An Important First to End the Month

January 31, 2012 by Chris · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Lessons Learned

Today marks an important first for my husband and me. Our second edition book, “101 Things to Do on the Wisconsin Great River Road” went on sale today.

This was truly a labor of love and lots of hard work. I wanted to share our story to encourage you. You can do write the book that lives inside you. You can edit it, format it and convert it to a usable form. You can create a cover and write copy. It begins with a goal and the drive to go forward.

For me, the method varied with the form. They are worlds apart. For e-books,

Write it in a word processor.
Convert it to a text file.
Bring it into an HTML edition to pretty it up and add consist formatting
Use Calibre E-Book Manager to do the conversion to .mobi for Amazon Kindle

For print editions,

Write it in a word processor.
Use a formatting template to add the right margins, headers/footers, etc.
Choose your font and images. You can get creative in other ways that you may find limits with e-books.
Convert it to a PDF
Clean up the PDF with an editing software. I like Smart PDF Editor Pro.
Publish with CreateSpace to tap several markets at a very reasonable cost, with some nice returns.

Commitment to the finish line is imperative. Part of my ability to finish lies with the fact that I made peace with my lifestyle. I am a night owl. I tried to convert to an early riser. I decided to strike a deal. If I could be productive at night, I could continue to enjoy my night owl lifestyle. I worked nights while watching TV. Find your groove, and you will succeed.

Tags: book publishing

Beginnings–The Start of a New Life

January 28, 2012 by Chris · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Lessons Learned

Today marks an important day for me and my husband. Fourteen years ago today, we eloped and married at the county courthouse. It is the single best decision I have ever made in my entire life. It meant hope and a new beginning.

It’s the kind of lessons like this that can help you harness your emotions and use them to fuel your writing. Your own experiences can produce the inner dialogue, the conversations and the feelings associated with different life events. You have the power. You have the information you need to create dynamic characters.

Everyone has felt sadness, pain and joy. It’s just the scenarios that are diverse. Your character can experience happiness from winning the lottery to getting married to solving a problem. You know what happiness feels like. You can write effectively about being happy without ever having the winning ticket. You simply have to write about being happy.

This is not to say that you should write about anything. Verisimilitude in writing can’t always be faked effectively. Rather, you can use your own experiences to round out scenes in your writing. You can write of the physical aspects of emotions with the benefit of having lived through them. In this way, you can write what you know and succeed.

Tags: character, Writing Tip

Beginnings–Motivation to Stick to Your Goals

January 25, 2012 by Chris · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Lessons Learned

Recently, I decided to pull together information from my extensive list of health and fitness references to write an e-book entitled, “How to Achieve Your Fitness and Wellness Goals.” Experience taught me that the two are interconnected.

You can’t write a book like that and then live an anti-wellness lifestyle. The message gets under your skin. You think about it. Your mind scrutinizes your choices. It’s like your mom telling you to clean up your room. You are compelled to move in that direction. To harness this power, take your goals and write about them.

Make Your Blog Work for You
One easy way to create this atmosphere is to blog about your goals. It is the public aspect of setting a course that can motivate you. Write about your progress, what worked and what did not. The act of doing this is cathartic and can help you brainstorm for new ideas.

Update Your Status
Just like blogging, updating your status on the social network of your choice creates accountability. You grew up having to meet certain tasks at school. Undoubtedly, your boss has things you must do. Following through on a project is almost innate. It’s instinctive. Creating that scenario for your goals can propel you forward.

Write Your Manifesto
A variation on this theme is to write your manifesto. This is your public statement about your goals and intentions, your creed, if you will. This action is a powerful message to both yourself and others. It lays out the groundwork for achieving your goals. It is an effective way to begin moving in the direction you want. It plants the seeds in your mind to influence your decisions.

Writing out your goals is a potent way to begin the process of achieving them. It uses the power of your subconscious to make the right choice. If meeting your goals has eluded you, try putting them down on paper. You might just unleash the force you need to succeed.

Tags: e-book, motivation