Are You Giving Away Your Book-Writing Power?
There are a great many tools that writers use in our work — whether it’s a laptop computer, software such as Scrivener, or a methodology to help us structure and design out work such as my Inside Outline planning tool for novelists — but while it’s easy to see that the computer you use doesn’t matter to the end product you produce, it’s sometimes hard to see that the methodologies we employ are just tools, as well.
The other day, I gave a webinar on the Inside Outline, and in the Q&As afterward, I could feel a sort of panic about getting the tool right. There was a sense from the writers that if they could just correctly apply this tool to their work, there would be no more questions, no more wondering, no more frustration.
These writers were giving away their power to this tool and to me, the expert who created it — both of which won’t serve them in the long run.
A Writing Tool is Like a Hammer
I have some strict rules about how to use the Inside Outline to be sure, but these rules are meant to make the tool useful and effective. They are akin to the kinds of rules you might hear for using a tool like a hammer — i.e. hold the wooden shaft, hit the nail squarely on the head. How you actually apply the tool to your own project — whether you use the hammer to build a boat or a house or a table or a bookshelf, or whether you choose instead to use glue or screws to help you create your project — is completely up to you, and depends on your goals and your passions and your approach and your style.
Writing tools are, in fact, just tools. They are not magic bullets. They may make things easier and more efficient to be sure, but they don’t excuse you from having to do the work. They won’t save you from taking a wrong turn or making a mistake. They won’t guarantee you any results.
Publishing itself is, in fact, just a tool that helps you more efficiently connect with readers. It makes no difference to the quality or your book or the power of your reader’s experience if you publish with Penguin or you publish on your own. How you publish is just another tool that you employ to achieve the goal — which is to write a book that engages and moves your readers.
Use the Tools, But Rely on Yourself
I follow a doctor by the name of Kelly Brogan. She works to help women with depression and anxiety to free themselves from dependence on pharmaceuticals. She is a traditionally trained MD, but she happens to not believe in traditional medicine for this particular situation. I came into her universe because as a long-time chronic migraine sufferer, I use a lot of alternative therapies to help me manage my condition. I continued to follow her because I love the authentic way she shows up for her audience, and I seek to emulate that. I like learning from people in different industries. Dr. Brogan just released a book, and I will be adopting many of the same marketing methods she has employed when I release mine in January (Read Books All Day and Get Paid for It: The Business of Book Coaching) because I love how generous she was, and how authentic.
The reason I bring her up is that she has a strong belief that the women she is seeking to help need to first stop relying on other people to be the expert in their own health. She urges women to be their own expert. Yes, you might turn to a doctor or a variety of other healthcare providers, but at the end of the day, you are in charge of your health.
There is no one tool that will make the book writing process magically better
I think this same message can be applied to book writers.
There is no expert who has all the answers.
There is no one tool that will make the book writing process magically better, easier, and less painful.
You have to learn to trust yourself. You have to learn how to hear your voice, envision your story, and find a way to get your thoughts on the page. At the risk of sounding like a broken record, this is why I think coaching is so effective; you get accountability, feedback, and guidance, but it’s all in service of helping you find your voice and your story. The goal of a good book coach is to make ourselves obsolete — to help the writer come into their own power.
Any tool you encounter might be a tool you like and adopt, and use, and come to believe in. But you still need to figure out how best to wield that tool, how to use it in service of what you want to create.
I love that there are so many fans of the Inside Outline, and people who are becoming evangelists for it (I’m looking at you KJ Dell’Antonia and Alison Hammer. Thank you for spreading the word!). I love that it works for so many writers and frees them from the extremes of pantsing or plotting. I love that people say, “This saved me!” and “I GET it now” and “WOW!”
But it’s just a tool, no different from a hammer.
Pick it up and swing it and see if it helps you do what you want to do.
Follow the rules I set out because they will lead you to the most effective way to use the tool, but allow the tool to be what you need it to be. Break the rules if that works better for you.
And no matter what, put your faith in your own powers.
Put your faith in your own ability to write the book that is in your head.
