a little bit and I pivoted. So this new book that I’m working on is not a total, you know, 180.
Stacy: In fact, I implemented elements of this book about building a location, independent life. And now I’m working on a book about creative productivity. And really the premise of this book is that integrating meaningful creative productivity into your life will help you unlock a choiceful life of your dreams. That really this creative space, this discretionary time that you build for yourself, the act of creation. And that creation can look a lot of different ways, right? It could look like writing, which is a lot of the work that I do and a lot of the coaching I do. It could look like speaking. Speaking is a highly creative endeavor. It could be painting, it could be music, it could be ice skating. I mean, there’s so many different things that creativity shapes that creativity can take. Could be metalworking.
Stacy: And this book is really geared toward people like you, who are already part of my ecosystem, who are leaders, who are big dreamers, who aspire to impact the world in a meaningful way. And so I’m writing this book really to help people who are dormant creatives or who’ve never held a creative practice in their lives create space for that creative work and do it in a meaningful way that builds toward their choiceful life. So boiling, like drilling way down. It’s essentially a habits book to help you make space for creativity. But it’s so much more than that because it’s meant to really help you build a life you love through your creative endeavors. So I’m super excited about it. And this book plan, like the outline, the proposal, it just poured out of me.
Stacy: It was one of those experiences where it just felt so easy and I was able immediately to go, oh, I have a resource for that. I have lived experience there. I read some, like, primary research on this. I have a study on that. I studied this in university. I had this conversation like everything existed already. Of course I’ll do extra research and things like that, but that’s been really life giving for me and it feels purposeful. Like I have devoted my entire life to creative work and to helping other people engage in creative work in a meaningful way that impacts the world for good. And so why not turn this into a book that people can use and that also for me can reach even more creative folks or aspiring creative folks. So that’s the backstory in the book.
Stacy: Just so you kind of know where I’m coming from, I want to share a little bit about some of my experience writing this book and I’ll draw in some of my experience writing previous books. So I, of course, I’m a book coach. Book strategist, book coach. And I have directly worked on meaning not just had a conversation with somebody. I either have ghostwritten, authored, co authored, edited or coached, like deep coached many more than a hundred books. I mean, I don’t know what the exact number is. I start, I, I started telling, but I don’t know what the precise number. I know it, I know 100 is a very conservative estimate. And I have directly actually written so authored, co authored, ghostwritten 18 of those books, meaning I did the majority or a large capacity of the heavy lifting of writing the books.
Stacy: Most of those I actually wrote from word to first word to last word. So I really know what it’s like to write a book. And I’m not only formally trained, but I have tons and tons of practice in it. And what I find so interesting, and the reason I wanted to record this for you today, is that those little gremlins, they come even when you are so experienced, even when you know what you’re doing, certainly when you don’t know what you’re doing. So if you’re a brand new author and you sit down to write, I bet you have all kinds of self talk going on in your head like, oh, I don’t even why am I doing this? Is this a waste of time? Will anyone want to read this? Who do I think I am to write a book? Guess what?
Stacy: Those same phrases turn around in your head when you’re working on your whatever 19th or book or our hundredth book or whatever it is. And what I found is interesting. So I finished the book proposal, the first draft, which is 20,000 words, which by the way is like almost half a book just in the proposal. And I’m working on sample chapters and then I’ll start pitching out to agents and I’ll talk about that in a second. Why I’m going this route. And I wrote my first chapter and it was not great and it’s the first pancake and I have to remind myself of that. I mean it’s probably better than I think it is because that’s what I always find when I go and reread my work later. And almost all my clients find that too.
Stacy: And it’s humbling every single time, even though I know what I’m doing. And this is where it’s so important that I have, that you have the knowledge and the skills to be able to overcome this inner self talk. Because what happens a lot with authors is that this self talk shuts them down before they ever make it to that final Word of their first draft. And that first draft is the absolute most important critical stage that has to be achieved for everything else to happen. So to be able to edit your book, to be able to publish your book, gotta have a first draft that’s like required. It’s pretty important. And yet if you’re writing your first chapter and you get done writing that first chapter and you’re like, man, that was not my best work.
