Using Your Outline to Write Your Rough Draft: Part 2

Hi, friends and future authors, this is Lynn “Elikqitie” Smargis for another episode of Publishing for Professionals. I'm really excited this week because we're going to be diving into the second part of taking your outline and creating the rough draft of your book, or the first draft of your book, if you want to call it the first draft, because the first draft is the rough draft. So let's get ready to discover how your outlining becomes a roadmap to your real book. So last episode I talked about a few different things, from getting into some good writing habits to some advice on how to outline your book using chapters. So today we're gonna talk about some common challenges people have and solutions to those typical first draft issues.

01:02

So one of the things I commonly hear my clients talk about is writer's block. So this, interestingly enough, writer's block is not a challenge that I really have. It's extremely rare that I get writer's block and I am definitely the anomaly and not the norm. So I think and that's because I'm really good with ideation it's just one of my gifts that I have, so I don't get writer's block. So that is again another reason to reach out to me if you're getting writer's block and you're like God, I just can't get past this, definitely reach out to me. And even if you don't need to use me full time as a ghostwriter, you can always just use me for a few consult sessions and I can help you just get out of that stuck spot. If you don't want to go for a whole package, that's perfectly fine. I love helping people get out of those stuck spaces and we can manage to do that in probably three sessions. So definitely reach out to me if you're having stuck with writer's block. So one of the things I like to tell people is, if you have writer's block, one of the best things to do is to just stop writing and get up and maybe just go outside and even walk around your house in circles.

02:04

Your neighbors might think you're crazy, but this really works. Or just take a walk around your block, you know. Take your dog out if you've got a dog. If you don't have a dog, just take yourself out Walking for 10 minutes. It is amazing how that clears your head and helps you get ideas.

02:18

Another thing you can do too is just, and being outside for me really helps. Sometimes I just sit outside and is just, and being outside for me really helps. Sometimes I just sit outside, and sitting outside helps just with getting a flow of words to the paper. Sometimes you can just do what's called a brain dump and just if there's something that's worrying you and that's why you have wires blocked or something in your head, you just need to get out, just literally get a notebook or pieces of paper or whatever and just start writing whatever's in your head that is bothering you on the paper. And if you've got like five sheets of paper, that's perfectly fine. Just staple them together, put them aside and that way, if it's out of your head, you will get that roadblock unblocked. And sometimes you can't get writers block unblocked and sometimes you just have to come back to your work the next day. So give yourself some grace. If you do need to do that, just make sure if you do get writer's block, one of the things I always advise my clients and I do myself, whether it's on a client project or my own personal book projects is that I always highlight the area and say this is where I left off, because inevitably because I write multiple books at a time, I'm never going to remember the exact spot I left off, and I usually tag myself in my Google Docs, so I know exactly where I left off.

03:37

And I use a specific color of blue highlighter in my Google Doc, so I know where I left off and I know that blue highlighter means this is where I left off and I need to continue here. All right, expanding thin sections. This happens a lot. So a lot of times people will put like one sentence for a topic and then move on to the next topic. That is horrible. It looks bad. A on paper visually doesn't look good and B, it's not professional writing. So you can't just have a topic with one or two sentences underneath it. Okay, if that's all you have to write about that topic, then you need to incorporate those sentences into other content.

04:05

Okay, so a paragraph technically has to be three or four sentences. I really don't like reading one sentence paragraphs. It's just too choppy, it doesn't flow well, no matter what anybody says. I will not do that for my book. I won't do that on a client's book. That is one of my hard and fast rules no one sentence paragraphs.

04:22

So make sure that when you're writing, if you have a thin section, a thin meaning like you might have, your last section is like eight paragraphs and this section is. You know one, maybe you expand that one paragraph. Maybe what you do is you figure out that some of those eight paragraphs actually are a different topic and you can break that down. Now again, it doesn't have to be the exact verbiage every chapter, every paragraph, or the exact word count every paragraph. But you in a chapter you don't want one section to be like 12 paragraphs and the next section to be like one. Okay, so just make sure that it flows really well as far as like the word count and the number of paragraphs you have in the section. Now, of course, some chapters are going to lend themselves to longer paragraphs or bigger paragraphs and more description, and that's perfectly fine, okay, within that chapter. But just make sure you're not doing those one-sentence paragraphs. And if you have a one sentence paragraph, expand on that topic for sure, all right.

05:20

Next topic we're going to talk about is staying on track. So here are some tips for maintaining momentum and we're going to take a break right here. This is a little bit of a short episode. When we come back, we're going to talk about those momentum tips on keeping momentum for your book. All right, my friends, we're back and we're talking about keeping momentum for your book and some tips on writing your first rough draft on the Publishing for Professionals podcast today. So tips for retaining momentum. One is track your daily progress, okay, so if you have a progress tracker or you don't, there are some great free ones online. You don't even have to like download a progress tracker. You can just keep it in a notebook, right, and write it down every day, or keep it in your phone on a note and then just say you know, just write it down, like Monday you did this, tuesday you did this, and then you just copy and paste it to the next section.

