How to Make a Book Series - Writing the Book

As the famous French writer and Nobel Prize winner, Anatole France once said, "To accomplish great things, we must not only act, but also dream; not only plan, but also believe." Writing a book is by no means an easy task, but with your dedication and belief in your ideas, you can accomplish not only good things, but great things.

Believe it or not, some of your biggest obstacles in actually writing, or drafting, your book is yourself. You have probably heard the expression, "A relationship is only as strong as the weakest person in it." This can also be true with your creativity. Your book and ideas can take on their own identity and you enter into a relationship with your creativity. This "relationship" can have it's ups and downs and its important to identify this so that (1) you can learn to adjust to these times and (2) help ease your frustration levels along the way.

Julia Cameron, author of The Artists Way, is an expert on the foundations of creativity and explores some common beliefs about how we have been conditioned to allow ourselves the freedom to be creative. She states that many of the greatest artists are looked upon as having no self doubt. She goes deeper and says that we need to learn to move through self doubt, not avoid it. The Artists Way has a great way of explaining the concept of self doubt and provides excellent resources to improve your overall creative freedom. If you haven't read the book already, stop reading this blog post and go out and get it!

Another common frustration creative individuals experience is the weight of their vision. You probably have many great ideas but you may feel so overwhelmed with the weight of the process that you have a hard time getting started. This is very common and you should remind yourself that great things have never been accomplished overnight. There are a couple of ways to get around "writer's block." One way is to refuel your creative muscle. Julia Cameron calls this "taking yourself on an Artist Date." This will help refill your bucket of creativity and encourage you to be more productive. Another way is to schedule your writing time in your weekly calendar. You could schedule 15min in the morning or 1 hour, 3 times a week. It's up to you. The point is that if you plan your creative time, it is more likely you will stay focused, and you will feel more accomplished then if you just "wait" for your creativity to strike.

Lastly, be careful of getting into the habit of constantly editing your work before it needs to be edited. Many creative individuals are perfectionists and while perfectionism can assist your dedication, it can also inhibit your creative flow and keep you stuck in the process. Learn to resist the urge to "edit" your work at the beginning stages to allow your ideas to breath and capture the entire world around them. If you can turn off your "internal editor" at the beginning, you will begin to experience the freedom your creativity needs to better communicate your ideas later.

I hope this helps you during your creative process and remember, "In order to live an extraordinary life, one must be able to overcome extra-ordinary challenges." So when you find yourself getting stuck while writing your book, just say to yourself, "I'm just living to be extraordinary," and allow yourself the freedom to refill your creativity and pick up your pencil and start again.

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