Write a business / motivational book

“The writing of The Lead Machine: The Small Business Guide to Digital Marketing, took me sixty hours. I had heard from countless people that writing a book was the most difficult thing they ever did. That it was an absolute grind. That it was as painful as giving birth. Based upon what my mother has told me about my own birth, I knew this couldn't be true. First of all, she was in labor for twice as long as it took me to write the book. Regardless, I actually enjoyed the process. Because I work better with goals, I started a spreadsheet that tracked my progress. It included five columns: Date Hours Spent Total Words Words Written (that day) Words Per Hour Having the date in there was a clear reminder—and visual reprimand—if I missed a day. I had promised myself that I’d work at least an hour a day on the book, and for most days I did.”

“When you are facing a blank document on your laptop, the idea of having to write 30k+ words sounds like an insurmountable task. But with a solid idea and more importantly a structure that you can work towards, it is “easy” to write the first draft – because you (a) you are writing about something you know or care about and (b) you are writing smaller articles that are interlinked upon a common theme. I found writing about business much easier than screenwriting as one is based on real-life experience which is easier than fiction as you don’t have to consider the relationships or verisimilitude. Initially, I worked on the book full-time, with a view of writing a few thousand words a day. It probably took four weeks to complete, but then the hard work began – writing the subsequent drafts. The effort to change and make the book “work” was, in my experience, far more difficult than getting the initial words down.”