Lessons I've Learned From Being an Author: It's Hard Work

In the spirit of the tumultuous journey the riverboat crew go on in?my parable Who Rocked the Boat?, I’ve decided to share what I’ve learned about the journey of being an author- how it’s shaped, challenged, and enriched me.

In the first instalment of my Lessons I’ve Learned From Becoming an Author series, I discussed the fact you can’t do it alone. Here is a short snippet:

When you’re authentically open to others’ influences and value, not fear, their differences, you learn to welcome and in turn?learn from?them, cooking up something spectacular.?Even books that have a single author on the title will have found a way to gain input and insights from others – researchers, reviewers, or others.

What I'm describing here is the idea of collaboration, collecting and sharing ideas, leveraging the value from others --- or ‘synergy’ as we call it at FranklinCovey.

My next reflection may seem obvious, but it’s so easily underestimated that it bears repeating.

Writing a Book is Hard Work??

For years I had the privilege of working with Dr Spencer Johnson, a prolific and bestselling author. He had a 30-step process for creating a best seller. As I watched him work there was a clarity around his formula. Get some ideas on paper and edit and revise over and over. It took ages, it was such hard work. Even having observed the process, this is probably the thing I was least prepared for when I began my journey as an author. I knew authoring a book would be time-consuming, but I wholly underestimated how labor-intensive it would be.??

I can say that authoring a book is not something that can be entered into lightly - especially when it's in addition to your day job. I spent countless hours a week, every week for two years, working on Change: How to Turn Uncertainty into Opportunity with the co-author team. I worked on it in my spare time, on weekends and holidays. I took notes on my phone during breakfast or while commuting.?

Writing a book is an all-consuming task that requires discipline, focus, and resilience. I had to learn to manage my time effectively, prioritize the book (even when it was the last thing I wanted to do) and maintain my motivation throughout the process.?

FranklinCovey’s content teaches us that if you don’t make a conscious effort to visualize who?you are and what you want in life, then you empower other people and circumstances to shape you and your life by default. As I took on the challenge of authoring not one, but two books, over the last two years, I knew that to ensure it didn’t overtake and diminish all other roles I play in my life (father, husband, leader, mentor etc.) I had to be very intentional about consistently revisiting, refining, and reflecting on my personal mission statement.

When I did this, I was able to keep things in perspective, stay aligned to my principles, inspired by my vision, and keep working to move my ideas and goals into the real world.

Last year I wrote an article on why persistence, not resilience, is most aligned with success. Whereas resilience helped me to endure when things didn't go my way, I knew I was being persistent when I was actively looking for ways to move beyond my usual routine and expectations of myself- two things essential to becoming an author.