He held up another person’s book, and to the front of it he had taped a mock-up of a cover for the book he was writing. He already knew in advance the print size of the book, so he made sure to choose another print book of the same size.

I thought this was a genius idea and have been doing the same thing ever since. Anytime I’m working on a book, I always have the cover designed as early in the process as I can.

Then, I find another print book of the same size, tape the printout of my cover to the front, and keep it on my desk during the whole writing and publishing process.

This helps make the book tangible and real, instead of just a file that just lives on your computer. It also helps you make it through the rough spots in the writing and editing. When you keep the vision of the final product clear and it’s sitting on your desk, you will feel much more motivated to keep going.

Question: If you are working on a book project, do you have the cover designed yet? Have you printed it out and attached it to another book of the same size to keep your vision clear?

The post Your Book Cover Keeps the Vision Clear 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?

The post Move a Little Further Each Day appeared first on Daily Writer | Essential Habits for Impact & Influence.

Lots of people want to write a book, start a podcast, create a blog, or build a writing business. But why do so many people stop short of following through?

The answer is simple: it gets hard and people give up. You have probably fallen victim to giving up as well. You have started something, it got hard, then you quit because it wasn’t as fun anymore.

I’ve been there myself!

Here is a simple yet effective way to ensure you will follow through: before you get started, commit to the middle 50%.

The first 25% of a project feels fun. You have lots of enthusiasm and energy. People are cheering you on because you have announced it. The whole thing feels new and fresh.

But the middle 50% gets hard. The enthusiasm wears off and you have to stick with it. You are far away enough from the starting block that you’ve lost the initial excitement. But you’re too far from the finish line to see it. So, you have to manufacture your own enthusiasm and keep pressing on, knowing the end is coming.

When you get to that final 25%, the excitement of finishing is going to pull you forward and give you a second wind. But that middle 50% kills an awful lot of projects because it forces you to focus and be disciplined.

So before you get started, make sure to commit to the middle 50%, knowing it’s going to get hard. But you can make it if you keep pushing through.

Question: Think about your most difficult project right now. Have you made the commitment to keep going in the middle 50%?

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Have you ever thought about why do so many writing projects get started, but never get finished?

Lots of people want to write a book, start a podcast, create a blog, or build a writing business. But why do so many people stop short of following through?

The answer is simple: it gets hard and people give up. You have probably fallen victim to giving up as well. You have started something, it got hard, then you quit because it wasn’t as fun anymore.

Here is a simple yet effective way to ensure you will follow through: before you get started, commit to the middle 50%. The first 25% of a project feels fun. You have lots of enthusiasm and energy. People are cheering you on because you have announced it. The whole thing feels new and fresh.

But from the 25% to 75% mark, it gets hard. The enthusiasm wears off and you have to stick with it. You are far way enough from the starting block that you’ve lost the initial excitement but you’re too far from the finish line to see it. So, you have to manufacture your own enthusiasm and keep pressing on, knowing the end is coming.

When you get to that final 25%, the excitement of finishing is going to pull you forward and give you a second wind. (Or maybe a third or fourth wind.) But that middle 50% kills an awful lot of projects because it forces you to focus and be disciplined.

So, before you get started, make sure to commit to the middle 50%

Daily Question: Think about your current projects. Have you made the commitment to keep going in the middle 50%?

The post The Middle 50% appeared first on Daily Writer | Essential Habits for Impact & Influence.

One of my very best friends is a guy named Eric Elder. He is a musician, author, and creative genius who runs TheRanch.org. A few years ago, we were on a call and he showed me how he stays motivated to finish the books he starts writing.

Then, he held up another person’s book, and to the front of it, he had taped a mock-up of a cover for the book he was writing. He already knew in advance the print size of the book, so he made sure to choose another print book of the same size.

I thought this was a genius idea and have been doing the same thing ever since. Anytime I’m working on a book, I always have the cover designed as early in the process as I can. Then I find another print book of the same size, tape a printout of the cover to the front, and keep it on my desk during the whole writing and publishing process.

This helps make the book tangible and real, instead of a file that just lives on your computer. It also helps you make it through the rough spots in the writing and editing. When you keep the vision of the final product clear and it’s sitting on your desk, you will feel much more motivated to keep going.

Daily Question: If you are working on a book project, do you have the cover designed yet? Have you printed it out and attached it to another book of the same size to keep your vision clear?

By the way, you can find out more about Eric Elder and his books, music, and more by visiting TheRanch.org.

The post Your Book Cover Keeps the Vision Clear appeared first on Daily Writer | Essential Habits for Impact & Influence.

Some 4,500 years ago, tens of thousands of Egyptian workers descended upon the Giza Plateau to begin a massive construction project like the world had never seen. They used rudimentary tools to cut limestone and granite blocks from an adjacent quarry, as well as other sites that required them to float blocks down the Nile River. Each stone block weighed an average of 2.5 tons and was transported to the building site with great human effort.

Over a period of twenty years, workers placed 2.3 million blocks of stone with such accuracy that it still confounds scientists today. Known as the Great Pyramid of Giza, it is the only wonder of the ancient world that survives today.

