One quick note: you’ll hear me reference my college office—that’s because I wrote the book while I was still a college professor.

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U is for Unfinished

All around the world, in homes, offices, and studios, there are unfinished works of art that will never see the light of day. Does one of them belong to you?

When I’m sitting in my office, I see lots of great art. On the wall to my right are movie posters for two of my favorite films, Citizen Kane and The Searchers. On the wall to the left, there is a print of Rembrandt’s masterpiece The Return of the Prodigal Son.

On the bookshelf beside me are models for some of my favorite vehicles, including the Millennium Falcon from Star Wars, the time-traveling DeLorean from Back to the Future, and the Mach 5 from Speed Racer. The bookshelves behind me hold hundreds of books and DVDs. The iPhone on my desk contains hundreds of songs, dozens of podcast episodes, and a few dozen apps.

And the MacBook Pro I’m using to write this book is also a work of art!

All these items were created by people who finished their work. These products and works of art began as ideas in someone’s mind, but they didn’t stay that way. Their creators worked on the concepts (usually collaborating with others) and the ideas began to take shape. But most important, they finished their work.

This is where it’s easy to get sidetracked. You have a great idea, you start to work on it, and you build momentum. You might even share it with a few people. But then as you work on it, you start to lose steam. Life gets busy, you lose focus, and you don’t finish your work.

Sometimes our work ends up like the movie Superman Lives. You say you’ve never heard of this movie? That’s because it was never finished.

In the 1990s, the Warner Bros. studio decided to resurrect the Superman franchise. They cycled through a few directors before landing on Tim Burton, who had given the studio great success, particularly with 1989’s Batman and its sequel, Batman Returns. Screenwriters worked on several drafts of a script. Production staff worked on sets and special effects. Nicholas Cage was cast as Superman and filmed screen tests with the redesigned costume.

But after years of development and endless problems, the studio shut down production. A great deal of time and energy, not to mention millions of dollars, went down the drain and Superman Lives was never finished. What could have been one of the most interesting movies from the 1990s ended up as just another “might have been.”

Everyone has a “might have been” story. It may not be a big Hollywood movie, but I’ll bet you’ve started something you’d love to finish. It might be a book, a piece of music, a painting, or something you’re building or making with your hands. You want to finish it, but you just can’t seem to find the time.

In the bottom of someone’s desk drawer, there is an Oscar-winning screenplay. It just needs to be finished.

On someone’s hard drive, there is a New York Times best-selling novel. It just needs to be finished.

In someone’s closet, there is a painting worthy of display in a gallery. It just needs to be finished.

On someone’s college transcript, there is a degree listed with most of the required classes already taken. The degree could open doors and unlock someone’s potential. It just needs to be finished.

In someone’s journal, tucked away on a bookshelf, are sketches that could be the basis for a comic strip or an animated movie. They just need to be finished.

On someone’s sketchpad are drawings for a remodeled kitchen, basement, or treehouse. They just need to be finished.

On someone’s CDs or hard drive are rough demos of Grammy-winning songs. They just need to be finished.

Is that someone you?

If so, what can you do to turn your “might have beens” into reality?

What creative art do you still have unfinished?

The post U is for Unfinished – Excerpt from “The Artist’s Suitcase” appeared first on Daily Writer | Essential Habits for Impact & Influence.

Carson ruled the late-night airwaves for thirty years. He was the most important Kingmaker in American culture. If you were invited to do a 5-minute set on The Tonight Show, and Johnny liked you, your career was set.

In 1981, Seinfeld was scheduled for his first appearance on the show. A few years later, he reflected on the experience when he sat for an interview with Larry Wilde, a comedian and author.

Larry asked, “How did you prepare for that?”

Seinfeld deadpanned, “Rigorously.” Then he continued, “Every comedian knows that his first appearance on the Tonight Show is his Olympics, his World Series, and his Superbowl all rolled into one. This is his chance to become an A player, the A team.”

Then, Seinfeld went on to explain that as soon as he constructed his 5-minute set of material, he practiced it relentlessly. In the weeks before his Tonight Show appearance, he would go from club to club, performing it. He would do it up to five or six times a night. Seinfeld said that he probably rehearsed that single 5-minute set two hundred times during that period to make sure it was perfect. It was an opportunity he was not going to blow.

And in fact, he made the most of that appearance because Seinfeld became one of the most famous comedians in America, even before the enormous success of the Seinfeld TV show.

All because he saw an opportunity he was not going to waste. He put in the reps, he did the work, and it paid off in spades.