Stacy: Okay, well, first of all, if you’re a first time author, that was the first chapter you’ve ever written, so be easy on yourself. But second of all, if you’re an experienced author, that was the first chapter you’ve written of this book. So be easy on yourself. Just like every childbirth experience is different, every book writing experience tends to be different, even with similar types of books in the same genres. So what I’m doing, I just finished chapter one today and I already know I might move something from one section to another chapter. I’m just kind of flagging that in my brain. What I’ll do sometimes is I’ll add little comments to myself that, you know, this might fit better in chapter three. So I can kind of let that go for my brain.
Stacy: I haven’t done that yet because I always end up writing, rewriting chapter one. When you go through the book proposal process like I’m doing, which is different than what I normally do, and again, I will get to that momentarily. You don’t write the whole book. Typically, I am going to write the whole book. So my plan is to complete, I’m going to write until I, like, I think I have a decent chapter because I know my process generally is the first chapter is meh. I end up rewriting it. Second chapter is a little better. And usually by the third or fourth chapter, I kind of get my rhythm and I feel a little bit of flow. So probably what I’ll do is I’ll probably write three or four chapters. And in my book these are shorter. So I’m writing a.
Stacy: The way that I’ve organized the book is to support creative productivity on a daily basis. So these are shorter chapters. They’re really targeting more like, you know, an average chapter is normally 4 to 6,000 words. These are targeting more like 2 to 3,000 words, maybe even a little less. I think I’d like to keep it closer to 2000 so it won’t take me too long really to get some at least bones done of these chapters. And then what I’m thinking is I’ll get those done. I might also See if there’s another chapter I’m excited about in my outline and I might write that one. So it might be like chapter eight or chapter I have 18 chapters. Cause they’re shorter. And then I’ll pick two chapters. I think after I’m done with that, I might read, I might write the introduction.
Stacy: And then what I’m thinking to submit is probably the introduction. If it’s good, we’ll see. But I’m going to do that at the end once I know the book a little better. And then I’ll pick one of the chapters that I think is well written and I’ll include those too because I think the intro will be an important way to understand the book. And then that sample chapter will highlight my writing. That’s my plan. We’ll see how it comes. And then what I’m planning to do is while I’m pitching the book and I’ll again, I’ll talk to you about that in a second. While I’m pitching the book. I’m going to keep writing the book because this book needs to get into your hands. This, I don’t have it to show you.
Stacy: I can’t prove this to you because the book is not done yet. But what I have been able to put together just in the outline is so powerful and I already want, I want to be able to give this to my clients. I want for you to be able to purchase it. I don’t want to gatekeep this information because this is really about breaking the chains of hustle culture, depletion culture and building a creatively productive life that is nourishing and it’s productive in a meaningful way. Meaning it’s not about getting more done to get more done. It’s about tapping into focus and flow in a way that enables you to get more better work done in less time so you can free up more of your life to live and be happy and have fun and enjoy.
Stacy: And it’s also the neuroscience and habits behind being able to get your best, most creative, most beautiful, purpose filled work out into the world. And I don’t want to gatekeep that. I want that out. So what I’m planning to do is while this book is being pitched, which can take a while, I’m going to be writing the book. Hopefully I will get an agent. I have my heart and eyes set on specific agent. And if that goes through, I get the deal with a publisher. Great. And again, I will touch in on why I’m going this route and if not, whatever. I have amazing publishing partners. I know exactly who I would publish through in the hybrid model. And I do not need gatekeepers, gatekeeping this from you. So I’m going to pursue the traditional route.
Stacy: I believe that the agents will see the absolute phenomenal potential in this book and in me. And if they don’t, that’s fine too, because I do not need opportunity to bestowed upon me. I can create my own opportunity. So let me tell you why I’m going the agent route, because I think that’s important to know. Normally I work in the hybrid and self publishing areas, and I believe in those routes when done well. So self publishing, you really need to do that very well, and you need to be really careful about who you select. You should work with a self publishing project manager, ideally.
