Latest / Authentic Living / Deborah Ferdinand shares the Secrets to INtuitive Book Writing straight from the Heart.

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Deborah Ferdinand shares the Secrets to INtuitive Book Writing straight from the Heart. · Authentic Living

• 0:01
  Welcome to authentic living with Roxanne, a place where we have conscious cover about
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  things that really matter in our lives.
• 0:12
  And now here's your host, Roxanne Turhage.
• 0:38
  I want it's, Roxanne Durgesh.
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  Thanks again for tuning in, to authentically with Roxanne.
• 0:44
  So this week, I have a special guest and a colleague, Deborah Fernanen.
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  Hi, Deborah.
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  How are you today?
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  I'm wonderful Roxanne.
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  How are you?
• 0:54
  Good.
• 0:54
  Good.
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  So we're, we're gonna talk a little bit today about, pertise in writing, which is something,
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  that, Deborah brings an immense amount of, knowledge and wisdom around the the topic of
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  writing.
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  And I'm gonna write just read a little bit about her her background.
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  And, obviously, we can talk a little bit more if I missed anything Deborah.
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  Deborah is the president of creative creative consulting services inc, a boutique style
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  editing, and writing firm.
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  She's a cognitive and intuitive writer editor, which I I I cannot under under estimate the
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  importance of that, especially as a writer myself, how important that is when you work
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  with the right person when you're writing She uses those abilities to draw out the essence
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  and the construct, the intent on the feeling of your book, which again is is vitally important.
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  She crafts with intention, the intentions of having the the audience savor your story and in
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  turn your voice, which is a very important and comprehend your message.
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  She believes in making dreams attainable by helping their clients her clients enhance and
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  organize their thoughts through words and in in, quotations, words that move their audience
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  to action which is, again, very, very important.
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  She's an editor, a writer, and a cognitive, non fiction ghostwriter, and this this element of
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  intuitive writing is such an important thing.
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  But, yeah, before we jump into that, Deborah, I just want you to you know, when Deborah and I
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  met at, a networking event in Toronto a little while back and, We have a bit in common where
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  our backgrounds were both from, Trinidad and or families are from Trinidad and Tobago.
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  So we start to chat a little bit about that.
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  The tree is connecting.
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  And, I know that writing is something that scares a lot of people.
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  Right?
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  And even the thought of writing a book.
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  So I want you to kinda tell people a little bit about your path and what got you into those you
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  know, space of writing?
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  Well, for me, even as an editor, I'll be honest with you, I tell all my, writers, all my
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  authors this, I don't even wanna write a book.
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  I'm scared.
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  I'm afraid to write a book.
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  I have, next to me, a journal that I've started, which I hope at one day, to write in a
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  book, but I'm afraid I've got a half written, very boring book on editing, grammar, m dashes,
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  comma, semicolon, as boring as you can get.
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  And even that, I'm afraid of, well, that one I'm not too afraid of, but there is That nature
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  in us to be afraid of things that are new to us and that, we have not experienced.
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  And what's I think what it is is that we understand that unlike a large firm where
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  You're just a number.
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  You're just given a purchase order number.
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  You're in queue to get edited.
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  We take time, and we understand, halfway through a project.
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  I just had a client at the start of her project decided to go in another direction.
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  She was afraid to let me know that she had made this change.
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  I had to let her know when she finally came through that, you're not the only one.
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  This is what happens.
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  Getting started, you may think you've got the best idea.
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  You start chatting with me and I start poking at you and bringing out other things.
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  And then sometimes there's a change in direction.
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  You realize that what you were writing truly was not what you were meant to write.
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  This is what we're all about.
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  We're we're all about taking the scare out of it, making it a beautiful and comfortable
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  experience for you.
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  Of course, it's the end of profitable experience by having your book published
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  becoming, an authoritative, author or bring credibility to what you do, but the process
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  itself must be enjoyable.
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  And I think you you having books under your belts as well Roxanne would understand that.
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  It it is a difficult project.
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  And if you don't have the right person holding your hand, encouraging you along the way, It's
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  it it becomes not not a labor of love, but labor.
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  Yes.
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  Just just pure labor, period.
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  Yes.
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  It's such a big concept.
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  And I I often say that, I had said years ago, and I think I may have shared the you.
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  I think I was talking to a colleague.
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  I said, oh, yeah.
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  Yeah.
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  I'm gonna write a book.
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  I have no intention.
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  Honest to god.
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  I'm writing a book.
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  Right?
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  Like, so I said that, like, 10 years ago.
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  And he goes, oh my god.
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  I would never write a book.
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  And, I said, oh, I think I might.
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  And that was the sense of my I'm gonna write a book thing, you know, and and it's amazing.
