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As I mentioned last week, many writers do some of their best work at the very last minute. And I hope I am one of them. But I’ll let you decide that.
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Yesterday, I had lunch with an old friend—Mike Bechtle—who’s sold well over a quarter million copies of a single book and is now into the double digits of works he’s published (well, almost—his tenth book comes out this coming February).
“Most books I write,” he told me, “involve about twelve months of procrastination… and then get written in the last month or two before the deadline.”
I could relate. And almost every author I know can, as well. Which is why when asked to speak at a writers conference later this year, I said I would be bringing copies of my latest book. I even gave them the title.
Now, all I have to do is write it. And I need your help. So here’s how it’s gonna go:
For the rest of this month, I will be sharing every word of my new book with all current paid Substack subscribers via a Google Doc that you can comment on but not edit.
Once a week, I’ll post an update of my progress and share a video of what I learned and how I’m feeling, and invite your feedback. I’ll also answer any questions you may have about the creative choices I made that week.
At the end of the sprint, I’ll do a live community call with everyone who joined the challenge, share what I learned, and answer any questions you may have about the writing and publishing process.
To participate, all you have to do is join the paid subscription to my Substack (either monthly or annually), and you’ll automatically get the updates. You can do this by clicking the link below. I’ll post my first writing update later this week.
During this time, you are welcome to join me in this sprint if you’d like and use it as a challenge to get your own work-in-progress done (or even just started). My hope is that doing this—writing a book in less than a month in front of a live audience—inspires you to tackle a big goal and shows you what’s possible.
That said, I have no idea if this will work or not. Whatever happens, you’ll get a front row seat, and we’ll hopefully both learn something.
Wish me luck,
Jeff
P.S. What do you think: Am I crazy? Drop a comment below with thoughts, questions, or encouragements. I’d love to hear what you think (and what might be useful for me to share throughout this process).
P.P.S. Know a writer who would be interested in following this journey? Encourage them to sign up as a paid subscriber. All it costs is $5, and you can cancel at any time. It’s literally the cheapest writing class I’ll ever teach. You can forward this email or click the share button below to pass it on.
Thank you for reading The Ghost. This post is public so feel free to share it.
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