Hey there and welcome to Nothing but the Words. I’m your author coach, Candice L Davis.

I hope your week and your writing are both going well.

I’m recording and releasing this episode in the first week of 2022.

Of course this is the time when many of us set goals, make resolutions, choose a word or a theme for the year, and look forward to a fresh start.

I love this time of year, and I love a fresh start.

My theme for last year, or what I like to call my prime directive, was, “Raise the standard.”

This year my theme is, “Go all in.”

Going all in has nothing to do with hustling.

I’m never going to be team no-sleep. I have nothing against working hard when it’s required, but I’m not setting myself up for a year of hustling and grinding.

Instead, my theme of, “Go all in,” is my reminder to choose only those projects, programs, courses, events, and relationships I can go all in on.

If I can’t give 100% commitment, this year, it’s not for me.

So I’m going all in for my 1:1 coaching clients, continuing to develop my skills, and learning more about writing, publishing, and coaching so I can offer them even more value.

I’m going all in for my group-coaching clients and showing up for them with full energy, all my resources, and creating new content for a brand-new group coaching experience that will blow my clients’ minds.

And I’m going all in on creating content that will serve my podcast listeners, and social media followers, and email subscribers.

Whether or not you ever actually work with me, if you show up in my space, I’m giving you value.

I don’t expect you to adopt my prime directive, “Go all in” for 2022.

But if you plan to write your book this year, I want to encourage you to go all in for your book.

I’ll be honest with you.

I meet people all the time who tell me they’re writing a book and when I run into them months or even years later, they still haven’t written it.

It’s all too common, but it doesn’t have to happen to you.

Even if you’ve set a goal to write your book for the last two or five or seven years, this can be the year you write your book.

But writing a book worth publishing doesn’t happen over a weekend.

You need to sustain your energy, enthusiasm, and effort over a period of weeks and months.

To do that, you need to go all in on your book, but you have to do it your way.

Answering the following 3 questions will help you get clear about how you can make this your year to write your book.

Question #1. Are you a binge writer or a moderate and consistent writer?

I usually coach my clients to start with writing consistently—maybe 30 to 60 minutes, 5 to 7 days a week.

This works for a lot of new authors because they haven’t developed their writing concentration skills yet.

But you have to know yourself.

Some people prefer to write more intensely. They like to binge write on Saturday and Sunday mornings, or wherever it fits in their schedule and then put the writing aside for the rest of the week to focus on other things and it works for them.

You might have to experiment with each process to see which one works best for you.

Whichever schedule you use, start small in the beginning and then build up.

Keep a record of how your writing goes and evaluate your progress so you can make a rational decision about which writing schedule actually serves you best.

Keep track of how many pages or words you produce in a week, but also note how you feel when you’re writing.

Which process feels better to you?

Question #2. Do you prefer to write and revise chapter by chapter or brain dump and move on knowing you’ll have to revise the entire manuscript at the end?

There’s no wrong answer, you just have to get to know yourself and your writing personality.

Whichever path you take, writing a world-class book will require you to commit to rewriting and revision.

Prepare yourself for that.

But some authors find it easier to revise the latest chapter before they go on to the next.

And others just want to write a complete rough draft of the manuscript—beginning, middle, and end—before they go back to revise anything.

Most of my coaching clients tend to fall in the middle.

They write a chapter, read over it and revise it lightly, and then move on.

Others, rewrite the latest chapter until it shines before they move on.

That can be dangerous because you can truly spend weeks or months polishing a single chapter.

Back when I was in high-end writing workshops, I watched authors move commas around and tweak sentence structure in the same chapter week after week.

Sometimes, I was that author, so no shade.

This method, however, becomes a problem if you have a deadline with a publisher or with yourself.

It becomes a problem if you use it as an excuse to procrastinate and not finish writing your book.

Test it out for yourself.

But if you decide you need to revise before you move on, I suggest you limit the number of passes you’ll do over each chapter before you write the next.

It’s up to you to decide, but be honest with yourself about why you’re choosing that method.

And Question #3. How do you best receive feedback?

I believe so deeply in editing, friend.

It was one of the first services I offered in my business because I know how powerful it can be.

But I believe in getting feedback well before you have a finished manuscript, especially when you’re writing your first book.

I workshopped my writing for years because I saw the value in getting feedback from my mentor and my workshop peers.

I encourage you to get feedback at every milestone along the way—not just from anyone, but from an expert who knows what they’re doing.

Getting expert feedback on your book idea, your outline, your writing plan, and your content, does not mean writing the book someone else wants you to write.

A great author coach should help you write the book you want to write.

You might join a group program or hire a 1:1 coach, but before you do, it’s important that you know how you best receive feedback.

Why does that matter?

Because you can tell your potential coach how you want them to give you constructive criticism.

I have some coaching clients who prefer to hear at least as much about their strengths as they do their opportunities.

Others prefer to get directly to the opportunities for improvement.

Knowing what you want from a prospective coach and asking them if they can give it to you, will help you say yes to the right author coach for you and no to the wrong one for you.

I believe anyone who wants to write a phenomenal book can do it.

Experience has taught me that.

And if you want to write your book this year, I encourage you to go all in for your book, but do it your way and according to your unique writing nature.

Ask yourself:

Are you a binge writer or a consistent, moderate writer?

Do you prefer to revise chapter by chapter or all at the end? Do you fall somewhere in the middle?

And how do you prefer to receive feedback?

Answer those 3 questions and write your book in 2022, your way.

That’s all for this week’s episode, my friends.

If you need help getting started with your book, download my free resource Jump-Start Your Book and CandiceLDavis.com/jumpstart.

The short video training and quick-guide will help you get started right away.

Thanks for listening to Nothing but the Words, I’m your author coach Candice L Davis, and I’ll see you next time.