When you consider a project of this scope and magnitude, it seems impossible. Yes, Ancient Egypt had a huge number of works, as well as a detailed plan for how to get the work done. But how did they actually build the pyramids? One block at a time.

You can borrow this principle for your writing, or any type of project, for that matter. You take it piece by piece and keep repeating the work. Pretty soon, you have a finished product.

Success as a writer doesn’t need to be complicated. In fact, the very simplicity of writing success is why so many people quit. They can’t handle the focus and discipline that is required to actually finish something.

But you must be different. You must stay the course and commit to finishing what you have started. You can build whatever you want if you just take it one block at a time.

Daily Question: Does the idea of “one block at a time” feel comforting or frustrating? Why?

The post One Block at a Time appeared first on Daily Writer | Essential Habits for Impact & Influence.

Have you ever noticed that writers like to talk about the things they’re working on? It’s a strange habit, isn’t it?

Maybe it’s because we like to get feedback on our current work in progress, which is totally fine. Most of the time, it seems like we talk about our current writing a lot because we lack confidence and want assurance from other people that we are going in the right direction and that we actually do have talent after all.

Mario Puzo, author of The Godfather, the novel upon which the movie was based, said this: “Never talk about what you are going to do until after you have written it.”

This advice goes completely against our impulse as writers in the age of social media, where everybody talks about everything all of the time. His words are wise, though. There is something to be said about keeping a lid on things until they’re done.

Give this a try with your current project. How long can you keep it a secret? Imagine how great it would feel to announce to the world when it’s done, rather than constantly talking about it and trying to get other people’s approval. Wouldn’t that feel good?

Daily Question: How long can you keep your current writing project a secret?

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One of the most difficult things for us to do as writers is get into a state of creative flow. Yet, it’s also one of the most important things we can do. Without a state of flow, it is hard to make meaningful progress in our writing. We constantly have to deal with fits and starts, instead of enjoying steady progress.

My guest today is the amazing Ken Carfagno. Ken is a successful cleaning business owner, and is the host of the Smart Cleaning School Podcast, which helps cleaning business owners take their business to the next level.

Ken is also the author of the fantastic young adult novel, Arctic Land. Ken wrote this book a few years ago for his kids, and he is working on a sequel. I asked Ken to share his process for writing this book. In this conversation, you will learn a lot about great habits. This is almost like a masterclass in using great habits to start—and FINISH—a book project.

I took a bunch of notes from this conversation, and I know you will, too!

You can check out Ken’s novel, listen to his podcast, and connect with him through the links below:

https://dadnamics/arcticland

Smart Cleaning School Podcast

Connect with Ken on LinkedIn

Connect with Ken on Facebook

The post Ken Carfagno: Letting Your Creativity Flow appeared first on Daily Writer | Essential Habits for Impact & Influence.

In the previous episode, I mentioned the importance of finishing a first draft of your book. But the urgency doesn’t stop there.

I’m not saying you should be sloppy or rush through things. You should make your book, or any writing for that matter, as good as it can be. But the fact of the matter is that we all have limited time on this earth. There comes a point after you have written the first draft, the second draft, done revisions and formatting, the other things you need to do with your writing to make it great, when you need to publish it.

Your #1 goal should be to get your current project finished and published, and then move on to the next thing. We make this whole writing thing overly complicated sometimes.

Make it good, do your best, and hit publish on that sucker. You won’t become a better writer by continually tinkering with your current project and never actually pulling the publish trigger. You’ll get better by doing more work and learning from each one, while getting feedback along the way. It’s hard to get a lot of meaningful feedback on something you have not yet published.

The author Dan Poynter was one of the early advocates of self-publishing. He said, “If you wait for inspiration to write you’re not a writer, you’re a waiter.”

But maybe that’s an overstatement. Even waiters deliver something to the table. So, make it your goal to deliver your work to your hungry readers who have been waiting for your book, blog, or podcast.

Daily Question: Have you been putting off publishing your work because you’re a perfectionist? Be honest.

The post Finish & Publish appeared first on Daily Writer | Essential Habits for Impact & Influence.

To finish means to publish and to put your work out there in the world for others to judge and critique. The thought of people judging your work is just too much for some writers to handle. So, they accumulate lots of half-finished books, articles, projects, and other content that takes up space on a hard drive or in a desk drawer.

Sometimes we think that being a writer means to be constantly gaining new ideas and exploring creative possibilities — which is true. Those things are important. But those ideas and possibilities must live somewhere. They need an outlet.

Here is a challenge that will help you develop confidence and momentum: finish something and publish it. Be done with it. Set it out into the world to help readers, no matter how many or how few.

Neil Gaiman said, “You have to finish things — that’s what you learn from, you learn by finishing things.” Maybe you have always seen yourself as a person who never finishes. But you can change that perception by taking back control of your writing life and finishing the darn thing.

You can change how you see yourself and how you talk to yourself. Lots of people start but far fewer actually finish. Be part of that elite group and finish what you’ve started.

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