Posts tagged Writing
Learn to Write Like Author Richard Bach
Mar 9th
“The meaning I picked, the one that changed my life: Overcome fear, behold wonder.” ~Richard Bach
Last time I wrote about planning and the importance of setting big goals, long term goals that stretch out at least 10 years. I was going to write today about the process of setting these goals and how to create a great attitude that makes this process even easier and even more fun. Well, scratch that bit of learning for a couple of days, wonderful as it would be and will be again and instead let’s go on a little adventure filled side-trip together. Let’s take a trip into the mind of best-selling author and pilot Richard Bach.
Learn to Write Like Richard Bach
I have been reading Richard’s books since early 1970 and after nearly 40 years, his books are still some of my best friends. Just like my human best friends, I enjoy seeing Richard’s books each time and I enjoy spending time with them. Also just like my human friends, Richard Bach’s books are smart and I learn something from them every time we meet. I had the pleasure of finding a short video interview with Richard Bach a couple of days ago and it really had an impact on me. I am including a link to this video here and I encourage you to watch it. For ears that are ready to hear, there are wonderful, bright and beautiful gems of empowering beliefs just waiting to be picked up in this interview. Next time I will talk about some of these beliefs that Richard is gifting us with and how we can use them to make our own writing better and more fun for us and for our readers. The link will autoload and start to play immediately. Link to Richard Bach video interview.
Till next time faithful reader…Jack
“When you have come to the edge of all the light you have
And step into the darkness of the unknown
Believe that one of the two will happen to you
Either you’ll find something solid to stand on
Or you’ll be taught how to fly!” ~Richard Bach
There’s Nothing Like the Smell of a New Laptop
Feb 12th
“Start by doing what’s necessary; then do what’s possible; and suddenly you are doing the impossible.” ~St. Francis of Assisi
My new laptop arrived a couple of days ago and I have been immersed in moving my computer life from an older machine to a new machine. This is quite a bit more work than I had imagined, but it will be worth it. I travel quite a bit for speaking and I write for hours each day – pretty much every day, so I got the best laptop that I could find for mixing travel, speaking ( I use my laptop as a prompter while the audience sees the presentation on the screen behind me.) and writing while on the road. I ended up choosing the new Sony Vaio “F” series with the fastest quad processor and lots of ram. I have only been playing with it for 2 days now and I love it. Fast – super fast and Windows 7?- this is a great improvement over Vista. I am sure that Vista had some great features – I just never found them. I had downgraded the 5 computers in my system to XP to avoid the madness of Vista. Anyhow, I love the Sony “F”. I love what I have experienced of Windows 7. And of course, there is nothing like that new laptop smell!
That’s all the time that I have for today. Till next time faithful reader…Jack
“The greatest masterpieces were once only pigments on a palette.” ~Henry S. Hoskins
I’m an Idiot for Self-Publishing?
Feb 4th
“One half of knowing what you want is knowing what you must give up before you get it”. ~Sidney Howard
I’m an idiot for self-publishing? Maybe, but maybe not. Last time I talked a bit about what I had recently learned from my study of the genius British novelist Charles Dickens. I also mentioned that some of what I had learned from my study of him had been a deciding factor in my decision to self-publish my first book. I think if Dickens had been beginning his writing career today, he would have almost certainly self-published his first works. Then I think he would have partnered with a great publisher for his next works.
For me, the decision to self-publish was a hard one. I am already busy and writing and then publishing a book – and really doing the proper promotion to ensure a great reception for the fledgling book – this is a lot of work. I had no idea how much work it was until I began the process. For me at least, the writing of the book has turned out to be the easiest part. All of the things that the publisher would do for me, if I had sold the rights of my first book immediately to a publisher, – that has been quite a steep learning curve.
So why did I decide to self-publish? I’ll start from the side of what I won’t be getting or what I am giving up.