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  Right?
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  Once you once I decided that I was gonna write it, and I wrote about what I knew.
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  I wrote about psychotherapy and and relationships and all that stuff, which I know
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  all it's all up here, but it's it's the it's the process that I've learned, going through my
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  whole space was how do you download it from here?
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  Onto a piece of paper or or a computer screen.
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  Right?
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  Yes.
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  That's that's exactly, part of the process at times, for a book such as what you've written,
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  a more, educational type book, book that follows a a type of process It's a lot easier
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  because you're you're putting information onto paper and you're you're knitting it together
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  with your personal experiences with your own philosophy.
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  However, if you're writing a book that is about a life experience, in particular, if it's
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  something that has been very traumatic moving or whichever way it has affected you, but you
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  want to impart that information to the world.
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  This is what we set you up with a guideline.
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  Now when you're ready to write a book with us, it's not a process of here's a price Thanks for
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  the manuscript.
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  We'll work on it.
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  What the process is is that we sit down and meet with you at least, 2 to 3 times prior to
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  assure that we get along.
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  But what we do give you is an outline.
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  We discuss where you wanna start where you wanna begin.
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  We ask you questions.
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  What is your who is your audience?
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  What is the aim of this book?
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  Is it a monetary?
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  Is it, a religious do you want to to change the world?
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  What do you wanna do?
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  And it's from there that we break it down and through that, type of, intake we're able to
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  build a customized outline for you.
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  And with that customized outline, you have We tell you, we know what your chapters are.
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  You've essentially decided that, but we we help you construct and stay on track.
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  In addition, we do personal reviews.
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  So we will hand you a chunk of work, and we'll go over it with you and get your opinion on it.
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  Do you like what changes are that we've made, we may question you even further as to, can you
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  expand on this?
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  Does this make sense?
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  Were you drinking at the time when you wrote this?
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  Then you'll get to pause, and then you'll get, yeah, I was.
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  Oh, you're kidding.
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  You're serious.
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  I thought you were kidding.
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  I'm thinking, oh, you know,
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  at times, like, Yeah.
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  And not to say not to say that it's, gibberish or badly written, it's usually, a thought that
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  popped into their head.
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  And they wrote it down.
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  And it's usually very good because that thought this is what we do now.
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  We take that thought that was out of place.
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  We ask you about it.
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  It may expand into another chapter.
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  It may expand into another idea.
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  Right.
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  So getting it from your head the paper when you get to us is easy.
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  But before you get to us, there is a lot.
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  You have to partioned out by day by day.
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  You have to write without looking at changing grammar.
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  I thought, you know, that was a big thing.
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  Right?
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  Because if you think about academic writing, which is what I had only done prior, right, and
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  business writing for documents and stuff like that and communication's completely different.
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  So that was a hard thing for me, Deborah.
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  It was like, she, you know, my editor would say to me, Okay.
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  I need 30 pages.
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  We're gonna talk in a week.
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  And I'm like, hold up.
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  She goes, no.
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  No.
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  No.
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  I just need 30.
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  And, I mean, I need I'm sure your writers would say this.
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  I need a deadline because if you leave me up to my own devices, I will find everything, but and
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  was it the traditional lock myself in my house?
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  No.
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  I just if I knew I had to do it by a certain timeline, And then she said, and don't edit it,
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  which was like, what?
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  I don't know.
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  Just write it free flow it sit down, write it, and then we'll look at it.
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  And I was, at first, I was very uncomfortable because then I I was, like, trying to because
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  when you edit your critique, And then you're kinda out of that creative flow.
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  Would you agree with that statement?
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  Absolutely.
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  Absolutely.
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  So getting started, with us, we do give you deadlines.
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  We tell you this is a review period.
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  These are the number of chapters that are going to be done.
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  But the again, once before you get to me, you really have to be determined.
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  And what I see when, there are 2 types of clients that come to me.
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  One set up, in in particular, they all have in general, they all have their manuscripts ready,
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  unless they're going through an interview process with me.
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  And an interview process with me, if I ask them some questions, writing chapters based on those
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  answers and their experiences.
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  So there's a few different things So if they're you're starting from scratch, you have to block
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  off the time for yourself if you're not working with an editor at that moment.
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  If you're working on your own, you just have to sit down and write.
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  Think of it as a journal.
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  You give it a heading, and you write.
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  Then you bring it to someone who is a cognitive writer who's got some intuition about what
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  you're doing, and they break it down for you.
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  This is where we will find, okay, to what you wrote in day number 6, we're gonna move it to
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  day number 1, and we're gonna construct it like that.
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  So depending on the book and depending on the states that they're at, there are various
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  methods to go through initially, write free flow.
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  Forget about the spelling, forget about the comments.
