So as I wrap up my very first *real* book project, I find myself reflecting on the process of getting here. I’ve always considered myself a writer, though “writer” has taken on numerous iterations my grade 12 English teacher–heck, even my philosophy professors–surely would not have anticipated for me. Thank goodness for unexpected detours!
If you know you have a book in you, a story to tell, an important message someone needs to hear, I’m here to tell you it’s more doable than you probably realize. Of course, actually coming up with a book that you can make a tidy profit from? Well, that’s for another post (or 10) 
For now, let’s just focus on getting the process started and then sustaining the momentum long enough to finish the damned thing.
Here are some valuable (life) lessons I learned along my journey toward completion of the Alpha WAHM Blueprint: An Empowerment Guide for Work-at-Home Moms:
- Passion is paramount. Much like deciding what kind of work-at-home business you want to have, deciding what to write about–at least the first time around–should be dictated by your passion(s). There will be days, even weeks, when you just don’t feel like working on your book. Your passion for the topic will push you through those times. It will compel you to work through the nitty-gritty parts of your book that you aren’t quite sure how to complete. It will keep you awake enough nights to make you want to write something your readers hunger for and subsequently devour.
- Hire people to help you. Even if you can’t afford to have a team of experts on side, you are much more likely to complete your book if there is at least one other person invested in the result. For me, this person was a writing coach. (Hi Linda!) My writing coach helped me get all the content out of my brain and organized into an outline for a cohesive, targeted piece of writing. For me–and I suspect for many other writers and wannabe writers–procrastination kills potential. The longer you wait around to write your masterpiece, the more unlikely you’ll ever get started at all. Get a professional onside who you can pay good money to kick your butt and coerce you into telling your truth, whatever it is. Writing doesn’t have to be a lonely endeavor!
- Set deadlines and track your progress. You don’t want to be working on your book for years, do you? Set a goal for completion. Then set milestones along the way. “Chunk” your book into not only chapters, but types of tasks required to create something publishable. This runs the gamut from graphics to editing to proofreading to fact checking to creating a table of contents to getting an ISBN. You would not believe how many to-dos go into writing a book until you finish your first one! (I used Smartsheet to track my to-dos and communicate with my team. Brilliantly simple.)
- Spew forth whatever you’ve been dying to say. This might sound trite or obvious, but I cannot stress this point enough. Do not over-think your words, at least not in the beginning. If you do this, you’re dead in the water. Forget perfect. Forget cohesiveness. Just get the information and ideas that have been clamoring around in your head all these months onto the page. That is your only mission when writing the first draft. It’s called a “draft” for a reason. If you try to self-edit as you go, you’ll write in circles because you’ll barely have finished expressing a thought before you start ripping it apart. Just write your brains out, literally. Use an outline. Stick with the theme (mostly). Take a break when you’re stuck. But when the inspiration hits you, just get it out.
- Trust yourself. There will be days when you wonder why on Earth you ever thought you wanted to write a book. On those days, trust that you would not have had the desire in the first place unless there was a book already inside of you waiting to see the light of day. Writing is a calling you have a responsibility to answer. You have a responsibility to yourself to express your truth. And you have a responsibility to your someday readers who need/want/hope to come upon your story. Trust that the crazy stuff coming forth onto the page will start to take form eventually. There is time later to make your words sing and dance.
Besides, there is always the second edition.
However, there is only one you, and there is only one life to get your book written.
So, tell me, what’s stopping you from writing your first masterpiece?
About this Alpha WAHM Blogger: Karri is the Alpha WAHM who owns this joint. She also happened to write the book. 
