Do you remember the story of The Tortoise and The Hare?
It tells the story of a race between a tortoise and a hare. In the beginning, the hare is super-confident and shoots off, leaving the tortoise behind.
The tortoise plods out of the starter gate and keeps plodding.
Meanwhile, the hare has left him for dust and because he’s confident, he decides to stop for a snooze.
And while he’s snoozing, the tortoise plods past.
The tortoise keeps going. He’s slow but he never stops.
And by the time the hare wakes up…
It’s too LATE!
The tortoise is so close to the finish line the hare can’t catch up and win no matter how fast he goes…and the tortoise wins.
The moral of the story?
Slow and steady wins the race.
And it’s exactly the same when it comes to writing your book.
I’ve seen a lot of courses advertising ‘Write your Book in 30 Days.’ Or even ‘Write your Book in a Weekend.’
And it sounds seductive, right? A bit like the speedy hare.
BUT did he make it in the end?
Nope.
Instead, the tortoise did.
And the tortoise will win every time because he’s consistent and persistent.
If you write your book for half an hour a day five days a week, you will get a lot further than if you wait til the mood strikes (it won’t) and write in fits and bursts. You won’t remember what you were working on the last time, or where to pick up and how to carry on.
But if you’re writing a bit every day, you know exactly where you’re starting from every time you sit down to write.
Start thinking about how you can carve out half an hour a day in your everyday life at a time that feels good for you, so you’re writing your book little and often.
Stop thinking you have to write your book really really quickly because you DON’T (I have no idea why this seems to be such a craze. It’s like The Fast and The Furious Part…28).
Consistency is key, and writing is like a muscle: the more you use it, the better it gets. You will write a better book and you’ll actually end up plodding past all the snoozy hares so you finish FIRST!
That was Reason 1. Now for Reason 2.
If you want to write a book that feels genuine and authentic, like it feels just like you and it sounds like you on the page, then you need to give yourself time to dig deep and answer some key questions that will help you build your book foundation at the start.
This includes nailing down your why, your reader, your point and your vision.
Everything flows from here. Your genre, book structure, chapters, chapter content, cover content, route to market…everything.
Once you get your foundation in place you’ll have a roadmap for the rest of the journey.
Reason 3
Writing a book is a process with various stages. And if you’ve never written and published a book before, chances are you’re not aware of what those stages are or the work that’s involved and how long it can take.
Editing for example involves a third party (and if you’re bringing a book to market, you can’t skip this stage). It requires arranging and scheduling and takes longer than you think.
In the end, you’ll want to put your best work out there. But it’s a marathon, not a sprint.
And the only way to do it is to make like the tortoise and you’ll get there.
