You are the Storyteller.

As an outspoken person I have always felt right at home, on stage. My childhood involved dance classes, acting camps at the local Community Arts Center, and choreographing performances at sleepovers with my friends that we invited, nay FORCED, our parents watch.

In 2003, I moved to New York City where I earned a college degree, studied acting privately, performed in some off-off Broadway plays, modeled in commercial work, worked as a film extra and  spent 4 years in a long-form improv group that performed every Friday night.

I loved every second of the “just starting out” phase of my acting career including the three restaurants I worked each summer to be able to stay in NY. For some reason though, I never completely believed that I would get my “big break” at that stage of my life. Something held me back and seemed to tell me, now’s not the time.

 When I had my first child and began the road to building a family, I came to terms with the fact that my acting career would need to take a break for a while. This milestone forced me to dig a little deeper to understand how I could best use my voice.

It turns out the outspoken part of me never went away and as a lifelong journal-keeper, I began a blog in 2008. (See My Third Blog to learn more). I suppose I have always been a bit of a serial blogger, in other words, a writer. When I started my company Take12, realized that so much of what young families were experiencing around the many costs of having a child in country with no federal paid leave was a result of ignorance and bad information ingested by executives and lawmakers.

My job as the founder was, once again, to become the storyteller. After many discussions, debates, and panel speaking opportunities, I decided to start writing a book.

Now, 7 years later, my first book is published.

For anyone who has thought of writing a book, you need to. Similar to everything I have done in life, I figured out this process the hard way. Here is my top advice on how to write a book that I hope will encourage you and save you a couple of YEARS.

Make the decision.

I recommend refraining from pitching the idea that you are writing a book to anyone UNLESS you trust that person to be an accountability partner. Writing a book is what a lot of people perceive as a big scarry risk that will only bring judgement, criticism and regret.

You have people in your life who love you deeply. Those people do not want you to experience judgement, criticism and regret so they might come off as less than enthusiastic which could make you second guess yourself before you write the first sentence.

Decide you are going to write a book, open up a word doc and get going!

Start with an outline.

Create the outline or table of contents for you book FIRST. Whether it is fiction of non-fiction, this approach will save you a TON of time. Write out the outline and edit it by moving sections around, scrapping sections entirely, or expanding on one topic so much that in that moment you change the idea of your book entirely.

For example, my book was first going to be about Maternity leave, then it morphed into a book about dismantling the notion of “self-care” before settling into what it wanted to become as a quick read memoir/Self-help book about the millennial experience.

Do not be alarmed when you realize you have thrown out your book and rewritten it several times.

Get Truthful.

What makes a good performance, book, or painting? It’s when the artist is not phoning it in rather they are connecting on a deep level by tapping into their humanity. People want to get to know you (non-fiction) or your characters (fiction). Readers are smart and perceptive and they pick up on the beautify nuance that only comes through when you stop trying to be smart or profound, and simply allow your truth to come out.

If you read a section of your book and if feels forced, fake, or placating, DELETE and try to explain the point you are trying to make from a deeper, more honest place. This is often when humor and drama come through. It’s where the gold is found.

Don’t be alarmed if some of the sections you write are total crap. I have found that you need to cut through the crap to get to the good stuff.

Write.

Duh right? It’s not as easy as it sounds. Most people who set out to write a book, do not get their project past the finish line. Set up a writing schedule for yourself and commit to it, ESPECIALLY on the days where the last thing you want to do is think and type.

Just get to your computer or notebook and write for at least 20 minutes. Sometimes you will hit a state of flow, look at the clock and realize that two hours has gone buy. Other times you will count down those 20 minutes till the very end. Whether morning or night is the best time for you, sit your butt down and write.

Edit, Edit, Edit, HIT PUBLISH.

I have heard of authors who have fully finished and edited manuscripts who have never published their book. In a world where there are awesome and affordable editing and self-publishing companies to help you take this step without a formal book agent or publisher, keep your eye on the prize and publish!

I used Book Baby, because they let me put together an a la carte experience for what I needed. I designed the cover front and back on Canva.

I get it, there can be fear and self-doubt around this step. Assuming your book is something you have grown fond of and would really like it to “succeed” it can be terrifying to hit “publish” knowing that the whole world will have the right to share their opinions on your work.

However, their opinions do not matter. If you feel called to write a book where the words are sitting on your heart and you believe they can serve another human, it is your responsibility to publish the damn thing! There are few things more satisfying than receiving a physical copy of your book.

The next step to getting your book out into the world is marketing. I am still learning this part as marketing your book theoretically can go on forever. I will happily write a part two on this in the future.

In the meantime, please reach out to me through the blog or on social to let me know if you still have fear or self-doubt in the way of bringing your masterpiece to life. Until then, get writing!