Don’t have time to write a book? In this video I’m going to turn the tables on everything you thought you knew about writing a book. So stick around.
Hey everybody, Keith Wheeler here, and if you want to continue to get all of the hints, tips and tricks on how to make self-publishing easier to understand, then be sure to subscribe to my YouTube channeland hit the little bell icon so you can get alerted each and every time I put out new content.
I truly believe that every human being from 7 to 107 has a book inside them waiting to be released. But, when I ask people “where’s your book?” The most common response I get is “I Don’t have time to write a book”. Well today I’m going to show you how to redefine what it means to “Have time to write a book”. I’m going to break it down into 3 simple parts.
Number 1 – Redefining “a book”
To be an author you don’t have to have a book that’s 100k words. Obviously, you can. But here in the digital times we live, you can create a book that’s much shorter. In fact, Amazon has an entire section devoted to what are called Kindle Short Reads. A Kindle short read can be as little as 1 page. Let me say that again, you can create a book that is only 1 page long. The Kindle Short Reads section is categorized based on read time and page count. The groups are:
15 mins which is 1-11 pages
30 mins(12-21 pages)
45 mins(22-32 pages)
one hour(33-43 pages)
90 mins(44-64 pagers)
Two hours or more(65-100 pages)
Now I know that was a lot of numbers. But I didn’t recite those off to overwhelm but to encourage you that just by redefining, what a BOOK is, you open up your mind to the possibilities.
Number 2 – Redefining “to write”
Next we need to address the concept of writing. Gone are the days where we HAD to use pen and paper to jot down our manuscripts. While, I still do use pen and paper to write down ideas or even to plot out some of my books, it’s now a matter of preference and not a necessity. Technically you don’t even need to use a laptop.
You can write a book completely using a notepad type app on your smart phone. There are numerous free text based apps that you can find for the specific smartphone you have. People have gotten so efficient at texting that for some, it’s quicker to type on a cell phone in a notepad app than typing on a laptop.
But what if I told you, that you could write a book without even writing or typing a word? That’s right. You can use an audio recorder app on your phone and dictate your entire manuscript into that. Then you can turn around and use a transcription app to transcribe your audio files. While you may have to go back and edit the results, that’s future you’s problem. The important part is that the rough draft is written.
Number 3 – Redefining “time”
I’ve heard some authors say that you need to just find the time to write or make the time to write. I completely disagree with both of these philosophies. First, to me, “finding the time” means you’ve got free time, so find it and use it to write a book. I have a full-time job, a wife and 4 kids, I don’t have free time to find. The other statement of make the time to write irritates me even more. As if to say that if it’s important to me I’d make time to write. Hogwash. I love writing books but I don’t make time to write, I make time for my family. I make time for my friends.
So how do I write books, I recycle time. I multitask. Remember what I said about redefining what it means to write? Use that to help recycle time. For example: if you have infants or toddlers, they probably have naptime. Now I know that naptime for them usually means, cleaning, making bottles or doing laundry for you, and that’s fine. But while you’re doing those things, why not turn on the audio app on your phone and dictate your book. It doesn’t have to be perfect and it doesn’t have to be the whole thing in one sitting. Just snippets will work fine. Just get it out of your head and onto the recording. To make it even easier on you, hook up some headphones and then put the phone in your back pocket for a more hands-free experience. Plus there’s less chance of the phone falling into the sink when you’re washing bottles.
Now, if you have older children who don’t take naps then I completely feel your pain. I know what it’s like to feel like the only place you can get some alone time is when you’re hiding out in the bathroom. Don’t worry, I can help you there too. Chances are you have your phone with you anyway, so close facebook and candy crush and open up your notepad app and start writing. You probably don’t want to use audio for this as talk to yourself while in the restroom might sound weird. Besides if you’re hiding, talking will give you away.
What about instead of singing in the shower, you “wrote” in the shower. Just turn on the audio app, put it on the counter and then dictate your book that way. Again, a little at a time is fine. Just label the files accordingly so they’re easier to organize later. I also suggest emailing the files to yourself. This way if something happens to your phone, you still have the files available else where.
Well there you have it. Just by tweaking your definitions a little bit you can turn the phrase I don’t have time to write a book into I wrote a book in no time.