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  Just just write it because if you start focusing on forming, the the the chapters and
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  the essence of it, you're gonna lose it because you're gonna forget what you what you're
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  feeling at that moment.
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  Ideally, I ask clients to get in such a zone that they end up channeling their work.
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  Mhmm.
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  And channeling can be on different levels for different people.
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  I know for myself, when I am channeling, when I'm writing, pretty much the world could come
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  down around me, and I wouldn't even know.
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  Mhmm.
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  So I tell my clients, again, you find that space.
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  You make it peaceful.
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  For example, I have a candle lit right now.
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  I have some infant burning.
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  I've got some very relaxing music in the background.
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  And that puts you in the zone to focus on what you need to do.
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  And, again, the thing is you have to look at it as the labor of love, not labor.
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  Mhmm.
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  Fun for you.
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  You will sit down and write a little bit different on the academic workbooks, and I
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  think you know that.
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  We Yes.
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  And I wouldn't even attempt that I would I I would admit up front, I'd be like, okay.
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  That is not my zone.
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  Right?
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  The academic writing, absolutely, right, whereas when mine is more of a a self help kind
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  of, you know, work work.
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  You work through the books, but it's not an academic.
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  And by all means, it's the end user is meant to be able to pick it up and work it through.
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  But I think it's also knowing, you know, I I think I I think of a like, you know, a
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  fictional book.
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  Like, I mean, the process of that, must be quite interesting.
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  Compared to say a book like mine.
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  Yes.
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  So if you're I I don't focus that much on the It's an area that we're going in right into
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  right now because fiction writing is so it's subjective.
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  What I might think a common may work here may not because of what the client is doing.
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  So we focus more on non fiction writing.
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  Okay.
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  So, credibility, and that does not mean that it has to be an academic book.
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  We do a lot of philosophy books.
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  Okay.
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  You also have their have based their have created their own philosophy based either on
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  religious ideals based on a coaching method or based on something that they thought of.
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  Mhmm.
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  And so are the books where you really have to keep your clients in line because as I stated,
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  if I don't understand it, no one else is going to understand it.
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  And I think that's so important, right, because, like, even me, writing, in in the
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  field kind of of psychotherapy or psychology, there were certain things that I would use, and
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  she would say, what's that?
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  And I'm like, What do you mean?
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  What's that?
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  But she literally would say, no.
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  The average you have to think of, what is the grade level that they say that should be able
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  to pick up about grade 7, grade 8?
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  Yes.
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  Right.
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  And then I was like, wow.
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  And then I realized how I would be skewing peep you know, people would not know what I was
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  meaning by some of the basic words that I would use.
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  And then I had to she had to say, okay.
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  What's a different word for this?
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  What's a simpler word for this?
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  All those things.
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  And, I mean, did I I repeated myself in multiple parts and she go like, well, where
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  does this really go?
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  Like, we've talked about this here, and then you mentioned it here, and you've mentioned it.
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  I'm like, did I?
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  I must have been asleep.
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  There's a nice glass of wine as I always say.
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  Yeah.
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  I don't know if that is exactly it.
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  Yeah.
• 15:41
  You have to Oh, it's a process where for us as an as editors, It has to make sense.
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  Mhmm.
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  If, as I said, if I can't understand it, the majority of the population is not gonna spend
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  it.
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  If I get excited about it, trust me, a lot of people are gonna get excited about it.
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  As I'd like to say, I'm I'm hard.
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  I don't get moved by much.
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  So if you move me, in my eyes, you've moved hundreds of thousands of people.
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  Mhmm.
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  And, when you're writing your own philosophy, fee, which essentially is what a lot of people
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  are doing right now with the, with the self publishing industry being so big and it's able
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  to you're still able to get your book out there now.
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  Everyone is wanting to write about what they believe.
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  A branch off of a coaching message that they've they've they've used.
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  But sometimes the words that they're using and the format they're using is not reaching your
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  audience.
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  And this is where the cognitive for method that comes in within my writing.
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  I have to understand it on all the various senses even right down to feeling what they've
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  written.
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  Visually, it has to make sense, auditory.
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  It it just has to make sense.
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  And this is what I work with.
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  And I say, well, this is not quite making sense.
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  And as with your editor, you say, well, you've mentioned it a few other times in a different
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  way.
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  How what is a better way of doing this?
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  And and I'll poke, and I'll keep prodding until it comes in.
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  The intuitive part for people who were writing, books on their personal life, this is where my
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  intuition really comes in, and I call people out.
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  You've written a sentence here.
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  However, this is truly not what I'm feeling.
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  A simple word a simple word such as is are of it can make an change an entire the entire
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  meaning and the entire essence of a, a book that is written from a personal level, not an
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  authoritative book.