- It will cost me more money to self-publish, quite a bit more. Since I am taking on all of the costs of proofreaders and editors, cover designers and printing and the hiring of top-notch PR people, all things that a publisher might have done for me, I am spending more money.
- I am giving up a great deal of my time learning the book business. Had I sold my book immediately, I would have needed to learn very little about the book business – at least at first. I could have let the publishers handle all of the details for me.
- I am giving up the money that I could have made by simply coaching or speaking instead of learning the book business. I am usually fully booked or as booked as I care to be for coaching and I could have simply coached more, earned more, and let the publishers do what they know best.
- I am giving up some credibility for this my first book. A self-published book does not have the credibility in the eyes of some people that a traditionally published book has.
- I am almost certainly giving up some sales that I might have had otherwise. I don’t know all of the distribution channels that an established publisher knows and although I am learning fast – it is certain that I will miss some of them – and not sell those copies of my book.
So, with all of that, why on earth would I self-publish? We will both have to wait until next time for that answer – my time is up for this entry.
Next time I will explain the balance of my thinking about traditional publishing versus self-publishing.
Till next time faithful reader…Jack
“The vision must be followed by the venture. It is not enough to stare up the steps – we must step up the stairs”. ~Vance Havner
Charles Dickens and Groundhog Day
Feb 2nd
“Groundhog Day is a lot like a rock concert but the people are better behaved and there’s a groundhog involved…” ~Tom Chapin, editor of the Punxsutawney Spirit newspaper.
… As an aside, it is Groundhog Day in the United States while I am writing this entry. Although I am not sure that “Punxsutawney Phil” is any better at weather forecasting than me, and I am not very good; I do love the concept! The cute little devil did see his shadow today and has forecast 6 more weeks of winter. Not a shocker – this winter does not seem to want to let go. …
Last time I talked about my first book and its upcoming release in November of 2010. I also mentioned that my decision to self-publish this first book was influenced by my research into the life of Charles Dickens. Here is a bit more about that story:
I recently read “The Making of Charles Dickens” by Christopher Hibbert and I really enjoyed the experience! I not only discovered a new author whose style I liked, but a prolific author as well. This means I have lots of great books waiting for me to find and read. I also got some great insights into what might have helped Charles Dickens be the incredible novelist that he was. (Did you know that he is one of the very few authors that has never gone out of print? And this, as I write this entry, some 140 years after his death? Wow!)
I am always looking for the “secrets of success” or the unique beliefs that help exceptional people be exceptional. Here are some of the secrets that I extracted from my recent study of “Boz”:
1) Being extremely focused on the task at hand – fiercely determined to get it right – is a key to success in writing (and any other aspect of living.)
2) It is okay to be afraid about the reception your writing will receive – as long as you are brave enough to get it out to the public to read.
3) Believe in the value of your writing, even if others at first do not share your enthusiasm.
4) Write about what you know intimately well and share the clarity of your vision.
5) Don’t be afraid to ask what you think your writing is worth.
6) You can do more than you think you can.
7) It is fine to use newest technology to publish your books. (Dickens commonly used magazines and serial releases of chapters – then he sold the books as completed documents. This was pretty cutting edge stuff for the day.) This final point is the one that swayed me to the side of self-publishing.
Next time I’ll be talking about the complete set of reasons why I decided to self-publish this first book and what the implications might be for you and me.
Till next time faithful reader…Jack
“I never could have done what I have done without the habits of punctuality, order, and diligence, without the determination to concentrate myself on one subject at a time”. ~Charles Dickens from his novel “David Copperfield”
Making Money Online and Writing Part Four
Aug 3rd
“The last of the human freedoms is to choose one’s attitudes.” ~Victor Frankl
So the story of my quest to make money from my own products online continues. My biggest challenge is finding the time to do the things that I already know work. My coaching practice is busy, I am gearing up for speaking more this fall, and I am continuing my quest to return to the lean, mean Jack machine of my younger years; so where do I find the time to write and also create the needed online presence to sell my own products? This is the question that haunts me.
