BOOK CHAPTER

#1. 10 Minute Author — Preface

How I wrote a book in 10 minutes a day

PREFACE

I wrote 10-Minute Author to share with you the methodology and process I used to write my book ‘Say No and Be Okay with It’ in 10 minutes a day over 38 days. I also did the planning and post-production in only 10 minutes a day and I’m going to share with you those steps too.

The idea of writing a book in 10 minutes a day came about rather by accident. I was with my writer’s group and we were having a sleepover — a Write Night. We were on a self-imposed 12-hour lock-in overnight to write and create. One of the things that we decided to do that night was a writing challenge. The challenge was for everyone to free write and the first person to reach 1000 words would win a prize. We hyped up this challenge so much before the event that one of our group created three trophies to be given out to the first, second, and third-place finishers.

We discussed some tricks and tips to help each other before we started this challenge and some of these tricks and tips you’ll find in this book. And then, we were off. The first person reached 1000 words and it was exciting. I checked my own word count and I was at 800 words. I had never won a trophy in my life and I was determined to get one. Second place went off and I was so close, so I just went for it. I got that third place and I’m so damn proud of that little plastic 3D printed trophy.

It was certainly something to sprint 1000 words and be the third one to get there but it was another thing to realize I had done it in only 22 minutes. That was the moment I realized what was possible when we get out of our heads and write in flow. I love the story I wrote that night and I plan on publishing it in a short stories collection.

The point is that at that moment I realized the power of my potential and what is possible in just 10 minutes. So, I started doing regular 10-minute sprints. Then I decided to write a book in 10 minutes a day, but I didn’t just want to write the book in 10 minutes a day, I wanted to do it in less than 90 days. I’d written and published several books in 90 days — I wrote a book about that too, and I used to offer a program to teach others how (but it took away too much time from my own writing… and, mental health!). So, was it possible to write a book in 10 minutes a day in 90 days or less?

It was not only possible, but I did it much quicker than I expected. I completed my entire planning of this book in just seven 10-minute sessions because I had so much clarity on my purpose, mission, and what I wanted to achieve. The writing itself took me only 38 days to produce a 22,000-word book. And I’m going to show you the tips and tricks that I used to do that.

The content of this book will be presented in three primary steps: Plan, Create, Share. Each primary step contains five components for you to consider and steps for you to take.

Use this book as a guide and as evidence that you can. What I mean by that is that as you do some of the early steps and you begin to see what’s possible in 10 minutes a day, you will start to gather evidence of what’s possible when you allow yourself to try something new. This may sound a little too-good-to-be-true for you right now, but I have so much confidence that you will be amazed at what you’re capable of that I’m already pre-empting that you will change your beliefs and expectations of yourself.

Remember though that this is only a guide. It is ideally created for those that have a little experience with writing and have some skills behind them and who are seeking a way to be more efficient and consistent in their writing. If you’re a brand-new writer or someone who’s looking to start to develop a writing career, there may be some concepts in this book that are a little bit too advanced for you right now, and that’s okay.

You might be wondering at this moment why me and why you. I am in a fantastic position to teach you how to be a 10-minute author as someone who is already a 10-minute author. I’ve done this and you want to do this and that’s why you’ve opened this book. You probably want to write a book and you probably don’t have a lot of time. Well, let’s see what we can do about that.

Copyright © 2020 Writer’s World

All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced in any form without permission from the publisher, except as permitted by Australian copyright law.

This book was written a few years ago and published in 2020; however, since then, I have closed the program and website that it refers to so, I need to update it. What better way than to share it on here? I’ll be sharing a chapter (or part of a chapter) every week but if you can’t wait for the updated version to dribble out to you, you can access the full original copy on Amazon now.