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  And this is where I start questioning people, and I'll say, well, you wrote it as this use
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  the word it, I use it becomes impersonal.
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  So I poke and I poke, and then I'll find out things such as, well, I was married at the time
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  when I was having telling you writing it about this guy.
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  Mhmm.
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  And just little nuances will help me bring out.
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  I can't say the truth, but the true essence of the book.
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  And I feel when the reader when the the author is authentic, tells the truth, bears their
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  soul, Those are books that move people to feel comfortable in their own skin, to say this is
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  who I am because there's somebody else like me who've done the same.
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  So in those types of books, it's always prodding to find out the authoritative book.
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  It's questioning Does this make sense?
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  So now I I wanna I want you to talk about, anybody listening, and they have an idea.
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  And they've always I I have since I've written my book, you know, I've I've been in 2 chapter
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  books and I have my own book.
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  Every time, you know, you talk a lot of times, you'd I shouldn't say every time.
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  Often when I'm talking to people, they say, I have always wanna write a book.
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  I hear people say that all the time.
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  And you know, and then I say, well, you can do it.
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  This is me.
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  And I'm thinking if if I can do it, you can do it.
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  Right?
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  And What what would you say to someone?
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  Like, you know, people have stories.
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  They will have of a girlfriend.
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  She was over the other.
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  She goes, oh my god.
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  I've got this amazing book in mind.
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  And I said, well, then write it.
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  And then she would be like, oh, I don't I I just don't know where to start.
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  So why would you say to someone?
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  Like, kind of, like, that's thinking about writing something, be it a piece, a blog, you
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  know, a short book, a novel, what I say
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  to people is part of our philosophy.
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  You've imagined it now.
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  The next step is to explore the idea of writing.
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  If there was anything else, if you were to be making a recipe for the first time, you would
• 20:15
  look overall the ingredients to ensure that you have them.
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  You will check your your skill level.
• 20:20
  Is this something that I can accomplish?
• 20:23
  Is it, do I need to be an expert baker can it be done by a twelve year old?
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  What do I need?
• 20:30
  This is where you have to sit down and and talk to an editor.
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  This is where an editor comes in and questions you on why you want to write this book.
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  This is all part of the exploration process.
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  Once that is over, it is my job to let you know, yes, you can do this.
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  And the reason you can do this is that we're gonna give you some guidelines.
• 20:55
  Mhmm.
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  We're gonna give you some help.
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  We're gonna be that monkey on your back that's gonna ride you produce work.
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  We're going to, along the way, help you become a better writer by showing you your blinds cost
• 21:08
  by teaching you new new words, new tricks.
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  So when you're ready for your second book and most people are, then they rarely believe it at
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  once, You are now past the exploration stage.
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  You're in the excitement stage.
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  Mhmm.
• 21:24
  Bought the skills now because you've gone through with a professional editor and learn
• 21:28
  the writing skills that you think you need.
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  So the next time you come to me, it's a very easy process for you.
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  In fact, I find that my first time writers are authored by the time I'm close to finishing
• 21:43
  editing their first book, They've begun writing their second book.
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  Mhmm.
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  And when their second book reaches me, it's less of an editing process.
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  Because now they're not afraid to write.
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  They realize that the process is not as scary.
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  It's not as overwhelming and big.
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  Exactly.
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  It really is just breaking it down in a process.
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  If you wanna rush out a book in 3 months, That's an entirely different ballgame.
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  You know, you have to take your time anywhere from 6 to 8 months in some cases a year
• 22:16
  depending on the client.
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  Clients, even with, giving them a timeline to work with, part of my, coding process and a
• 22:27
  proposal, the very last line I read on my proposal to all my clients is life takes over.
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  Things happen.
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  Sure.
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  Schedule is set as such.
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  Vacations happen.
• 22:35
  Children happen.
• 22:35
  Marriages happen.
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  Life happened.
• 22:45
  So talk about the different types of editing because I did not know the the terms.
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  Right?
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  Now I know Right?
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  So there's structural editing.
• 22:53
  There's, well,
• 22:54
  I think each each company actually takes same processes and give some different names.
• 23:02
  Okay.
• 23:03
  What I what we offer, initially, the basic edit So for example, if you come to me with a blog
• 23:11
  or, a 1000 page article, we just edit it for you.
• 23:16
  So basically, looking for your comments, your semicolons, correcting any spelling errors, not
• 23:22
  advising you on enhancing words, or changing words or questioning your structure to make
• 23:28
  sure that there are no errors in your work.
• 23:31
  And the work like that, we usually get her from people who've been writing for quite some time.
• 23:36
  Then there is a comprehensive edit.
• 23:41
  And a comprehensive edit is that, you send me your manuscript.
