I am Finishing my Ebook Now that I am Back- My Plans
I fought Writer’s Block for months, and now that I am in the clear, I think it is time I went back to writing and finishing my soon-to-be-published dystopian-era eBook on Amazon KDP.
Yes, the ideas pool is flowing again, Just in case you are not following this page, I tackled writer’s block headlong (see my article for context).
In this instance, let’s fire up the creative juices once again while I lace my ink with gusto and zeal strong enough to create an Amazon Bestseller.
Getting back to writing took me quite a while, did I say ‘quite a while?’, uhm, it's been more like 3 years since my last update on Medium (I did create some scantily done articles within the period though).
Now that I’ve returned to writing fully and I’ve got my mojo back, I just figured it was time I finished that book.
Writer’s block did an evil number on me, delaying all the amazing writing projects I envisioned many months ago.
The Book
Set in the dystopian age, when the world was on the edge of disintegrating into chaos and nothingness, a group of heroes made up of a god, a demigod, a vampire, and a sorcerer set out to stop the evil encompassing the plain and the surrounding galaxy.
The ideas in this book were so elaborate that I became overwhelmed with delivering the details in a clear and digestible format to the reader.
Sadly, it became very clear that if I was going to finish the book, then I needed to make some concessions, which I was never ready to make at the time.
I was feeling so demotivated, forlorn, and almost lost, I dedicated most of my time to uncreative ventures, could I call it hedonism? I doubt it is, but one thing is certain: I need to work on myself lest I be lost in the whirlpool of misery and loss.
Realizing the dire situation I was in, I decided: I will be creating a plan that should deliver this book to the Amazon KDP stores before the end of the current quarter.
So What are your Plans Going to Be?
Being prepared without any form of hesitation or laxity puts you in a position to confront situations as they arise.
These past few months have given me some clarity and direction as regards the trajectory this eBook project should assume.
I will outline these plans below and also hope you will follow me to monitor my progress in the coming days.
Start by outlining my ideas and organizing them into chapters or sections.
This was the first thing I did, though, and I feel it could use some readjustment.
I mean, lots of new twists to the story have popped up to give the story more depth, twists, and turns to ensure the chapters and the entire book itself are not easily predictable and most avoidably boring.
For me, I do it the old-school way, with a pen and a notepad, but I am looking at being a bit new school, hence I am learning how to use invisionapp.com- a free-to-use mind-mapping tool that will enable you:
- organize your book chapters
- collaborate with others
- and more functionalities I’m yet to figure out while unlocking the full potential of the tool.
The learning curve from my findings could be regarded as steep because I am still trying to understand how this tool works in its entirety, but so far I think it’s an amazing tool.
Fortunately for me, I used Notion and my pen and notepad to complete this exercise some 18 months ago.
By the way, Notion remains the best all-in-one tool, which I highly recommend if you want to 10x your productivity and accomplish quite a lot. The best part of all this is that the app is free.
Set a writing schedule and stick to it, making sure to give yourself breaks as needed.
Getting burned out these days can happen on a whim.
Remember, we live in a very fast-paced world where news and happenings on social media could give you a brain freeze and fatigue in seconds.
These distractions keep increasing daily, and if I do not set a stricter schedule and, most importantly, stick to it, then my newfound writing zeal would melt into one long pipedream with no writing schedule and discipline.
The Pomodoro Technique is the way to go, I mean staying focused every 25 minutes on a task and taking breaks in between.
There are other time management techniques, but for someone as distracted as me, the aforementioned style should do the magic.
To put this in perspective, I will set a chapter and the theme within the given time (25 minutes), then try and write in a distraction-free manner.
Ensure I espouse whatever plot and story for the said chapter within the time stipulated; then rinse and repeat till the goal of the day is accomplished.
Edit my work as I go, but ensure I don’t get bogged down in perfectionism.
One of the many reasons I abandoned the eBook was perfectionism, I literally spent so much time trying to dot all the “i” and cross the “tees,”, wasting so much productive time in the process.
Luckily, Grammarly has been my number-one go-to grammar tool that makes it so easy to write and edit wrong grammar and misspellings all in record time.
The beautiful thing about this tool is its array of integration with almost every text editing app, from MS Word, and Google Docs to my favorite tool, Notion.so
Get feedback from beta readers or a writing group to help improve your work.
While I feel this innate excitement to get as many eyeballs to see my creation, I also feel nervous at the same time.
However, I already have a beta reader, or two, to be exact.
I should be hearing from them about how they feel about this story.
Honest feedback would really help the story, so I will also be giving updates on what my beta readers revealed as it concerns the title, theme, and plot of the story.
If you want to become a beta reader, feel free to shoot me an email at chinemeremz@gmail.com.
Ensure you quote the relevant part of this article for more clarity while you are at it, and I will be more than happy to send you the first few chapters of the book’s manuscript with no qualms.
I am considering hiring an editor or proofreader to catch any errors or inconsistencies.
Even with all the AI grammar tools out there like Grammarly, Hemingway App, ProWriting Aid, etc., a very good text document must have an element of human touch for it to attain the level of perfection acceptable in every literary sense.
I daresay hiring an editor or proofreader can be quite expensive, especially for a writer running on a very tight budget like me.
To be frank, I am one helluva writer, not the best in the world, but I could certainly hold my own in every regard, Unfortunately, this is not even enough for those at the upper echelons of the writing world; at some point, the services of either a proofreader or an editor or even both would be required.
My solution to this will be to pay for the full version of the Grammarly app (I am currently on the free version), then get grammar, story, and plot feedback from my beta readers.
Finally, I will be staying away from the manuscript for at least one week because, with fresh eyes, I could point out weak plots, poorly written phrases, grammatical errors, and everything else that will make or mar the success of this project.
Finally, I should be ready in a few months, I will consider using a platform like Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing to get my work out to a wider audience.
I really cannot wait to get listed on the Amazon KDP site, first as an author and then as a bestselling author (wish me luck).
I am estimating the first week of June or the last week in May to have this accomplished.
The most important thing here is ensuring I deliver an error-free and grammatically sound book with a super-duper story that would be critically acclaimed and have astronomical sales numbers.
Hopefully, this will happen, I am fully motivated and so sensitive to see this through with no lapses of any sort.
Conclusion:
I am so happy to embark on this project, and clearly outlining my plans for finishing this eBook is giving me this inner drive to accomplish a lifelong task this quarter.
I know it won’t be a walk in the park, but I am determined to see this through to the finish line with the plans, tools, resources, and most importantly, your feedback.
I enjoin you to subscribe to my newsletter and follow me (I follow back), because I know there’s going to be an inspiring story of bravery, forthrightness, patience, and perseverance as I cross this Rubicon.
Thanks so much for reading, please feel free to drop your comments and reactions (oh my! I need those important claps).