Question: When you consider the success you want to achieve and the opportunities you want as a writer, how many reps are you willing to do in order to be the best?

Note: If you’d like to listen to Larry Wilde’s full interview with Jerry Seinfeld, you can do so by listening to the album “Jerry Seinfeld on Comedy.”

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Having a place to write, and having an audience who expects your work on a regular, consistent basis is a great way to develop a writing habit because it puts the pressure on you to deliver. And that’s what professionals do—they deliver on time.

One of the challenges, however, is that you can produce words that don’t come from a place of passion and meaning. When you’re writing on schedule, it’s easy to become a bit of a robot, cranking out words on demand.

There has to be a balance. Passion and regularity. Meaning and discipline. The fire of writing, but also the consistency of lighting that fire.

F. Scott Fitzgerald said, “You don’t write because you want to say something, you write because you’ve got something to say.”

So, what is it that you want to say?

If you feel consumed by the demands of a writing schedule, take a moment to dig down deep and really think about what you want to say. Don’t let it get lost in the shuffle of schedules and expectations. Don’t quench the fire because I know you’ve got something important to say.

Question: What do you really want to say to the world through your writing?

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But have you ever considered exactly what it was that made Michelangelo so great?

Was it his creative genius? His relationship with powerful and influential people such as the Pope? His ability to organize massive projects such as the painting of the Sistine Chapel?

All of those factors surely played a part in his greatness. But above all, Michelangelo was a guy who got things done. He finished projects and saw them through to completion.

Contrast this with his contemporary, and creative rival, Leonardo da Vinci. Even though da Vinci had a wider array of creative interests, and he had one of the most fertile minds in history, he often left projects half-finished. As anyone can see in his famous notebooks, da Vinci was a guy who had lots of great ideas but struggled to translate them into practical reality.

Michelangelo once said, “I saw an angel in the marble and I carved until I set him free.” We like to focus on the angel in the marble, but let’s not forget about the part where he kept carving until the angel was set free. Marble is a hard substance. It took Michelangelo four whole years working on his 16-foot statue of David until it was done.

But he eventually finished and moved on to the next project. That’s a great lesson for all of us writers working on big projects. You keep showing up every day, carving, and making a little progress. Then one day, almost like magic, you’ll be finished. That book you’ve been working on, that little angel, will sprout wings and finally fly.

Question: What project do you need to keep carving until it’s set free?

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Here’s just one example. A number of years ago, an aspiring author decided he wanted to write a book about the key personal decisions that determine personal success. Except he didn’t want to write it in the traditional non-fiction format. Instead, he wanted to teach the concepts in the form of a story.

He spent a year writing the book, then proceeded to submit it to a publisher. It was rejected, so he moved onto the next one. Rejected again.

The author tried a third and a fourth time. Still more rejection. Pretty soon, he worked his way up to a dozen rejections. Still no dice. So he kept pushing forward, submitting the book to more publishers. This went on for another dozen rejections. Then another dozen, and another dozen still.

Then after spending three and a half years, and getting rejected by 51 publishers, he struck gold when Thomas Nelson publishers gave him a green light. That book was The Traveler’s Gift, and the author was Andy Andrews, whose books have now sold over three million copies worldwide.

Andy Andrews tried 52 times before he got what he wanted. This may sound like an extreme example, but the story of persevering in the face of obstacles is common in the publishing world. Even if you are self-publishing, you will face challenges, setbacks, and problems that require you to dig down deep and keep moving when things aren’t going your way.

This historical novelist James Michener once said, “Character consists of what you do on the third and fourth tries.” There are a lot of writers with talent, but not all of them have the character and discipline to keep going in the face of rejection.

How about you? What are you up against in your writing? Are you willing to be persistent? How many times are you willing to try?

Because you may not have success on the third or fourth tries. It might just take 52.

The post How Many Times Are You Willing to Try? appeared first on Daily Writer | Essential Habits for Impact & Influence.

I know when I mention books you’re probably thinking, “That’s not something I can get started on today.”

To the contrary! All you need to do is to sit down and start working on a couple of things.

First, determine the main idea of the book. Second, who is the ideal reader? And third, start working on an outline. If you’re doing a non-fiction book, I recommend about 35,000-40,000 words, divided into 12-15 chapters.

It doesn’t mean you will be writing the whole book. It just means that you are working on the outline, which will help you get excited and want to move forward. The sheer act of developing an outline will be a huge push forward.

