Stay on Track While Writing Your Book

It’s not uncommon for authors to have that moment of pause and think, “now what?” when they finally commit to writing their book. While this is an entirely normal feeling, it doesn’t have to be overwhelming, either. You can make the process smoother by following a few key book writing tips to stay on track and complete your project.

Set a Deadline to Finish Writing

Decide on a reasonable amount of time to complete your book. Be honest with yourself, and don’t set yourself up for failure by overestimating your capabilities. Think about how much writing time you need to keep pace with your desired momentum.

Set a daily schedule to visualize how much time you actually have to work on your book. Next, set a strict deadline to hold you accountable for your goals and daily writing pace.

Create Word-Count Goals per Day, Week, and Month

After determining your schedule and deadlines, it’s time to write! To keep yourself moving and toward meeting your deadlines, try setting daily, weekly, and monthly word-count goals. Word-count goals allow you to track your progress by viewing hard data.

It can be a challenge to find the time to write your book. Life happens, and sometimes things get in the way of your schedule. However, a word-count goal comes in handy if you don’t have that hour you thought you would’ve had to work on your book. For example, you still meet your word-count goal if you finish writing those prescheduled 500 words in 10-15 increments while waiting in the school pickup line, doing laundry, or eating dinner.

Stop the Excuses

Creating a solid plan and timeline can make you feel like nothing is standing in your way now of writing your book. But that’s precisely when those underlying excuses might pop up.

Do your best to avoid intrusive thoughts that could distract you from writing. It’s easy to get caught up with concerns about having a professional book design or a book printing and marketing plan. These thoughts may only serve to derail your progress if you get hung up on them, leading to less time writing your book.

If you’re having a hard time moving beyond these thoughts, it may be worth your while to look into self-publishing services. Palmetto Publishing can assist with all of these logistical concerns.

Find the Joy and Enjoy the Journey!

If you feel overwhelmed on your journey, don’t give up! Remember why you set out to write this book. Find joy in your process for writing your book or the content you’re writing. Consider this a tremendous learning experience and an opportunity to push yourself. You have all the book writing tips and tools to stay on track, so take advantage of them!

Once you’ve finished writing your book, you’re ready to publish and market it! Palmetto Publishing is available to help you with these next steps — from setting up your book interior formatting to your book title page. Contact Palmetto today for a list of services and resources to help you through the publishing process.