1. Our own voice is the toughest
When I posted I would publish all three of my books I said it would take 1 year. In fact it took me 20 months. When I realised I wouldn’t do it within 1 year I felt like I’d failed. But then I realised I was the only one watching, it was me who was telling me I’d failed, nobody else.
2. Checklists have been the key
Every Monday morning I write a To-Do list, small bitesize chunks of what I need to do that week. The task of writing a whole book can be overwhelming – 90,000 words. But having a target date, then breaking it down into weeks then days works. I write my list knowing what I need to do each day – small doable amounts that fit with the rest of my life. It’s a simple agreement between me and myself. When I tick it off at the end of the week it’s a lovely feeling to have.
3. You do have the time
If you are healthy and functioning you probably do have the time for your Next Chapter. I know - this one can sting (it did me too) especially if your To-Do list already leaves you feeling overwhelmed. But if you scroll, read, see friends, watch TV etc there is time. I am not suggesting you should stop seeing friends or stop doing what you enjoy. But there’s lots of research which shows you can start Next Chapters just by spending 15 minutes a day – learning, creating, researching, doing – whatever you want your Next Chapter to be. It’s probably more helpful to stop thinking you don’t have the time, and ask why aren’t I spending the time I have on this?
4. Your ‘Yeah, buts’ are your enemy
You know what I mean:
Yeah, but she can do that…
Yeah, but I can’t do that.
Yeah, but she has the time.
Yeah, but he has the money.
Yeah, but she has an easier life/harder life/different life.
Yeah, but he’s more clever.
Yeah, but her husband does this/his wife does that…
You get my point. Our ‘yeah, buts’ are just another wall standing in our way. Lose the ‘yeah, buts’ and you lose another wall.
5. You will never feel ready
The feeling comes after an action, not before. You won’t feel confident enough, good enough, ready enough, prepared enough. You just need to take a deep breath and take action and the feeling will come. It may take a while, but one day it will arrive.
6. Your holidays may hold the answer
If you know you’d like to do something else, but have no idea what, holidays may hold the answer. What do you love to do when you are away? What can you not do without? Read romances, run along a beach, chat with friends, follow your favourite football team, listen to podcasts about politics or DIY, read about crime, look at magazines filled with interiors or fashion, learn about plumbing - whatever it may be – what do you love? Just think about it and write it down, and take it with you. Then when you are home you have your seed.
(I started writing books after one holiday – I often spent holidays looking at people on their sun-loungers, engrossed in others’ books. I had always wanted to create that for someone - a world to get lost into, that you couldn’t put down. I asked myself why am I just sitting here, watching - holding someone else’s book? So, I took a deep breath and started to write.)
7. Work doesn’t have to be hard
If you do a job you don’t love, it can be hard to understand work can ever be something you do love. If you see someone ‘working’ evenings, mornings, weekends on their Next Chapter it may be daunting and off-putting to do the same. But if you swap the word ‘work’ with ‘doing something you love’…. Well, why wouldn’t you do this?
8. It can be hard to explain
Following on from the above point, it can be hard to explain to friends and family what you are doing. They may think you are working too hard and taking on too much, or sometimes you might not have as much time as you did have (for them). But you are spending it doing something you love, building a better world for you and your family. The best people will support you and understand.
9. A passion can be a comfort blanket in life
A lot is spoken about the dangers of ‘keeping busy,’ of using this as a mechanism to not face other parts of life. But less is spoken about the comfort a passion can bring. On my toughest days, the ones filled with grief, heartbreak or just that horrid flat grey feeling that won’t go away – my writing changes everything. The space my one thousand words provides is where I want to go. I use my imagination, spend time with my characters and create a world I can control. I always come away feeling better. It’s a huge comfort blanket to have something like this in my life, and it’s something I never want to be without.
10. Nobody is coming to sort you out
I know this is another toughie – but it’s true. Nobody is going to land in front of you and say ‘come on, this is what you should be doing and here it is…’ That’s not to say there are not people who will help you. Bosses, friends, strangers, acquaintances – there are so many people everywhere who want to help. But how can they help you if you don’t know where you are going? The only person who can make you do what you want to do – is you.
11. Connection and Purpose are key
When I started writing books, of course I had/have the same dreams as other authors. To hit bestseller lists, to have a book made into a film, I think we all wish the same. But I also wanted to create a world where we feel like we are ‘in this together’ through storytelling in fiction (and my Next Chapter podcast too). One day I received an email from a woman I have never met who had found my books. She said she hadn’t been able to read since she’d been caring for a relative who then died. She told me my book helped her with her anxiety and to find reading again. When I read that email, it gave me a feeling I had never felt before – it felt like striking gold.
12. It shows you the love in your world
Publishing these three books has completely changed the landscape of my world. Before I did, back in November 2020, I would have been at least 99 % certain of the people who would support me and be in my corner. I had no idea what was about to happen. Yes, there have been a small number of disappointments – although I look at these now as clarity. But, and this is a magical but, I had no idea some of the people in my life were rooting for me in the way they have. I am still overwhelmed by the amount of support I’ve had, of the people who are so in my corner I would have never guessed would be. I see my world completely differently now - it’s filled with so much more love than I knew.
(And just think, there are people standing in your corner now – who if you don’t start your Next Chapter, you may never know are there.)
So, what next?
I plan to keep writing as long as I can type and think. I aim to do a book a year, hopefully every nine months but we shall see. I know I have so much to learn – not just writing, but marketing, business, sponsorship – everything I am terrible at now. I feel like I am at the start of a great big mountain, but I am loving the climbing and the growing. If I’m honest, I never want to reach the top of this mountain, the view is too good.
But if you find the idea of a mountain too daunting, then replace it with path/journey/ life whatever works for you. I just hope as I’m climbing mine I pass you on yours – and you know you are absolutely not alone.