Stacy: And hybrid publishing, if you work with a great partner, you can produce a book that you could put next to a bestseller, any bestseller, New York Times bestseller, your book can stand up next to it, and you wouldn’t be able to tell the difference in quality. And so those are really valuable routes, and especially for people that don’t want to wait three years, two to three, I should say, two years, to get it out to market through a traditional publisher, which can be the case or who maybe don’t have huge platforms yet. And this book is part of building their expert, positioning, their thought leadership, and they want to have full control over that with expert guidance. Okay. So I 150,000% believe in those routes. And I have been through all of it myself. I have also been traditionally published.
Stacy: So my first book was published with a teeny tiny advance. I have just minuscule little advance with a very small press. So I haven’t had the experience myself of going through with a larger publisher, but certainly I’ve had the traditional small press experience where, you know, I had a PR person assigned to my project. I had, you know, the editorial support. I loved it. It was great. And I think, you know, it really wasn’t that different from what authors experience when they’re working with skilled professionals. But of course, the other side of that is you’re not paying for the production of that book. So that was a benefit of that. And I worked with a great team, so that was really wonderful.
Stacy: I think I’m at a stage where I’ve done so much work in all areas of publishing, and I know that because I am a proven author and some of these publishers might be able to open up some additional doors for me, some additional people for me Reach more hearts and minds and change more lives. I want to give it a shot. So I’m going to trial that route. I’m going to put all of my effort into it. And I’m not at the same time going to determine the worth of my book or my work based on the answers that agents and publishers give me. I am absolutely getting expert feedback and guidance and making sure that the book is well positioned. We are reviewing it as a team to make sure it aligns with our marketing goals.
Stacy: And I am doing the gut check to make sure that this book will wildly serve readers, that it will serve writers or aspiring writers, painters, musicians, again, dancers, anybody who wants to re engage with creative work or engage for the first time. Because one of the premises of the book is that creativity is a skill and it’s not just a premise, it’s proven through neuroscience. I’m really excited if you can’t tell, especially if you’re watching me on YouTube. You can see probably how lit up I get when I talk about this book. It is feeling so connected and so flowy and it’s also causing me to self reflect as I’m going through this process and reevaluate my own habits and make sure that I’m doing the things that I’m teaching. Because I’m also a human being.
Stacy: I, you know, I, I get into periods of my focus and attention that I’m not as positive, I’m not being as strict with myself and strict in like a loving way, meaning I’m putting boundaries around my life to really support my focus and attention. And so it’s been great for me too. And I imagine that once this book is done, I will reread it at least once a week, once a year to really help me click in and stay connected to all of these important mindset tools and habits to support creative productivity. And I’m still going to have those gremlins because writing a book is writing a book. And any creative act, it requires you to push up against the edge of your comfort.
Stacy: It requires you to step like a little toe out, like over that edge of what you feel is within your capacity. It’s like you’ve known you had the potential to do this thing but you haven’t done it yet. And so you really have to kind of embrace that and your self talk is going to kind of come back again and again trying to talk you back into safety and you just have to keep pushing and you have to remember that your thoughts are not reality. They are just your thoughts and you have to keep writing or creating or whatever it is that you are doing. That’s what I’m telling myself too, as I work on this. So that’s my update. That’s my hello. I have missed you. I’ve missed doing this podcast. I love it.
Stacy: I love doing this podcast and I love connecting with you. So thank you so much for being with me today and I’m glad to be back. Thank you as always to Rita Dominguez for her production of this podcast. She is the person who has been nudging me in the ribs figuratively, because she lives in Porto and I live in the south of Portugal. You know, we need to get back to it. So I appreciate Rita so much for making sure to keep me accountable and make sure that this podcast happens in spite of all the things that are going on around it. And as always, I want to thank you, our listener, our viewer, for being with me today.
Stacy: And if you have 1 minute, 30 seconds to rate and review or comment, depending on what platform you’re on and make sure that you are free following because you don’t want to miss these episodes, I’m going to be talking a lot more about my book process because hopefully it’ll help you get a little behind the scenes of my journey. Thank you. Thank you. I will be back with you before you know it.
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