What Makes a Writer

By Sophfronia Scott

Lately I’ve been thinking about what makes a writer. I get emails with questions about how to put a manuscript together or what to put into a query letter or how to get editing services.

But I hear very little about the writing itself. Sometimes I get questions I can’t answer because I need to know more about what the person has written so far. When I ask, nine times out of ten the person has written little or nothing. They’re out there putting the proverbial cart before the horse.

Please don’t forget: whatever your book, whatever you want to create, you must address the writing. Maybe your book is fiction, maybe it’s non-fiction. Maybe you know you can’t write a word—and that’s good too! At least you know your first task is to find someone to get your ideas down on paper for you.

But one way or another, your book must be written before anything can happen. (If you’re seeking to get published traditionally, you’ll have to write a book proposal, not the whole book, but even then you need to submit sample chapters.) Nothing else matters at this point. I encourage you to find the writer in you. What makes a writer? Well, here’s the list I came up with. I’ll add to it as time goes on. Let me know what you think should be on the list!

1.    Knowing you must finish what you write. Not finishing guarantees you won’t publish.
2.    The desire to read as much as you can so you’re constantly learning what’s possible with language.
3.    Knowing there’s a world of potential in what you’re about to write.
4.    Understanding the magic is in the details–and a detail is more than just naming the brand of a car or a shirt.
5.    Understanding this is a craft and the editor is not the bad guy (or girl).
6.    There’s a story inside of you dying to get out–and you know you’ll absolutely love it when it’s done.
7.    Knowing the work is good because you made someone feel something, not just because someone told you it was good.
8.    Knowing that re-writing is just as much a part of your job as writing.
9.    Understanding that words are magic and a willingness to strive to find the right ones.
10. The ability to trust that you can create something new and bring amazing work into the world.
11. The desire for that moment of connection when the reader sees in your work a feeling they didn’t have words for before.
12. Awareness & recognition of moments of grace, beauty & horror, and the desire to render them in print.

© 2010 Sophfronia Scott

Sophfronia Scott is Executive Editor of the Done For You Writing & Publishing Company. Learn what a difference being a published author can make for your business. Get your FREE audio CD, “How to Succeed in Business By Becoming a Bestselling Author” and your FREE online writing and book publishing tips at www.DoneForYouWriting.com.

Which Comes First, Your Book or Your Business?

By Sophfronia Scott

It's sort of like that chicken or the egg question: which do you work on first, your book or your business? Should you write a book first and then develop a business when you start attracting attention? Or should you build your business up first and then write a book as the biggest, tastiest piece of your marketing pie? It's the kind of pondering that can put a well-meaning entrepreneur into the overwhelm zone--and neither the book nor the business move forward! Here's the problem with this kind of thinking: it assumes that the book is a separate project from your business, when really the two can be developed together. Here's how you can easily fit a book into your business strategy.

What Will Be Your Focus?

Let's look at your business going forward in the next 6-12 months. Is there a particular area, subject or service you would like to introduce or highlight in a new way? Perhaps you've been coaching on business success and you want to start a coaching program around marketing to women or you sell a product that teaches how to write copy, but you want to start teaching it live as a bootcamp. What exactly is it you want to bring to your business and what kind of results do you want to see from the effort?

What Do You Want People to Do?

Now let's pretend someone on the street has just heard about your new offering. What would you want them to do next? Go to your website to learn more? Attend a free public seminar? Call or email you? Think of all the different "next steps" that could be possible for a person who comes across your information. Write out these steps as if they were on a map that leads the person right to you or, more specifically, into the top of your product funnel. These steps might be simple such as going to your website for a tool or a report. Or they could be a little more complicated, like having them fax in a request for seminar tickets. I like to have a sprinkling of both kinds--it can help you gauge the quality of your prospect.

Plan Your Book Accordingly and Launch It

Fortunately for you, you don't have to wait for someone on the street to tell someone else about your business and your new offering--you are writing a book. And all of those different ways you want people to come back to you, to make contact? They will be placed in the book as your calls to action. Your book will also highlight your knowledge and expertise with the subject you've chosen, be it marketing to women or how to hire the best people. It would also mention all the new business offerings in this area. Once you have written and launched the book, you can promote the book. And here's the magic of this: it looks like you're promoting this one book, but you're really selling all that other stuff you have going on that's connected to the book: your paid newsletter, your workshops, your coaching programs, your contests, your products. How are you doing that? It's all in the book!

The great thing about this book-and-business strategy is that it can be repeated again and with different subject matter and different offerings. Successful entrepreneurs such as Jack Canfield, Robert Kiyosaki and Donald Trump have been doing this for ages. Isn't it time for you to get the word out--and make a profit as well?

© 2008 Sophfronia Scott

Sophfronia Scott is Executive Editor of the Done For You Writing & Publishing Company. Learn what a difference being a published author can make for your business. Get your FREE audio CD, "How to Succeed in Business By Becoming a Bestselling Author" and your FREE online writing and book publishing tips at www.DoneForYouWriting.com.