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Case Study: How I Chose My Next Book Project · The Daily Writer

• 0:19
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome everybody to the Born to Create Podcast.
• 0:22
  SPEAKER_00: My name is Kent Sanders, and I'm your host.
• 0:24
  SPEAKER_00: I'm an author, musician, and teacher.
• 0:27
  SPEAKER_00: But most importantly, I'm a husband and a dad.
• 0:30
  SPEAKER_00: Here on the show, we talk about practices, habits, and strategies that help us live out our creative calling.
• 0:37
  SPEAKER_00: This is episode 31, and today we're going to be talking about a case study on how I chose my next book project.
• 0:44
  SPEAKER_00: You can find the post that accompanies this episode, as well as all the links at Kent Sanders.net slash bookcase study.
• 0:54
  SPEAKER_00: Before we get into the content of today's show, I want to invite you to send in your questions on creativity, productivity, art, or writing.
• 1:03
  SPEAKER_00: And I'll answer those questions here on the podcast as well as on my blog.
• 1:07
  SPEAKER_00: You can send me an email at Kent at KentSanders.net, or you can shoot me a message on Facebook or Twitter at simply Kent Sanders.
• 1:16
  SPEAKER_00: Now let's dive in.
• 1:18
  SPEAKER_00: In the previous episode, I outlined four questions that you can use to help decide what creative projects to pursue.
• 1:25
  SPEAKER_00: These questions are kind of like filters to keep you focused on the right projects, and they also help you avoid the ones that are dead ends.
• 1:33
  SPEAKER_00: In this episode, I'll walk through a case study describing how I used these questions recently to choose my next major creative project, which is a book, and I'll share what the book is about, where the idea came from, and how it passed, quote unquote, the filters of these four questions.
• 1:49
  SPEAKER_00: So again, these four questions are kind of like criteria to help you decide what your creative projects should be.
• 1:57
  SPEAKER_00: Question number one is what are you passionate about?
• 2:00
  SPEAKER_00: Question two is what will help you achieve your goals?
• 2:04
  SPEAKER_00: Question three is what will help other people.
• 2:06
  SPEAKER_00: And question four is what is my audience asking for.
• 2:11
  SPEAKER_00: So let me start out by sharing a little bit about my next book so you have some background on it.
• 2:16
  SPEAKER_00: It's called Born to Create, and it's a parable that teaches what I call the five cups of creativity.
• 2:22
  SPEAKER_00: And the five cups are clarity, consistency, confidence, community, and curiosity.
• 2:29
  SPEAKER_00: In this book, I'm using the parable format, which is really a very simple story designed to teach some type of principles.
• 2:36
  SPEAKER_00: Now, of course, we're familiar with what parables are because Jesus taught a lot of parables in the Bible.
• 2:42
  SPEAKER_00: And if you've read the Bible at all, you know that a parable is just a really short story designed to teach a principle.
• 2:48
  SPEAKER_00: And it's kind of the same way with modern-day parables.
• 2:50
  SPEAKER_00: You see a lot of business books that are designed as parables where they're teaching some basic principles about something.
• 2:57
  SPEAKER_00: For instance, there's the One Minute Manager, uh, the book The Go Giver, The Five Dysfunctions of a Team, and there's many, many other business parables out there.
• 3:06
  SPEAKER_00: And those books are great because they're fun to read and they can teach material in a simple, digestible format.
• 3:14
  SPEAKER_00: Now, my book, Born to Create, again, this is the one I'm currently working on.
• 3:18
  SPEAKER_00: This book has gone through several different iterations over the last couple of years.
• 3:22
  SPEAKER_00: It actually started out as a nonfiction book, which I called The Seven Deadly Sins of an Artist.
• 3:28
  SPEAKER_00: And this book was going to deal with seven negative habits that hold back creatives.
• 3:33
  SPEAKER_00: Then I realized, after several months of kind of thinking about this and planning it, that the title was terrible.
• 3:40
  SPEAKER_00: You know, who's who's going to buy a book called The Seven Deadly Sins of an Artist?
• 3:44
  SPEAKER_00: Who's going to walk into a bookstore or, you know, carry that book around with him because it automatically has a negative vibe to it?
• 3:50
  SPEAKER_00: So again, I realized that was probably a really dumb title, but it took me a while to realize that.
• 3:55
  SPEAKER_00: And I realized I needed to approach this topic not from a negative perspective, but from a positive one.
• 4:02
  SPEAKER_00: So this book, The Seven Deadly Sins of an Artist, morphed into a book called The Creative Catalyst, which focused on the qualities of a successful artist.
• 4:11
  SPEAKER_00: Again, it was kind of like the mirror image of the Seven Deadly Sins idea, but this was focusing on positive qualities of a successful artist.
• 4:20
  SPEAKER_00: But then something really interesting happened about a year ago.
• 4:23
  SPEAKER_00: I started writing the podcast show notes for Bob Berg's Go Giver podcast.