You can get the book written faster than you think. Even if you only write 200 words a day (which is an average page length), you can write a book of 120 pages in 4 months. You can write three of those a year if you just write 1 single page per day. Then, you can put it on Amazon and make it available to the world.

We make the process of writing a book much more stressful and complicated than it needs to be. Take some time today to get started writing your book. You’ll be amazed at what can happen when you take action and get moving.

Question: How could writing a book impact your life or business?

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Today’s episode is sponsored by the Book Marketing Mastery course. If you’re tired of being disappointed by your book sales and want to sell more books faster, easier, and with more fun than ever, sign up today. Use the code “DailyWriter” to get 10% off.

The post Start Writing Today: Your First (or Next) Book appeared first on Daily Writer | Essential Habits for Impact & Influence.

A blog is a great way to get your ideas out into the world and share them with others. It’s also a great place to develop your writing chops, to work out your ideas about different topics, and present your viewpoint to the world.

You can share your blog posts on social media, podcasts, in email newsletters, or even use them as book chapters (or parts of chapters). I see blog posts as a fantastic building block for other types of content.

Remember that the more you post online, the more material you are giving Google to index on your behalf. Every blog post is like a little soldier that is out there recruiting people to come back to your website.

If you don’t already have a blog, I would recommend starting one through WordPress or Squarespace. It doesn’t take very long to set up, and it could potentially change your life!

Question: How could writing a weekly blog post impact your life a year from now if you wrote every week?

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Social media is not only a great place to connect and network with other writers… it’s also a low-stakes environment to work on your writing skills.

For example, you can tell a story about something that happened to you today. You can give somebody a shout-out or acknowledge another writer. You can share a quote you liked. You can ask an insightful question. You can comment on other people’s posts. You can share what books you’re reading. You can share something you’re learning right now.

People’s greatest emotional need is to be affirmed and validated. If you make a list of all the things that make a big difference in your writing career, your writing talent is not item #1. A far more important item is the way you make people feel.

If you can make people feel good, if you can validate and affirm and encourage them through social media, you will go a long way.

Question: Can you think of an example of a social media post that impacted you or inspired to take action? How could you do the same for others by writing on social media?

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And if you’re already writing and have a clear direction, this will add to your creative arsenal and keep you moving when you get blocked.

A great way to start writing today is journaling.

I know a lot of people will dismiss journaling as a waste of time. Why? Because by definition, journaling is private and others will probably not see what you write there. Those who dismiss journaling assume that everything you write should be for public consumption.

But that’s not true at all.

It’s important for you to explore and experiment with your writing. When you reserve some writing time only for yourself, you can do that without judgment. It also gives you the opportunity to try things without it needing to be connected with your business or audience.

If you don’t have a regular journaling habit, I recommend starting with this very simple approach: Write one page a day for five straight days. Don’t stop writing, don’t analyze, and don’t overthink. Just write what comes to mind.

The whole exercise should only take 5-10 minutes per day, max. When you get into the flow and let your creative mind take over without judging or censoring your thoughts, you will be amazed at what comes out. We spend so much time thinking about other people’s perceptions of our writing that it’s hard to get out of the habit of censoring ourselves.

Journaling is a very simple way to begin writing without the fear of what others will think. Give this a try and you’ll immediately see the value of it.

Question: How could journaling help you process your experiences and experiment with your writing?

The post Start Writing Today: Journaling appeared first on Daily Writer | Essential Habits for Impact & Influence.

So how do people actually pull it off? What is the process for actually completing a marathon?

Let’s start with the obvious: if you break down a marathon into smaller sections, you come up with a certain number of miles—26.2 of them to be exact. Then you can break those down into half miles or quarter miles.

But what is the simplest, singular motion that causes a runner to complete a marathon? It is the single stride. For the average person, it is between 2.1 and 2.5 feet.

It takes the average runner somewhere between 55,000-63,000 strides to complete a marathon. Sounds like a lot, doesn’t it? Maybe so, but now you have a specific number you can get your head around.

Interestingly, the number of words in an average non-fiction book is around 50,000 words. So, you can think of writing a book almost like running a marathon.

How does a runner complete a marathon, and how does a writer complete a book? You keep moving, no matter what.

The screenwriter and producer Brian Koppelman said, “Resilience is a writer’s best friend. Train like a marathon runner. Move a little further each day despite the pain.”

There’s no special trick to writing a book or running a marathon. It’s all about training, persistence, and action. Put one word after another and keep moving until you reach the finish line.

Question: In your book project or other writing-related work, are you committed to keep moving until you reach the finish line?

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