I wrote “what’s the boldest thing you have to say?” at the top of my book proposal a few months ago after reading one of your posts. This has been such a helpful guiding question.
Two things help me find the thread in my writing: 1) pressing in to the thing I most resist or feel afraid to express, and 2) sharing my work with others and listening to their impressions. A dear friend recently read my query letter and positioning statements and could immediately tell which of my themes was the strongest. 🧡
I loved your prompts, and the one about differentiating between the work's aboutness and its illustrative elements was particularly helpful to me! I do all of my writing longhand (it slows me down enough to think) and when I'm stuck, I just start a new paragraph with "What I'm really trying to say is..." or "What I really want to know is..." and see where that leads me.
I also want to say that it was very encouraging to read that it took you three years of writing and revising to get to the center of its aboutness! I tend to think I should know everything right away and forget that writing well is a long process.
"What is the boldest statement you have to make?" What a great question! I'll be pondering this, as well as the rest of the tips you mention here, as I keep working to find the "aboutness" of my next book.
I wrote “what’s the boldest thing you have to say?” at the top of my book proposal a few months ago after reading one of your posts. This has been such a helpful guiding question.
Two things help me find the thread in my writing: 1) pressing in to the thing I most resist or feel afraid to express, and 2) sharing my work with others and listening to their impressions. A dear friend recently read my query letter and positioning statements and could immediately tell which of my themes was the strongest. 🧡
I loved your prompts, and the one about differentiating between the work's aboutness and its illustrative elements was particularly helpful to me! I do all of my writing longhand (it slows me down enough to think) and when I'm stuck, I just start a new paragraph with "What I'm really trying to say is..." or "What I really want to know is..." and see where that leads me.
I also want to say that it was very encouraging to read that it took you three years of writing and revising to get to the center of its aboutness! I tend to think I should know everything right away and forget that writing well is a long process.
This was the article I needed after a week of “I have nothing to say or offer.” Thank you! ❤️
So good. This is definitely my struggle and I am grateful for your wisdom.
Thank you for putting a noun to my struggle - Aboutness. So encouraging my doubt and "circling is not aimless!"
"What is the boldest statement you have to make?" What a great question! I'll be pondering this, as well as the rest of the tips you mention here, as I keep working to find the "aboutness" of my next book.