• 23:44
  We've already worked with you to help keep you within the guidelines, you know, what's
• 23:48
  expected of you, etcetera.
• 23:51
  And, we look at it and we say, well, we can enhance this word for you.
• 23:56
  We can do this for you.
• 23:58
  We do it.
• 23:58
  We do it in a different color, and then you review it with us and say, okay.
• 24:02
  That sounds really good.
• 24:04
  I really like how you you you brought to life what I was trying to say.
• 24:08
  I really liked how you brought this clarity and the flow.
• 24:11
  It's what we focus on in a comprehensive edit.
• 24:14
  The clarity and the flow of what you're doing in addition to the basic edit.
• 24:19
  Then we have what we call the complete rewrite.
• 24:22
  And this usually happens sometimes when it's someone's first attempt at a manuscript.
• 24:27
  And they have really not met with us I get a phone call and I would say I was referred to
• 24:33
  you and they send their manuscript over to me.
• 24:37
  And it's exactly as I as we mentioned before, They sat down and they wrote it.
• 24:43
  No spelling, checks, no grammar, no anything.
• 24:47
  That becomes a rewrite.
• 24:49
  So we take that content and we fully rewrite it keeping the essence keeping the the context of
• 24:57
  what they want, keeping some of the content, but building on that.
• 25:03
  So taking their idea.
• 25:05
  And, essentially, it's a bud when it comes to it, and we just help it blossom at that point.
• 25:11
  So there's 3 types of editing we do.
• 25:14
  Right.
• 25:14
  So there's, yeah, there's so, of course, my my concept that I learned was structural where
• 25:19
  they, you know, used to look at the entire structure, then they edited grammar and stuff
• 25:24
  like that.
• 25:25
  And then a final final copy editing just before it goes to press, you know, kind of thing.
• 25:31
  So that but you're you're you do the the whole kind of, kibble caboodle.
• 25:35
  You do from beginning to end with a writer if they would like that, or you do different parts
• 25:41
  of it.
• 25:41
  If, need be based on what what people are needing?
• 25:46
  Yes.
• 25:47
  Usually after an evaluation with us after we look through their content and we start
• 25:51
  questioning, we always give a a sample edit.
• 25:55
  Okay.
• 25:55
  And from that sample edit, the client will say, oh my gosh.
• 26:00
  I do need to bump this up.
• 26:02
  Mhmm.
• 26:02
  Or, well, in most cases, you know, they they accept what what we've offered in terms of
• 26:09
  editing it and what what it can be.
• 26:12
  So we give them the choice of you can either write it along these, the flow and clarity
• 26:17
  format that we've given you, or you can continue raw writing and we rewrite it.
• 26:23
  So it is very customized.
• 26:24
  That's why I say we're we're boutique.
• 26:27
  We we have a series, a set of, services that we offer, and we take all those services and we
• 26:34
  put together what's the best plan for you.
• 26:37
  And and truly that plan involves your family.
• 26:40
  I ask, how many kids you have?
• 26:42
  What is your vacation going to be?
• 26:44
  That plan involves your level of anxiety.
• 26:49
  We really have to take those things into account.
• 26:52
  A person's psyche how they feel on any given day, and I ask my clients to be honest with me.
• 26:59
  If you're not up to writing, just say, damn, I'm just not feeling it right now.
• 27:04
  Right.
• 27:04
  And we sit down.
• 27:05
  We talk about it.
• 27:06
  I let them know that they're not alone in that feeling.
• 27:10
  I give them tips on how to get through it.
• 27:13
  I find that walking away from it and doing something that you enjoyed, in my case, is
• 27:19
  taking a bath.
• 27:21
  And that brings the clarity back.
• 27:24
  You tend to to wash off all the other influences and things that are intruding on
• 27:29
  your boss.
• 27:30
  And you bring some clarity back to your work.
• 27:34
  And it's sometimes simple things.
• 27:35
  Right?
• 27:35
  Like, I I'll give you my process.
• 27:37
  Like, for me, I'm like, okay.
• 27:38
  I'm not locking myself in my house ever.
• 27:40
  But I had to do that two times.
• 27:42
  I thought you're not even in this house.
• 27:44
  You know, because I had to get stuff done.
• 27:47
  And once I went to I went away on a vacation and I I was out, and I should have just been in
• 27:52
  the moment.
• 27:53
  I was with friends and with family and with my son, and we were at the lake.
• 27:57
  And I wrote, I swear it's 30 probably twenty pages.
• 28:01
  Yeah.
• 28:01
  And you know what happened?
• 28:03
  It didn't save.
• 28:05
  Oh, my gosh.
• 28:08
  It did not save Deborah.
• 28:10
  And God.