06:25

I like to make Google Docs. I like to make tables in Google Docs to keep track of things, which is really easy for me. So if you don't know how to make a table in Google Doc, it is super easy. You literally just open up a new document or an existing document and then what you do is you go up to I believe it's format and then there's table or insert table I think it's under insert and then you click when you hover over table on the right, it has a little pop-up and how many columns and rows that you want and you just say how many columns and rows. Again, you can change it and edit it as much as you want. The columns and rows. It doesn't have to stay. Even after you do the table, you can delete columns and rows.

07:01

So once you have that done, then you can track.

07:04

You can just keep your own word track. You can keep it on an Excel sheet. You don't have to have a fancy tracker. It's really easy to keep track of your word count. So just figure out the best way for you to keep track of your word count, whether that's digitally or non-digitally, and then celebrate your small win. So every week you know at the end of your tracker, write down what is your small win for that week. Maybe it was just being consistent and because you have a hard time being consistent, that's your win. Maybe it was surpassing your word goal of 500 words for the week. Okay, so if you have a word goal of 500 words for the week and you've written 600, that is awesome. Celebrate that win and, whether that's you know, posting it on social media, be like, hey, I surpassed my word goal for this week. Or sharing it with a family or friend or somebody another creator. Or if you have a mastermind or a business mastermind. That's awesome too.

07:51

All right, use writing sprints. So, like we talked about before, you know sitting down writing every day. Maybe once a week you get together with some friends that are also writing a book and you get together with them on Zoom. It doesn't have to be like somebody who's physically close to you. It could be you could go to a coffee shop and meet up with friends and maybe they're doing other work and you're writing on your book. Maybe it's just a work meetup because you want to sit and work with friends once a week because you're tired of working at home all the time by yourself. So maybe it's Friday afternoon between one and three and you meet up with these friends at a coffee shop and you guys grab coffee and you just put your heads down to work together and then maybe the end you do some critiquing of each other's work. If that's something you want to do, whatever it is right, you make it work for you, all right. So writing sprints that's a writing sprint. It's basically where you're taking longer than you normally take and you just sit down and write, write, write, and that can be with a friend, that can be without a friend. Maybe you work at a nine to five job and you're writing your book afterward. Okay, maybe you take a Saturday afternoon for a writing sprint and your partner takes the kids out, or your partner takes the dog out for a walk, so you can get that writing sprint time in uninterrupted. That's the most important part. So if you're doing a writing sprint, you want to be uninterrupted, so make sure you turn off your notifications on your computer and your phone. Maybe you silence your phone. Whatever it is to do to get that writing sprint done, that is what you need to do. Do it for yourself, okay.

09:17

Next one is join accountability groups All right. So even if it is a DIY, like I just said, or you have a mastermind that you go to like on a monthly or weekly basis, that's great. Join an accountability group that helps with keeping up accountability. I know it helps me if I'm in a group and I'm like, hey, I'm gonna have this done by this date. Sure as fire it's gonna be done, because I don't wanna be the person who doesn't have my work not done. So joining an accountability group is a great idea as well if you want to attain your book rough draft goals. Hey, friends and future authors. It is Lil' Liquidity Smart.

10:11

Just back again, and we are talking about this still is the first half. Accidentally hit that video button. Sorry about that. We're talking about joining accountability groups. So whether that accountability group is one you've formed and just said, hey, let's get together every week, and just for a, you know, informal accountability group. So it doesn't have to be super formal, it can be very easy, diy. So, like you, get together with your friends, like I said before, we'll use the previous example at a coffee shop between 1 and 3 pm and you can be, everybody can be from a different vertical, and it doesn't matter with an accountability group what verticals you're from, because accountability is accountability, right? So if you say, hey, I'm doing this accountability group for the purpose of finishing my rough draft and this week I want to write 500 words and I want you guys to hold me accountable, so whoever your accountability partner is is going to text you Wednesday and be like, hey, how close are you to your goal of 500 words, right? So that always helps to have an accountability partner and that you're an accountability partner for them to make sure you're getting your work done. So, whether that is an informal group that you make yourself or you join an informal group or you join a formal group right. There's lots of masterminds that have accountability as a part of them. That's a great option to keeping your work on track.

11:26

All right, keep your outline handy. So, like I said before, your outline is really great to go back and reference. So make sure you keep it handy. Don't cross things out and you can't read it anymore. Put a checkmark or highlight it or underline it to make sure you know that is something that you finished and that you're moving on to the next piece of your outline.

11:41

All right, my friends, this is a short episode. Today. I'm so glad you joined me for another episode of Publishing for Professionals. I'm excited to bring you a new community for my podcast listeners. That's also called Publishing for Professionals. This is going to be a free community where you're going to find author support, free self-publishing videos and be able to network with other thought leaders, speakers and executives in the space who are also writing their book. So you guys can share your wins. You guys can share your um. You know your struggles. I'll be on there to help people with things and answer questions, so make sure to hit that follow button so you find out more about the new community when the announcement drops. All right, my future authors and friends, I hope you've enjoyed this episode and again hit the follow button so you get the next episode of Publishing for Professionals dropped right to your podcast player or right to your YouTube channel.