• 4:28
  SPEAKER_00: And because I was doing that, I read his book called The Go-Giver, naturally.
• 4:33
  SPEAKER_00: And Bob co-authored this book with John David Mann.
• 4:36
  SPEAKER_00: And I really want to recommend this book to you because it's super, super great.
• 4:39
  SPEAKER_00: It's really fun.
• 4:40
  SPEAKER_00: It's a short read and just a great story.
• 4:42
  SPEAKER_00: So I read the book and I loved it.
• 4:45
  SPEAKER_00: And that really became a turning point for me because I realized I wanted to write this book in that format as well, where it's telling a story and teaching these principles.
• 4:55
  SPEAKER_00: However, I wasn't really happy with my title, which was The Creative Catalyst.
• 5:00
  SPEAKER_00: And all of a sudden, I remembered a line that I used when I closed out my old podcast, which was called The Artist Suitcase.
• 5:07
  SPEAKER_00: And the last line was, You were born to create and designed to make a difference.
• 5:12
  SPEAKER_00: And I was thinking about that, and it just dawned on me that I loved this phrase, born to create.
• 5:17
  SPEAKER_00: And by the way, I still use that line in this podcast as well because I love it so much.
• 5:22
  SPEAKER_00: So when I was thinking through what this book title was going to be, that phrase born to create dawned on me, and I knew that that was going to be the title of this new book.
• 5:33
  SPEAKER_00: So I settled on that title for several reasons.
• 5:35
  SPEAKER_00: Number one, I think Born to Create is kind of catchy and memorable.
• 5:40
  SPEAKER_00: Number two, I think it communicates really well my overall philosophy that we're all born to create.
• 5:47
  SPEAKER_00: So for me, a key verse in the Bible is Ephesians 2.10, where it talks about the fact that we are God's workmanship.
• 5:53
  SPEAKER_00: We were created to do good works.
• 5:56
  SPEAKER_00: Third, I liked this title because it really summarized the thrust of the story that I had in mind really well.
• 6:03
  SPEAKER_00: And then number four, I like the title Born to Create because it could easily tie into other related items, like a podcast.
• 6:11
  SPEAKER_00: You know, for instance, the podcast you're listening to now is called Born to Create.
• 6:15
  SPEAKER_00: It could tie into a Facebook community, which I've already set up and had going for several months.
• 6:19
  SPEAKER_00: It could tie into an online course or a conference or whatever else I wanted to put together.
• 6:25
  SPEAKER_00: And really, I I launched the Facebook group and this podcast as not just like as a branding marketing thing, you know, just for the sake of marketing something, but really as a way to create awareness of what Born to Create was all about and also to kind of pave the way for what eventually would come out as the Born to Create book.
• 6:45
  SPEAKER_00: So, in other words, as I'm telling you the story, just uh, you know, an important thing to realize is that several unrelated ideas came together to form what the current book is going to be.
• 6:55
  SPEAKER_00: So you have my love of storytelling and movies, uh, and that plays a key role in the story.
• 7:01
  SPEAKER_00: I had a line from my old podcast, which I considered a failure because it only ran for 37 episodes.
• 7:07
  SPEAKER_00: But out of that failed podcast came, you know, this current podcast and also the Born to Create idea or the concept.
• 7:15
  SPEAKER_00: And also I had inspiration from the Go Giver book and other business parables like it.
• 7:20
  SPEAKER_00: So to me, it's really interesting that all of these disparate things came together to create what I'm currently working on.
• 7:30
  SPEAKER_00: And it only came together after I had already thought through a couple different versions of the book.
• 7:36
  SPEAKER_00: So, what's my point in telling you all this background of the book?
• 7:39
  SPEAKER_00: It's really to illustrate that, at least in this case, but I think this is the case with a lot of book projects in general, things can go a lot of different directions before you settle on the final concept.
• 7:50
  SPEAKER_00: But that's okay because that's simply part of the overall creative process.
• 7:55
  SPEAKER_00: So earlier in this episode, I mentioned four questions that can help you decide what creative projects to pursue.
• 8:02
  SPEAKER_00: And as I was working on the ideas for this book, Born to Create, here's how the book idea passed through each of these four filters, or these four criteria, if you will.
• 8:12
  SPEAKER_00: And I have reframed these as questions that can apply specifically to this book.
• 8:17
  SPEAKER_00: Question one is Does the book align with my passions?
• 8:21
  SPEAKER_00: And the answer is absolutely it does.
• 8:24
  SPEAKER_00: I am passionate about creativity, the arts, storytelling, movies, and productivity.
• 8:30
  SPEAKER_00: I'm also passionate about teaching other people and helping them overcome their creative barriers.
• 8:35
  SPEAKER_00: So this book, this story, brings together all those things kind of into one deal.
• 8:41
  SPEAKER_00: Number two, will the book help me achieve my goals?
• 8:45
  SPEAKER_00: So my major goals include teaching and helping people, growing my audience, and also growing my income, hopefully as a result of that.
