Darling, let’s be honest: you’re brilliant at what you do. You transform lives in your office, in your studio, or on your consulting calls. Clients adore you. Your cohorts and employees trust you. Even your cat gives you a nod of approval, sometimes without you having to ask for it.
But when you sit down to write a book that will cement your authority? Suddenly, you’re floundering. You’re not sure where to begin. You’re not sure where to end. Every time you try to get your ideas down onto a page, it feels as if you have to figure out how to write in a circle: you need to talk about this before you talk about that, but then there’s the other thing that has to come after that, yet somehow before this…
It’s enough to make you want to give up.
But if you’re here, that means you have the good sense not to.
You have a book in you, and it needs to come out. The good news is we can do that without requiring a surgeon’s scalpel.
The Top Three Mistakes Writers Make
When authors come to me for help after struggling to write their book, I have a protocol and set of tools that not only give them a successful fresh start but also will see them all the way to writing “The End” with a flourish. However, as I review what they created before we start working together, I often discover that they’ve fallen victim to one (or more) of three major blunders.
Mistake #1: Writing Without a Clear Premise
Too many authors leap straight into writing without knowing what their book is actually about. The result? Sixty thousand words of meandering anecdotes and half-formed ideas; a royal procession with neither a grand marshal nor a crown at the end.
If this sounds like you, then what you need is a premise: a single, crystal-clear statement that captures the promise of your book. Your premise is your North Star, your guiding light, the X on your treasure map. It’s what keeps you going in the right direction. Without it, you wander in circles.
Writing a nonfiction premise statement requires three specific pieces of information:
- The main problem your book is specifically addressing.
- Who has that problem.
- Your solution for that problem.
It’s not required, but I always encourage my clients to bring in who they (the authors) are, too, because we can never have too much clarity.
Here is an example for an older book that most people are probably familiar with: Stephen Covey’s 7 Habits of Highly Effective People:
- Business Guru presents a 7-part strategy for achieving improved professional effectiveness.
- Problem: people are feeling like they could be more effective in their work.
- Who has the problem: professionals.
- What is the solution: the 7 habits
- Who is presenting it: a successful business guru
I won’t get into the weeds in this blog post as to why these elements are important; we’ll save that for a future tea time. For now, just know that if you cannot fill in the blanks to create a clear premise statement, you should put down your quill and focus on it until you have it perfected.
So, let’s see it, darling. What is your premise?
You can write it a few different ways if you like.
- This professional is providing this solution to these people so they can transform in this way.
Or,
- This book will provide this solution for this audience who wants this result so they can have this transformation.
That, my dear, is your foundation. And trust me, once you have it, the writing becomes infinitely easier.
Mistake #2: Ignoring the Reader
I hate to break it to you, but your reader doesn’t care about everything you want to say. They care about themselves: what they’ll learn, how they’ll grow, and why this book will change their life. No, that’s not selfish. That’s the reason you’re ultimately writing your book.
When nonfiction writers forget this, their book becomes a self-indulgent monologue instead of a powerful conversation. And nothing puts a reader to sleep faster than an author who won’t stop talking about themselves.
Thankfully, there’s an easy fix: write for one person, a specific reader.
Create a profile of your ideal reader. Catalog their struggles, their desires, their late-night worries, and then write in a way that speaks directly to them. How would you present your solution to them if they were a close friend or work cohort who just poured their heart out to you over a cup of coffee or a deep bordeaux? Most likely, you’d provide fewer proclamations and ensure whispered confidence: “I see you. I understand. And I know the way forward.”
Mistake #3: Perfectionism at the Draft Stage
Ah, perfectionism: the court jester of the writing world. It convinces you that your first draft must sparkle like a diamond. So you edit every sentence as you write it, compare yourself to bestsellers, and before long…you’ve got three immaculate chapters and zero progress (if you’re lucky and make it to three chapters).
As much as I like to buck rules, there are a few I insist on adhering to.
- Always remember the adage Perfection is the enemy of the good.
- Always remember that drafting and editing are different phases of the book-writing process. Trying to do both at once is like waltzing while juggling swords; it’s messy, dangerous, and somebody is going to get their eye poked out.
Give yourself permission to write a messy first draft. As with raw clay or butter, you begin with a blob from which you create a shape that is defined into something recognizable, and eventually voila! You have a butter sculpture of the King.
You can’t edit a blank page, but you can polish an imperfect one into brilliance.
The Royal Recap
If you want to create a book that you can actually finish writing, avoid these three mistakes:
- Wandering without a premise.
- Forgetting your reader.
- Polishing too soon.
Skip them, and you’ll be ahead of 90% of would-be authors.
And remember: you don’t have to brave this battlefield alone. This is precisely what I help my clients conquer—turning doubt into done, invisibility into authority, and drafts into crown jewels.
So, darling… are you ready to write the book that makes them bow?
Leave a Reply