I know that I have exactly the same amount of time that every other struggling author has had to make their deadlines – I might even have more. So, no more bellyaching. The bottom line: I need to stop doing some of things that I currently do, at least for awhile, and do more of less. In other words, I need to focus.
At the start of this year, I wrote down five words that I believed would describe the attributes and actions that I needed in order to achieve my goals for the year. Here are those words:
- Focus
- Self-discipline
- Self-promotion
- Courage
- Massive Action
I think those are still the right five words. Now I just need to do a better job of evidencing them! What would your five words be?
More about Minneapolis
I went to Minneapolis, Minnesota USA for a business trip last week. As always, I try and include unique food adventures and history with my business trips. The James J. Hill mansion was great, but I didn’t have time in my last entry to talk about food. As many of you know, I worked my way thru college cooking at various restaurants around Boulder, Colorado USA. In the many years since, I have become a fairly accomplished amateur gourmet cook; I even casually ran a gourmet food club for years – more about that some other time.
Al’s Breakfast
I watch the food network a few hours a week on television. I suspect this is one of the activities that I am going to need to stop for awhile in order to free up time. Still, I like watching shows about restaurants and cooking and I recently saw a show called “Diners, Drive-ins and Dives” that had a short segment about Al’s Breakfast in Minneapolis. It looked like fun on TV and it was! I highly recommend that if you are in that area, plan a breakfast around Al’s. (Al himself passed on, at I believe 97, but when I found out that his last name was Bergstrom – well that sealed the deal for me!) Here is a link to the tiny, but mighty Al’s Breakfast in the Dinkytown area (yep – that’s right, Dinkytown) of Minneapolis near the University: Al’s Breakfast.
- The Front of Al’s Diner in Dinkytown
What am I Working on Today?
- Blogging homework from my coach (of course I have coaches, I am one!)
- My online business presence: My blog, Twitter, starting Facebook
- More writing on my first online product in intend to offer for sale
- Promoting myself to a couple of speaking venues in places I am already traveling
- Nonfiction reading ( I need to cut out that fiction reading for awhile – more focus!)
- Coaching work with some clients
- Exercise and diet – my quest to become less manly continues!
Till next time faithful reader…Jack
“Freedom is not worth having if it does not include the freedom to make mistakes.” ~Mahatma Gandhi
Making Money Online and Writing Part Three
Jul 24th
“Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who matter don’t mind, and those that mind, don’t matter.” ~Dr. Seuss (Theodor Seuss Geisel)
So, you are committed to writing daily, perhaps you already are writing daily. Where do you write? I’m not asking about the physical location where you invoke the muse; I am talking about where you are going to be making your writing visible to the online world. Here is what I have learned so far – from my own experience and from my coaches:
- You need a blog – almost certainly a Wordpress blog – and you should be posting blog entries to this at least three times per week – five would be better in the beginning.
- After you have gotten into the swing of posting blog entries, then you also need to be micro-blogging on Twitter. To ignore this tool, as I did for so long, is foolish.
- After you have gotten into doing these two writing platforms consistently, then you need to add posting comments on other blogs, writing to Facebook, working with LinkedIn and eventually YouTube. I haven’t decided which of these that I am going to add next, but we will all know shortly and you follow my lead. (I promise to be an example – either a good one or a bad one, but I will for sure be an example!)
Your Masterpiece
All along of course, you should be writing on your manuscript, your masterpiece, the first baby of your imagination and expertise that you will release to the world. You don’t know what that is yet – fine. Then start to write down some of the things that you love to do – even pay to do now – probably there is a great place to master and write about in that. For me, I started by writing down all of the things that I speak about in my seminars and that gave me a great place to look for potential products – information products, books etc. – that I could create and release.
What am I working on Today?
- I am making a blog post.
- I am finishing reading Richard Branson’s book “Losing my Virginity” to see what business skills and beliefs I can model from this exceptional achiever.
- I will make a few micro-blog post – tweets – about my day.
