My husband and I are pretty handy.
We’ve replaced our garbage disposal and multiple alternators. We built a Murphy bed. And, that first COVID summer, we tackled our biggest project yet: remodeling our back patio so we could have friends over safely outdoors.
We taught ourselves how to properly lay paving stones and build a retaining wall. We learned how to use a ditch digger. We figured out how to mix mortar.
And we learned that the learning takes nearly as much time as the doing.
(As evidenced by the fact that our “summer” project went well into winter. We had our first official backyard gathering on New Years Eve.)
Investing in mastering a skill is incredibly valuable—and incredibly frustrating as you muddle your way through the learning process.
Learning happens on a spectrum. We learned:
- By teaching ourselves through trial and error
- By spending hours in research on the YouTube
- By consulting friends who are professionally handy
- By asking those friends to come coach us through that part of the project
- By hiring professionals and watching them work
The end result is incredible, and I’m proud of our effort! But, wow, was it a challenge.
My point is that none of us are experts in everything, and that’s okay. There are lots of resources out there to help us tackle big projects that stretch us—business projects, life projects, hobbies, you name it.
And, remember, there’s a spectrum to how you learn new skills:
- You can dive right in and learn the long way through trial and error
- You can seek out generic resources and advice and figure out how to apply them to your specific situation,
- You can bring in a coach to teach you shortcuts and give you practical, tailored advice
- You can hire a done-for-you expert and learn from watching them
This is the same when it comes to writing a book.
Writing a book is challenging
Every one of my book coaching or ghostwriting clients came to me for a variation on the same reason.
“I can see it in pictures, but not explain it in words.”
“I can talk for days, but when I sit down to write, my brain goes blank.”
“I know the framework like the back of my hand, have no idea how to turn it into a book.”
“I have so many stories, I can’t sort through them! What goes in to the book? What’s too much?
“Where do I even start?”
Writing a book is damn hard. And while the authors I’ve worked with are experts in many things, writing a book is a new stretch of their skill set.
Maybe you’re feeling that same thing.
If you’ve been thinking about writing a book for months, or years, and still haven’t made the kind of progress you wanted, you might be thinking you need more discipline. More time. A better routine. A cleaner desk. A less chaotic season of life.
Sometimes those things help—but often, that’s not actually why you’re stuck.
You’re stuck because you’re trying to teach yourself a whole new set of skills, while also accomplishing the work.
You’re trying to turn a body of knowledge, lived experience, ideas, stories, and ambition into something “book-shaped.” And if you haven’t spent years studying writing, story structure, and what makes a nonfiction book work, it’s understandably going to be tough.
Just ask me how many paving stones we had to re-position in our backyard because we didn’t know what we were doing at first!
This is a very different problem than, “I just need to try harder, or be more disciplined.”
And once you understand that, it gets a lot easier to figure out what kind of help would actually move the project forward.
Coaching support for nonfiction authors
In my experience, most people looking for book coaching are really looking for one of two things.
Help turning the idea into a real plan
They know what they want to write. They know why the work matters. But the concept still feels slippery, and the process vague. They need help clarifying the core idea, shaping the structure, defining the reader promise, and creating a roadmap they can actually write from.
They don’t need someone to write the book for them—they need help making their ideas “book-shaped.”
Help staying in motion once the plan exists
These are the people who already have a direction, but know they’re likely to stall out if left entirely on their own. They want accountability, developmental feedback, help troubleshooting problems as they arise, and someone in the process with them as the manuscript takes shape.
You may not need more willpower
If you’ve been stuck on your book for a while, that doesn’t mean you’re not serious. It doesn’t mean you lack discipline. And it definitely does not mean you’re not a “real writer.”
It may just mean you’re trying to solve a learning curve problem with willpower.
Learning to write a nonfiction book is hard. But it gets much easier when you have the right resources and guidance at your side.
If that’s the kind of help you’re looking for, let’s talk about your book.
(Or, learn more about my book coaching options.)