• 28:11
  At that point, I said to myself, I'm getting some I'm giving I'm getting a bigger message
• 28:16
  here.
• 28:17
  You're supposed to be in the moments, close the laptop, and enjoy where you are.
• 28:21
  And I I never retrieved that because, obviously, somewhere along the line in the
• 28:26
  saving, I must have done something, but I I think I was just meant to be present and to
• 28:30
  enjoy where I was at that time.
• 28:32
  And you know, and it was the best thing because obviously I was on vacation and I was trying to
• 28:37
  mix 2 things.
• 28:39
  So, you know, it's so individual.
• 28:41
  You're so right when you say, you know, I was on my own, you know, you know, juggling a lot
• 28:47
  of balls, kinda trying to kinda find my new equilibrium as being a single parent and as,
• 28:53
  separated.
• 28:55
  Mhmm.
• 28:55
  So I had to find that space.
• 28:58
  So I would number my pages.
• 28:59
  Right?
• 28:59
  I would do all the checks.
• 29:00
  Okay.
• 29:01
  I have 35 pages to write.
• 29:03
  So I number the top of my pages.
• 29:05
  Right?
• 29:05
  Or, you know, or I'd write for 10 minutes and then, you know, do something that would be
• 29:10
  completely different.
• 29:12
  Or I would watch, like you said, the prep part of it.
• 29:15
  I would watch, your new YouTubes on the genre that I was gonna write about with no intention,
• 29:23
  but other than just to get my brain going, or sometimes I would just read, you know, research
• 29:29
  or whatever.
• 29:30
  And then I would just sit down and say that I'm gonna I'm gonna knock off this thirty pages and
• 29:34
  sometimes it was easier and sometimes you're right, your head is so full that you can't you
• 29:40
  can't get an if and or but up out of you, even if your life dependent on it.
• 29:44
  And I think then I would just say, okay, it's it's not gonna happen.
• 29:48
  Not not right now.
• 29:49
  It really the writing is a very,
• 29:52
  very personal and emotional process.
• 29:56
  I'm just gonna have to charge here, batteries, doing the the down thing.
• 30:01
  The, You may oh, let me turn it this way.
• 30:05
  Here we go.
• 30:05
  You just gotta charge that.
• 30:09
  The It it it is very, very personal when when you're writing, and you cannot force yourself
• 30:20
  to write.
• 30:22
  That is something you cannot do.
• 30:24
  You cannot force yourself to write.
• 30:27
  Even as an editor, working on a rewrite or a comprehensive edit.
• 30:32
  I'm going through every paragraph and looking at it and seeing ways to enhance it.
• 30:38
  Sometimes my chair will go flying across the room as I push out to get out of it because
• 30:42
  I'm, like, pulling my stars off and I'm uncomfortable.
• 30:46
  It's like, okay.
• 30:47
  You gotta stop now.
• 30:48
  And you will have to understand, again, it's not labor.
• 30:53
  It's a labor of love.
• 30:55
  Mhmm.
• 30:55
  You have to walk away from this complaint and gain that clarity.
• 30:59
  You cannot sit there and force yourself.
• 31:02
  To write.
• 31:03
  Right.
• 31:04
  It's not going to happen.
• 31:05
  Even if from anything, an epidemic, fiction book, you cannot hold yourself to write.
• 31:12
  It will not the word will not be right.
• 31:16
  Mhmm.
• 31:17
  You have to really understand it.
• 31:20
  It's not a process.
• 31:23
  It's not an engineering process.
• 31:25
  You're not detached from writing.
• 31:27
  No matter what you're writing, there's an emotional attachment to it, and you have to
• 31:32
  treat it as such.
• 31:33
  You have to treat it as a that, with the dignity, with the time, and you have to
• 31:38
  understand when it's time to walk away, and when it's time to sit down and keep it all
• 31:42
  afloat.
• 31:43
  So
• 31:45
  it's it's intuitive, really.
• 31:47
  It is.
• 31:47
  It it is you are because you're tapping into your unconscious part of your brain.
• 31:51
  I think it's it like you said, it's a it's not a linear process.
• 31:55
  And sometimes it flows and it it just comes from you.
• 31:58
  And other times, you're trying so hard that you're actually disrupting the flow of it's
• 32:03
  just not there at that moment.
• 32:05
  So you need to go out and do go for a walk or you know, talk to a friend or do something
• 32:10
  different to kind of tap into the other senses.
• 32:13
  Well, these days for me to be shoveling the snow.
• 32:15
  And I've had enough of writing, I go out and I travel with no.
• 32:20
  Right.
• 32:20
  Right.
• 32:21
  And it it really it it sounds silly.
• 32:24
  And it sounds, again, labor, but just getting out to shovel the snow.
