If You Had To Write A Book

If some of you remember Gaahhh Don’t Make Me Write!
you know I’m a creative who has a love-hate relationship with writing.
But I’m also a creative who believes that unless it’s going to flat out
kill you, creative entrepreneurs have just gotta write in some form or
another, whether that’s it’s a more clearly written email response to
people interested in hiring you, to regularly sharing useful or
inspirational tidbits in whatever social media realm doesn’t freak you
out, to all-out blogging, to occasional speaking, to (gasp!) writing a
book.

Kathleen and I are actually writing a book. Or let me
clarify, writing a book proposal, but it’s been a bit of a backburner
idea, and now we’re in “let’s just try it mode.” So we’re taking a stab
and seeing how it goes. You might think that’s something you’d love to
do, or have done already, congrats. Or you may already breaking out in
hives thinking about it (I do have an persistent itchy spot on my back
left shoulder blade by the way) just calm down a second there, itchy,
we’re not saying that it’s a fit for you.

The point is,
you may not be dying to become an author, but if you’re a creative
entrepreneur or aspiring-to-be, then I know you’re dying to express
these ideas you’ve got pinging around in your head, and get them (if not
on real pages) on metaphorical paper. So lately I’ve started asking
creatives just brimming, bursting and beaming with ideas, but can’t nail
down one (or even just five) to say “that’s my expertise, that’s what
I’m all about,” the book question.

I simply ask “if you had to
write a book, today, what would it be called and what would some of your
chapters would be called?” I love asking this question so much lately,
that we created a Brand Exercise Braid worksheet for you to download.

Think about how your book title and chapters can help you:
– write blog posts
– stick to some general blog topics
– or even just write tweets and FB posts?
– develop or describing the offerings/products that you sell?
– explain how-to-hire you on your website?
– give a talk
– structure a conversation with someone considering hiring you?
– write a real book someday, dare we say!?

If you liked this worksheet, you can check out some of our previous Brand Exercises like:
– Your Ideal Day
– The Online You Sharing Spectrum
– A Resolution For Routine

Final
note on “making your dream” real. Kathleen and I have actually worked
with successful legit authors and also aspiring authors, and there is
something really powerful about creating an image of your dream.  So,
for the aspiring authors out there, the ones who didn’t get hives
reading the title to this post, but said “oh man, I am soooo writing a
book,” do this – design your book cover, or heck hand draw it, wrap it
around a real book, and photograph it. But don’t just boring photograph
it. Do it in a field of grass, or styled on a desk in a sunny window, or
on your bookshelf among all your other favorite books.  You don’t have
to have a fancy camera, just use your phone, filter it up all Instagram
style, ha! You don’t have to post it, or share it, but just looking at
it can give you goosebumps. Make it you desktop wallpaper image, or
print it out and stick on your mirror – is that self-affirming,
prophecy-fulfilling or what?

As for us, we’re cautiously
optimistic ours will turn into a real book. Side note, our brother is a
sideshow performer who travels the country and world twirling his
handlebar mustache and getting paid to stick sharp objects up his nose. I
mention him because every once in awhile he gets to shoot a pilot for a
potential television series, but none of them have turned into actual
shows in that long string of what it takes to get a show picked up by a
network. But it ends up being a good story for him to tell, and a
clarifying experience each time, to say the least. That’s how Kathleen
and I are approaching writing this potential book of ours, like sticking
something sharp in our face (in careful steps, mind you) and hoping
people like it and pay us for it.

What would the title of your book be? Oh, man, I bet there’s some good ones out there. Tell us on Facebook.