By my friend and mentor, Donna Kozik

 Many times when we think about writing and publishing a book our minds careen out of control into the depths of overwhelm.

 Let’s put the brakes on that.

 Instead, what one thing could you do right now to move forward in your dream of becoming a published author?

 Here are four “just 1 thing” ideas I have for the want-to-be-published. I encourage you to pick one to apply today so you can be a published authors sooner rather than later.   

1. Develop Your “Goal Statement.”

If you join one of my “Write a Book in a Weekend” events, the first thing I will encourage you to do is write and send me a goal statement describing why you want to write your book and what it will accomplish for you.

It doesn’t have to be long—200-300 words should do it.

And there is great power in those few words—more often than not, it’s the participants who take a few minutes to write and send me their goal statement who get their book done by the end of the weekend. How about that? No coincidences.

2. Describe Your Ideal Reader

When you are in the throes of thinking, thinking, thinking about your book and get caught up in the “doing” of writing, it can be very easy to become, frankly, quite self-absorbed—meaning you lose focus about who the book is for in the first place: your reader.

Another short assignment I would give you as a “Write a Book in a Weekend” participant is to write a short description of your “ideal reader.” Tell me about one person who will benefit from your book. Is it a man or woman? What age? Where do they live? What do they do? And then the big question: what is the biggest problem or challenge they face that your book will solve?

3. Write Your “About the Author”

You might think this is a “save for last” item, however I encourage my peeps to write their “About the Author” section first, stressing not only their own credentials, but the specific problems and challenges their readers face and how they intend to solve them. It’s another good way to get your book defined in your own mind, plus provide yourself with a big picture overview.

4. Take the “10 Minute Challenge” 

This is a simple but effective technique to get going on a larger project. Set a timer for 10 minutes and GO, GO, GO, GO, GO! Challenge yourself to see how much you can write in those 10 minutes. Most likely you’ll get such momentum going you’ll add another 10, and another, and another…I use this often, including now as I write this piece. 😉

5. Speed Write About Your Favorite Topic

Sometimes what gets in our way is thinking too much about what we “should” write versus what we “want” to write. No one says you have to start with Chapter One. A great way to jumpstart your book project is to pick your favorite topic and start writing about that, even if it might be the “wrap up” chapter.

You can see a common theme to all these ideas—getting started somewhere, anywhere! It’s amazing—and also magical—about what getting started can do for a person. I encourage you to pick one or two of the items above, apply them right now, and let me know the results.

Donna Kozik is a two-time award winning author who has been featured in Woman’s Day, Women’s World, Teen People, The L.A. Times, The Baltimore Sun, NPR’s “Marketplace” and other media. She now shows others how to write and publish a book fast and easy to use as a “big business card.” She does this through “Write a Book in a Weekend” live and virtual events. You can find out more about how to write your book fast and easy during a call Donna and I are doing Tuesday, May 11. Register for the call (and the recording) here: http://tinyurl.com/2cm9yms