• 32:28
  I'm not thinking about words at that time.
• 32:30
  And then I come in, and I'm physically you know, more relaxed.
• 32:35
  I'm not as tense as if I were sitting at my desk.
• 32:38
  I go back and sure enough.
• 32:40
  I never failed.
• 32:43
  Everything flows from there.
• 32:45
  Nice.
• 32:45
  Nice.
• 32:46
  So I want you to, tell people where give them you said you were gonna give people something
• 32:55
  to think about with writing, and I hope that you know, everybody kind of listening that is
• 33:00
  thought that they could write a book that they, this this exercise will at least challenge him.
• 33:06
  I don't care if it's a blog, whether It's a newsletter, whether it's a book, what what what
• 33:11
  is something that you want them to think about?
• 33:15
  I'd like them to know that they can do it, but not to tackle it on your own.
• 33:26
  There are a lot of moving parts, many more than people realize it.
• 33:32
  Again, I go back to family to life, all these things that happen that influence it.
• 33:38
  So if you want to write a book, You've imagined it.
• 33:43
  As I mentioned before, it's time to truly explore it.
• 33:46
  And exploring means speaking to other authors, speaking to publishers, finding out really what
• 33:52
  is involved in writing a book.
• 33:55
  And, with the industry, as I mentioned, being so accepting self publishing that you can get
• 34:02
  yourself out there.
• 34:03
  It's easy.
• 34:04
  And start with something small.
• 34:07
  Start with something small.
• 34:08
  Start with the book that's going to maybe amount to, 300 pages.
• 34:14
  But something small and keep it focused on one topic.
• 34:19
  From there, once you've built your skills, you can move on to book 2 where you can either
• 34:24
  expand on the first topic of book 1 or approach another topic.
• 34:29
  But it's in all it it's really just knowing what you want.
• 34:36
  What is your end goal?
• 34:39
  What do you want out of this book?
• 34:40
  We'll guide you as to where to start and how to continue if you know where do you wanna go with
• 34:47
  it?
• 34:47
  That's good advice, really, really good advice, you know, because my first book is about 250
• 34:52
  pages, and I know I'm in the process of I've had another one that I've I've kind of put
• 34:58
  aside because I'm focusing on a leadership book, and you're so right now it's the the,
• 35:04
  concept of being overwhelmed is not there.
• 35:06
  It's just now it just becomes a process of fitting in into time, right, time and and
• 35:12
  business.
• 35:13
  Like you said, work life balance, all that stuff becomes very key, but the process of
• 35:17
  writing the book is not overwhelming anymore.
• 35:20
  Exactly.
• 35:21
  Exactly.
• 35:21
  And and that's the beauty of it.
• 35:23
  It's just taking that first plunge into that icy water.
• 35:28
  But having a life jacket on and maybe a life ring and someone holding your hand.
• 35:33
  And the next jump in, you're on your own, you're so low.
• 35:37
  You're enjoying it, and that's what it's really all about.
• 35:40
  It writing is such a beautiful and wonderful journey she expressed, what you have in you to
• 35:48
  let the world know what you think, what you feel, motivate people, encouraged people and
• 35:55
  have people realize that they're really not alone that there are millions of other people
• 36:01
  who are sharing their experiences as well.
• 36:04
  I'll be so what I'm interested in is because, when someone comes to you, do you kind of guide
• 36:11
  them into, I whether if whether if they're looking for publishing options, is that
• 36:16
  something that you kinda send them off to resource?
• 36:18
  And can you talk really about the diff you talked a little bit self publishing.
• 36:23
  What's the difference between that and going between that, that, and a normal publisher?
• 36:28
  Okay.
• 36:28
  What happens once your book is completed with us, we refer you on to one of our dedicated
• 36:34
  publishers if you chose to go with that method.
• 36:37
  And then we also will introduce you to, 2 other individuals who can help you monetize your book
• 36:45
  by speaking, another individual who can prep you and teach you the podcasting and everything
• 36:52
  that goes along with your book.
• 36:54
  So you never left high and dry.
• 36:56
  So your book is done, and there are at least 3 more steps that we can that we do introduce you
• 37:01
  to to help you bring that book to the next stage.
• 37:04
  Self publishing is something that we are looking at, offering our clients And that is
• 37:11
  the full layout, getting it up in up onto Amazon, things like that.
• 37:17
  A president, I asked my clients to look into, a publishing house.
• 37:23
  Where they can with the ISBN numbers, they can help you market it, they can help you get it
• 37:29
  directly onto the shelves, the chapter, some things like that.
• 37:32
  Those things are not, I can't do for you at this time.
• 37:35
  So there was always 2 options.
