The Secret to Writing the Perfect Book
Perfect.
It is an oft-used term for so many different aspects of life.
Perfection is that elusive, ultimate goal for anything a person cares to excel at.
It is an ideal that keeps us reaching for the stars.
My advice? Spend less time reaching and more time getting your book published.
Every year, I teach hundreds of students how to write and publish their own books.
Those students come to my classes with the intention of learning how to make money as published authors.
I teach them everything they need to know, but many still have not published their books.
That's because they became bogged down in their search for perfection.
One student of mine in particular started to write her book back in 1967.
She came to my workshop a few years ago and was still not finished with her manuscript.
When I asked why she didn't just publish her book and get it to start working for her, she simply explained that she was in a writing club meant to improve her work.
She said the club members were constantly making changes and corrections and many areas would become stalled and not move forward.
This student of mine will likely never reach a point of completion.
She has been working on her book for so long that her view of what makes it perfect will never come to fruition.
Although she is an extreme case, I see so many of my students fall into the trap that I like to call the "perfection problem.
" So what exactly is the secret to writing the perfect book? It's to understand that there is no such thing as a perfect book! Once an author comes to terms that a book will never reach unattainable standards of perfection, he or she can move on and focus on finishing the manuscript and getting it published.
A mediocre book that is actually being purchased and read is much better than a book that never ends up being finished.
If you don't believe me, visit Amazon.
com and search through most book reviews.
You will see that 90 percent of reviewers will give a book a positive assessment, and 5 to 10 percent of reviewers will be negative.
Learn to get over the negativity quickly, and you are on your way to the real accomplishment: finishing your book so that people have the chance to review it at all!
It is an oft-used term for so many different aspects of life.
Perfection is that elusive, ultimate goal for anything a person cares to excel at.
It is an ideal that keeps us reaching for the stars.
My advice? Spend less time reaching and more time getting your book published.
Every year, I teach hundreds of students how to write and publish their own books.
Those students come to my classes with the intention of learning how to make money as published authors.
I teach them everything they need to know, but many still have not published their books.
That's because they became bogged down in their search for perfection.
One student of mine in particular started to write her book back in 1967.
She came to my workshop a few years ago and was still not finished with her manuscript.
When I asked why she didn't just publish her book and get it to start working for her, she simply explained that she was in a writing club meant to improve her work.
She said the club members were constantly making changes and corrections and many areas would become stalled and not move forward.
This student of mine will likely never reach a point of completion.
She has been working on her book for so long that her view of what makes it perfect will never come to fruition.
Although she is an extreme case, I see so many of my students fall into the trap that I like to call the "perfection problem.
" So what exactly is the secret to writing the perfect book? It's to understand that there is no such thing as a perfect book! Once an author comes to terms that a book will never reach unattainable standards of perfection, he or she can move on and focus on finishing the manuscript and getting it published.
A mediocre book that is actually being purchased and read is much better than a book that never ends up being finished.
If you don't believe me, visit Amazon.
com and search through most book reviews.
You will see that 90 percent of reviewers will give a book a positive assessment, and 5 to 10 percent of reviewers will be negative.
Learn to get over the negativity quickly, and you are on your way to the real accomplishment: finishing your book so that people have the chance to review it at all!
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