3 Lessons I've Learned from Writing 30,000 Words in 20 Days

Happy Monday.

This week, I’m finishing up my 25-day writing sprint, teaching a new writing class, and gearing up for another writing circle I’ll be hosting next month. So this will be a quick newsletter-y update with some thoughts on my work-in-progress, along with new classes and writing groups I’m teaching and hosting.

Are you ready? Here we go.

Update on the 25-Day Book Project

First up is the update on the writing sprint. Twenty days ago, I made a public declaration that I was going to finish my next book by the end of this month. It was a bold, audacious challenge (at least for me, it felt that way)—after seven years of not writing a book, I was giving myself less than a month to get a first draft.

The result has been nothing short of invigorating.

For the first few days, I just kept moving words around on the page—type, delete, type some more—never really achieving much forward momentum or measurable progress. Then, one afternoon, I put my head down for a few hours and, to my surprise, ended up with 8000 new words by the end of the day. My new word count was not 10,000 out of a planned 25,000 words. I was on my way now.

A week later, I crossed the 30,000-word mark and realized how far I still have to go. I’ve got five days to hit this deadline, and I’m all in on getting an editable draft that I can spend the next month revising, so that I can meet my goal of having a publishable manuscript by October. It’ll be tight, but it’s been fun to see it come together.

Here’s some of what I’ve learned so far:

1. The words come more easily when you’re telling a story. Stories tend to have a natural rhythm and flow. At least when you’re telling a story from your own life, you don’t have to figure out what to say next, because you know what to say. When in doubt, just report what happened. You can make it prettier later.

2. You have to write the book that wants to be written. Madeleine L’Engle said that, and though I’ve quoted her for years, this was the first time where I really felt like I was truly listening to a book and what it wanted to be. Instead of writing another list of tips for writers, what this project has morphed into is more of a series of narrative nonfiction reflections on the craft of writing. To be sure, it’s still a bit messy and needs some more structure, but I’m having fun writing it; and the words are mostly flowing well.

3. It’s okay to write in fits and starts. Writing is something like running—good to do often, but sometimes you can go farther and longer depending on how much rest you’ve gotten and how much fuel you have in your system. For me, it’s good to write almost every day, but I find that some days I can just check in, write a few hundred words, and check out. Every few days, though, especially when I carve out significant time in my schedule (at least an hour or two, if not more), I can really get into flow and feel like I am in dialogue with my book. On those days, the words just flow, and I seem to make up for any lost time from the previous days’ writing sessions where it was harder to get words on the page.

I could go on, but those are a few lessons sticking with me for now. If you want to read the manuscript and read my other updates, please consider becoming a paid subscriber. It’s only $5 per month, and you can literally read the book as I’m writing it, get a live, behind-the-scenes view of how a book comes together, and more.

At the end of this month, I’ll do a longer breakdown on what I learned and share my thoughts with my subscribers. To get access to that, the manuscript, and all the updates since I started, just click the link below.

My Next Writing Class: Outlining Your Book

Later this week, I am teaching another class on book writing, this one about structuring a nonfiction book. This is a two-hour live class that will be hosted on Zoom on Wednesday, August 31 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Central time.

If you haven’t taken the Big Idea Class, please sign up for the bundle, watch that class before we meet later this week, and come with some idea of what your book is about.

During the Structure Class, we will spend the majority of time exploring different formats for nonfiction books, I’ll walk you through how to outline yours, and I’ll answer questions throughout our time together.

You can read more about it here. Or click the link below to get started.

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Join Our Next Writing Group in September

Starting in September, I’ll be hosting another three-month writing cohort for any author wanting to complete their manuscript. Here’s how it works":

• When you sign up, you get instant access to my two core classes—Your Big Idea and the Structure Class—so that you can begin writing your book. I do a private call with each author to onboard you to our process, and then we’re off!

• Once a month, we meet in a small group of six (myself plus five other writers) on Zoom, sharing our works-in-progress, asking any questions we have, and getting live feedback, coaching, and encouragement.

• Once a week, we check in with our updated word counts, manuscripts, and any struggles we’re having.

If you have a book or writing project you’re working on and need the help of a coach and/or community to get it across the finish line, this group is for you. We have just a few spots left, so if you’re interested, please sign up today.

The price is $500 or three monthly payments of $200.

We meet on September 11, October 9, and November 13 from 3 to 5 p.m. If you have any questions you can email me.

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What writing tips do you have for me as I wrap up this project (the fastest I’ve ever attempted to write the first draft of a book)?

I’d love to hear from you. Shoot me a reply or leave a comment.