• 37:37
  We go to sub publishing route, or you we refer you on to a dedicated publisher who can help
• 37:43
  you with those areas.
• 37:45
  And that's, you know, but keeping the editing process with us.
• 37:48
  As you all know, there's some publishing houses that will take you from beginning to end, and
• 37:53
  as you did with guiding you and, editing for you and then published you for you.
• 37:59
  A lot of clients are on a budget.
• 38:02
  So sometimes if you offer, what we do, where you you editing one part, then you take the
• 38:08
  other three sections at a later date for timing with where you are, with getting your book
• 38:13
  launched.
• 38:15
  So, for some people, there's a financial component in it, which is one reason they look
• 38:20
  at the process that we offer as well.
• 38:23
  Awesome.
• 38:24
  And I know a lot of people I, actually went with a a hybrid publisher So I own the rights
• 38:30
  to my book, and then what I did is I rereleased it, because I own the rights, under my own
• 38:35
  publishing house name, a year, 2 years later.
• 38:39
  So, I mean, there's so many different things that you can do.
• 38:42
  Now for people looking to to find out more about you, Deborah, if they're interested in,
• 38:49
  just, having a conversation, do you do consultations, and where can people get a hold
• 38:53
  of you to be able to to learn a little bit more about the boutique, firm and and if they're
• 38:58
  look looking at starting to write a book.
• 39:03
  Atcreative Consulting Services.
• 39:06
  Ca.
• 39:08
  If you'd like, you can always call me up.
• 39:10
  I'm always open to having a conversation.
• 39:13
  I'm hearing someone's voice is integral to part the work That's not part of the work to all of
• 39:19
  the work that I do.
• 39:20
  I need your essence.
• 39:21
  I need the tone.
• 39:23
  So by calling me at 289 969-9287.
• 39:28
  We can start the conversation.
• 39:30
  I can get a feel for you.
• 39:31
  You can get a feel for me.
• 39:33
  We can meet a coffee, I have cake, I love cake, and, talk about the next step.
• 39:39
  It's a no pressure approach with us.
• 39:42
  It's all about exploration.
• 39:44
  It's all about timing.
• 39:46
  It's all about when you are ready to start, not when I wanna put you into a queue.
• 39:52
  It's all about when you wanna start.
• 39:54
  So I do invite anyone, listening, and I hope they're people listening.
• 39:59
  If you've imagined it, it's time to explore it,
• 40:02
  and we'll help you write it.
• 40:04
  Wow.
• 40:05
  That see, I should have met you before.
• 40:07
  Way back.
• 40:08
  So, for everyone listening, Deborah, this has been amazing.
• 40:12
  So, you know, going back to what I talk about, which is getting connected to yourself, if you
• 40:17
  have you know, something that you wanna share with the world and you're like scared of the
• 40:24
  process.
• 40:24
  It's in you.
• 40:25
  It's downloading it.
• 40:26
  From your brain onto paper, and someone like, Deborah can help you do that.
• 40:32
  I can tell you when I was writing my book, you know, I got the I all stop.
• 40:36
  What gives me the right to think I can write a book?
• 40:39
  And that self doubt is always there, as you go through it the first time, and then you get it
• 40:43
  done.
• 40:44
  And then you're like, wow.
• 40:46
  I wrote a book.
• 40:47
  So to know that any it's possible for anyone.
• 40:49
  If it's something that's really a passion for you, you can do it.
• 40:53
  Just get get connected authentically to that intuitive space within yourself and then,
• 40:59
  connect with someone like Deborah start the process.
• 41:03
  And I can tell you from me, and what it has done in my life, it has been an amazing,
• 41:09
  process knowing that a lot of people that I've touched their lives with my book and, that I
• 41:14
  continue to be able to reach out with the with the messages speaking and training from the
• 41:20
  book today.
• 41:21
  So thank you again for tuning in.
• 41:23
  Thanks for being here, Deborah, and and, you know, we'll we'll talk connect with any
• 41:29
  everyone.
• 41:29
  If you're needing more information on me, you can go to roxanderhodge.com.
• 41:35
  I I'm a mental health and wellness specialist and keynote and a trainer.
• 41:39
  So take care everyone, and we'll chat with you soon.
• 41:42
  Take care, Deborah.
• 41:43
  Thank you.
• 41:44
  Bye bye.
• 41:44
  Bye.
• 41:46
  Thanks for tuning in to authentic living with Roxanne, creating the space for positive
• 41:51
  healthy chain.
• 41:52
  Roxanne is a keynote speaker, psychotherapist, and coach to work with Roxanne, visit Roxanne
• 41:59
  Derhodge dotcom/blueprint.
• 42:03
  We'll see you next time.
• 42:04
  An authentic living with Roxanne.