- I will work on my manuscript for my goal setting product that I intend to be the first things that I release to the online world.
- I will be working on some consulting proposals for the fall.
Till next time…Happy Writing!
Jack
“There is a misleading, unwritten rule that states if a quote giving advice comes from someone famous, very old, or Greek, then it must be good advice.” ~Bo Bennett
Online Success and Writing
Jul 21st
“It took me fifteen years to discover that I had no talent for writing, but I couldn’t give it up because by that time I was too famous.” ~Robert Benchley
So, you want to make money online? Me too! Here is some of what I have discovered so far about this goal:
- You need to be visible – people need to easily find you and whatever it is you want to sell online.
- You need to be credible – people need to believe that you know what you are talking about.
- You need something to sell – this can be your own products or the products of someone else or a combination.
- You need a following – people that care about what you write and say.
- You need partners – in Internet terms, you need affiliates, that will sell your products for you.
Over time, I am going to discuss each of these five points in great detail and you can watch and follow each step that I take to successfully launch a product focusing on each of these points.
In the most basic sense, those are the overall pieces that you need to make money online. ( But wait, I have skipped tons of other ways to make money right away you say? It’s true, I have. I know there are lots of different ways to make money online. For example, I make good money now from my online efforts because I get hired to speak or coach or consult – but my mission is to make money from products online and this will be the main focus of my efforts and the main focus of these articles that follow my efforts.)
I know that this is way to basic for many of my readers. Thank you for your patience. I will get to material that benefits you very soon, I promise 
. What I am actually going to be doing for the next few months on this blog is making a written record of exactly what I doing to launch my first product online. I am going to be talking about what I am doing on a daily basis and why and you can watch the entire show, from product idea to (hopefully!) successful product launch.
Here is the lesson (and question) for you to take home from today and ponder: are you willing to write five days per week for about two hours each time if you knew that this amount of effort could make you an online success?
Here is what I am doing today:
- I am writing a blog post.
- I am going to tweet perhaps three or four times online to my followers.
- I am going to transcribe notes that I have written regarding my first online product.
- I am going to try to figure out some of the many features on the newest Apple Iphone that I am picking up.
- I am going to be rereading some of Dan Poynter’s excellent book: Writing Nonfiction.
Till next time…Jack
“Writing has laws of perspective, of light and shade, just as painting does, or music. If you are born knowing them, fine. If not, learn them. Then rearrange the rules to suit yourself.” ~Truman Capote
What You Should Do Right Away!
Jan 7th
“All my best thoughts were stolen by the ancients.” ~Ralph Waldo Emerson
You should find a local writing group that feels right and then you should join it! I am speaking now to the many readers of mine that are small business owners or coaches or consultants of some kind. As I have talked about before, it is wonderful to have some product or service for sale that is yours and yours alone. A product or service that you created, a product or service that adds credibility to your business, a product or service that you offer that makes you different than all of the others out there doing basically what you do; this is a critical piece in this highly competitive business market.
As I have also talked about before, I have never worked with a client that did not have at least one book or seminar or downloadable mp3 worth of unique knowledge. In fact, after a few probing questions, most every one of my clients actually has a number of books worth of material rolling around in their heads! How about you?
Now I am speaking to me. I have gotten away with not having a book for sale for years. I have gotten away with it because I am a great speaker. I have gotten away with it because I am a great coach. But have I really gotten away with it? More >
Becoming a Published Author
Jan 6th
“And by the way, everything in life is writable about if you have the outgoing guts to do it, and the imagination to improvise. The worst enemy to creativity is self-doubt.” ~Sylvia Plath
Tonight I am continuing my mission of becoming a published author. I have found a local writing group that seems like a good fit and I am heading out right now to see what it is like. I will give you an update on what the group is like in my next entry (and why you might consider finding or joining a writing group).
Till next time…Jack
“Substitute “damn” every time you’re inclined to write “very;” your editor will delete it and the writing will be just as it should be.” ~Mark Twain