Are you asking yourself the same question as I am? How in world is any sane person supposed to fit writing a book in along with the busy holiday seasons and a day job? It is possible. You can do this! Plan, Pray and Snatch. These three things have saved my sanity the last two weeks. I so badly wanted to complete the MBTWRIMO this year. For those of you new to the writing world, November is National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo), where writers set a goal to write a 50,000 word manuscript in one month. Yes, if I didn’t think I was crazy when characters started talking to me, trying to complete a book during the holiday season should make me certifiable crazy. Plan: I made a plan using […]
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The self-publishing journey of a MBT author
Yesterday we posted part one of an interview with a self-published author that MBT had the priviledge of coaching this past year. Read that post here: Today is part two of the journey. SMW: Dennis, you’ve written a delightful Christmas novella, South Pole Santa! Can you take us through the history of this story and help us understand how you went from idea to finished product? Dennis: The first draft was a really rough draft. Bear in mind it was already December and I was only starting to write the story. So I really hurried to get the first draft done and I completed it on December 7 and it was about 10,000 words. You and I discussed did a couple of days later and I’ll never forget that first […]
Read the RestSetting up for Success, Part 2: The Nitty Gritty Four Steps
There are those people who love to plan. They have all sorts of color coded steps for each rung of the ladder they want to climb, what time to take the step, what to wear while they’re stepping and what to eat the night before to ensure the maximum V02 output to achieve maximum thrust on the motion. Dizzy yet? Yeah, me too! Listen. Having a successful 2013 really boils down to four simple steps. If you follow them faithfully, you’ll run a victory lap at the end of the race to the applause of a cheering crowd. Here it is. The PDMI process. P: Plan. Yeah you have to. We’ve talked in the last two weeks about keeping it simple. If you need more coaching on how to do […]
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TEE’s What and Why: Story Question
I’m trying something new for the next few posts: I’ll define a My Book Therapy term (the What) and then explain the importance of the term (the Why). Simple enough, wouldn’t you say? Let’s begin. What: Story Question (Those of you who participated in the Monday night Bleacher chat that I taught will understand the motivation for this article!) The Story Question asks “what if?” It also asks a question of the heart or mind – the great “what if?” Why: As I said during the Bleacher chat, if you hang around me long enough, and you’re working on a novel, I will ask you what your Story Question is. Why? The Story Question drives your entire novel. Consequently, the Story Question should be woven through every scene, every chapter of […]
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