|
Reading time: 2.32 599 words Hey Reader, Wanna know a secret that will either delight you and change your life or have you cursing my name? Of course you do, and here it is: The words you use are the least important part of your book. They get in the way. A great book isn’t dependent on the words. It’s dependent on the connection you create. Now before you sit upright in your chair and ready your reply arm, let me explain: of course words matter. They matter deeply. They can cause great harm or create incredible movements. They can make us laugh and cry and rage and delight. But words alone are nothing without the thought behind them. Your ideas, your personality, your beliefs — YOU — are what makes or breaks your book. The words are just the vehicle we use to connect you to your reader. I know right? A writer — a writing COACH — stridently declaring that words are the least important part of a book? She’ll be saying grammar is all made up next. (It is.) Sacrilege. OFF WITH HER HEAD. Except, I’m right. And you know I’m right, really. You just have to take a look at the AI-generated slop out there to realise it. The words themselves are great. Good words. The BEST words. All put together nicely, with rhythm and cadence and rhymes and all sorts of fancy techniques… and they make you feel nothing. Or the motivational platitudes of the LinkedIn bros who cut and paste other people’s quotes with a vague but pithily written sentence beneath it that feel shallow and empty because, well, they’re shallow and empty. On the surface, they’re fine. Fine. But dig a little deeper and there’s nothing there. No big idea. No carefully thought-through and researched opinion. No real strong point of view. No curiosity and no invitation to consider this idea yourself. But the words are nice, right? And they seem to have a lot of likes and shares and comments, so they must be good? Hmmm. We think that if we just learn the writing techniques and use the good words and put them together cleverly, it’ll be enough. We think that we have to start with the words. And that’s why so many books never get off the ground, let alone get finished and published. It’s like a movie set. From a distance, all those buildings look real and solid and like you could push open the door and sit at a table and order a coffee and a croissant. But get a little closer and step to the left and you can see they’re one-dimensional facades. Push through the door and there’s nothing on the other side. No foundations. Nothing to build on. Anyone can string a few good words together for a laugh. Not everyone can write a book that might start a movement. And that’s the critical difference. How do we go from, “I want to write a book but I can’t seem to get started!” to a completed manuscript and an editor and omg you’re actually going to be a published author! The question is: how do you create this book that is burning a hole in your head? How do you do it without getting stuck, fizzling out, and descending into a shame spiral that stops you from sharing your big ideas? The people writing and publishing their books are not smarter than you. They just knew where to start. That’s what Book Breakthrough: Unlocked is for. We build the foundation first — the one thing that stops most writers from ever finishing. Ninety minutes, and you’ll know exactly where your book actually starts.
TTFN, Vicky 🫡 p.s. Know someone who might enjoy this email? Please forward it to them and get them to sign up here.
|
Join 500+ writers, creatives, misfits, and weirdos and learn to write like you mean it in 10 minutes a day. Get ONE practical tip, story, or shenanigan on Mondays + Wednesdays + a creative goodie bag on Friday 🖖🏼
Reading time: 1.38 385 words Read this email in your browser Hey Reader, There’s this guy called Peter Elbow. Isn’t that a great name? It’s the third brilliant name I’ve encountered in the past week, the other two being Bob Whopper and Jim Bumgardner. The delight I’ve had in these names has been large and ongoing. Anyway, his name isn’t the point. His book is. He wrote a book called Writing Without Teachers and it’s a challenge against traditional writing methods, and especially those taught...
Reading time: 4.59 1,067 words Read this email in your browser Hey Reader, Good LORD my windows were filthy. You know how things just deteriorate in your immediate surroundings over time, and you just get used to it, and don’t notice? Until one day, you do? And then you simply HAVE to deal with it immediately or the world will end? That happened to me this morning. Coincidentally, while I was sitting at my desk lamenting the fact I had absolutely NOTHING to write about. Not a sausage. I...
Reading time: 2.17 543 words Read this email in your browser Hey Reader, Do you ever look around you and think My god what have I done? Did that this morning as I stood in the early sunshine with my cup of tea. I’d just walked down the stairs, under the tarpaulin, and out through the gaping hole in the back of the house where the shower room and kitchen used to be. Over the past week, our builders have shifted 1,200 tonnes of earth and reshaped the path in our woodland with it, saving us...