• 8:52
  SPEAKER_00: And the book will accomplish all those things.
• 8:55
  SPEAKER_00: At least that's what I'm hoping.
• 8:57
  SPEAKER_00: Number three, will the book help other people?
• 9:00
  SPEAKER_00: And the answer is I definitely hope so.
• 9:03
  SPEAKER_00: The concepts in the book will address several themes and issues that I've written about quite a bit, and they're themes that people have responded to pretty well.
• 9:12
  SPEAKER_00: So I've test driven the story with probably a couple dozen people.
• 9:16
  SPEAKER_00: In other words, I've explained to them what the story is, what I'm teaching, kind of the whole point of it.
• 9:21
  SPEAKER_00: And without fail, people have responded very, very well to this story.
• 9:25
  SPEAKER_00: So as I've shared this with people and gotten feedback on it, the response has been super good.
• 9:30
  SPEAKER_00: So that's definitely helped to push me forward on this project.
• 9:35
  SPEAKER_00: So, you know, with the question, will the book help other people?
• 9:38
  SPEAKER_00: There's another thing to consider as well.
• 9:40
  SPEAKER_00: You know, I want the book to be helpful.
• 9:42
  SPEAKER_00: I want it to have good content and all that stuff, but also it's really important to me that the book be fun to read, that it be enjoyable and creative.
• 9:51
  SPEAKER_00: What I find really ironic is that a lot of books on creativity and art are actually really, really boring to read.
• 9:57
  SPEAKER_00: And I don't know why that's the case, but it's like, here we're talking about you know creativity, but this book is really boring.
• 10:04
  SPEAKER_00: So I wanted to do something different and use a parable type of format because I think that's a really enjoyable way to digest content.
• 10:13
  SPEAKER_00: Now it'll be up to the reader to decide whether or not the book is actually fun to read and whether they enjoyed it, but I'm gonna give it my best shot.
• 10:20
  SPEAKER_00: And finally, question number four is Has my audience asked for this book?
• 10:26
  SPEAKER_00: Now, obviously, nobody has asked for this specific book because you know it doesn't work that way.
• 10:32
  SPEAKER_00: People don't usually ask you for a book and then you write the book.
• 10:35
  SPEAKER_00: Usually you have a concept for a book and then you sort of test drive it and then you write it, and then people will like it or they won't.
• 10:41
  SPEAKER_00: However, even though nobody has asked specifically for this exact book, I know that most of my audience loves movies, productivity, and creativity and stories.
• 10:52
  SPEAKER_00: So I wanted to find a way to blend all those things that they love into one book concept.
• 10:58
  SPEAKER_00: So those are the four questions and how this book, Born to Create, has passed through all those filters, if you will.
• 11:05
  SPEAKER_00: And, you know, I've thought about these four criteria and how the book meets all those criteria.
• 11:11
  SPEAKER_00: So I hope this case study has been helpful to you on some level.
• 11:15
  SPEAKER_00: You know, honestly, there's part of me that thinks, who's going to be interested in all this arcane information about how I came up with this book idea?
• 11:22
  SPEAKER_00: But another part of me thinks, you know, a lot of people are stuck at a roadblock trying to decide what to tackle next.
• 11:29
  SPEAKER_00: So hopefully my uh wandering and meandering thoughts have been helpful to some people on some level.
• 11:36
  SPEAKER_00: I really think these four questions that we've talked about on this episode will help you decide what creative projects to focus on.
• 11:43
  SPEAKER_00: But here's the deal: after you decide what to work on, you have to actually get to work.
• 11:49
  SPEAKER_00: Creativity is a process, and oftentimes a project goes through a lot of different versions or phases before it takes its final shape.
• 11:56
  SPEAKER_00: So don't quit, don't give up.
• 11:58
  SPEAKER_00: The journey is totally worth the destination.
• 12:02
  SPEAKER_00: So let me hear from you.
• 12:03
  SPEAKER_00: What is your next creative project?
• 12:06
  SPEAKER_00: I'd love to hear your thoughts.
• 12:08
  SPEAKER_00: You can join the conversation and find the post and the links that accompany this episode at KentSanders.net slash bookcase study.
• 12:17
  SPEAKER_00: When you visit my site, you'll find all kinds of great resources to inspire your creativity.
• 12:22
  SPEAKER_00: I'd also love to share a gift with you when you subscribe to my newsletter.
• 12:26
  SPEAKER_00: You can check it out and learn more about my books, writing, and services at KentSanders.net.
• 12:32
  SPEAKER_00: I'd love to connect and you can tweet me at Kent Sanders, or you can find me on Facebook and Instagram at SimplyKentSanders.
• 12:39
  SPEAKER_00: I hope that you'll also check out our Born to Create Facebook group by visiting KentSanders.net slash Facebook group.
• 12:47
  SPEAKER_00: Until next time, remember that you were born to create and designed to make a difference.
• 12:53
  SPEAKER_00: What will you do with the time you have left?