2024W44: Getting Prepared to Write a Book

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I enjoy documenting things so I can look back and see the change, the learning, the growth. And I’m about to jump into something SO BIG (to me) that even before I’ve started the task, I’m documenting: in November, I’m co-hosting a nonfiction writing challenge. The point is to write toward one nonfiction project for at least one hour a day, for 30 days.

Without knowing it sooner, it turns out that I may end up with a completed manuscript at the end of this. I’m aiming for a mini-book of 100 pages or less, which equates to 25,000 words. If I write 1,000 words a day, I will end the month with 30,000 words.

The next mystery to be revealed starting Nov 1 is how many words I can write in an hour. I may need more than an hour a day to write 1,000 words.

I’ve also constructed a few guidelines for myself, so that I can make the most of this dedicated writing time…

  1. Fill the entire outline before overthinking the outline.
    It would be just like me to keep changing the outline before I start writing. Definitely can’t do that this time.

  2. Write in November. Don’t edit till December.
    I must resist the urge to “review” what I have written until it’s all out of my brain. This has led to me second guessing, changing direction, and occasionally not finishing a project in the past. Can’t do it this time!

  3. Write as early in the day as possible.
    My brain hits a total wall at like 9pm, and occasionally earlier. If I don’t make time to write during the work day, I might not have the mental energy to write for an entire hour.

These are mainly based on personal tendencies that keep me from finishing things, so I hope these will keep me focused and directional! For those of you who have finished manuscripts: Am I missing anything?

If you have a nonfiction thing you want to write in November, join us/forms.gle/8nq6vZJsi8JmD85q6! There are only two days left before we close registration and start writing!

2024W43: Preparing for NNWC 2024

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Hi friends, if you’re joining November Nonfiction Writing Challenge 2024, the time to prepare is right now! Here are a few books and other resources that have helped me get ready…

Blueprint for a Nonfiction Book by Jennie Nash

What a breath of fresh air this book is! The first half is about writing nonfiction, from a writing coach’s no-nonsense perspective. I can just feel her “get it done” energy coming off the pages. Very motivating! The second half is about pitching the book to a publisher, if you want to go that route. I probably won’t, so I have not finished that section yet.

Write Useful Books by Rob Fitzpatrick

I didn’t realize when I read this book that I had also read the same author’s prior book on writing workshops! Similarly, I found Write Useful Books to be very simple, practical, and action-oriented. Lots of book-writing advice includes identifying your ideal reader, but Fitzpatrick takes it further with a really neat idea of soliciting feedback from your ideal readers while you are writing. Of course, this will take time and the calling in of lots of favors. But seems like it could be ever worth it. Also, this is really geared toward self-published books and Fitzpatrick tells you why.

Mini Book Model by Chris Stanley

I purchased and downloaded this title on publication day, totally on a whim. There are some useful simplifications of the form of mini books, and other good ideas. However, I’m not sure how I feel about blatantly ripping off cover designs of books in the same space. Also, a mini book according to this author is literally one level deeper than an outline. But if you are someone who has felt overwhelmed by “writing a book,” I think this book provides a very accessible (and scalable) approach.

My Day in Small Drawings by Matilda Tristram

I wanted to include at least one title that incorporates drawing and illustration with writing. The context of this book is more about daily journaling with drawing, rather than writing and illustrating nonfiction books, but I found it helpful regardless.

Everybody Writes by Ann Handley

I found this book super helpful and encouraging when I read it 10 years ago, for blog writing. It’s been updated since, though I do not have and have not read the updated version.


On Writing Well by William Zinsser

This book is a classic for a reason! It was recommended to me for a job many years ago, when I needed to write technical white papers. I was blown away then and on re-read in the years since, it still blows me away. I may try to get in another power read before November 1!

2024W35: I Turned 50!

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I’m writing this update now a week late. If I’d posted on time, last Monday, I would still have been 49. But the past few weeks have been hectic, as I added a few shenanigans and hijinks to celebrate my 50th birthday. It’s been a perfect time for reflection and renewal and I am grateful for the most amazing family, friends, and professional relationships.

I’ll spend the next two weeks very much in preparation mode: for a new virtual workshop that I’ve facilitated many times in person but never virtually; for a busy travel and work period over the next two months; and for 2025 planning. Yep, it’s already that time. I’m trying to do less of the big annual stuff and more of the 12-week year vibe, but that will take some mental shifting in small doses over a long period of time.

But the Hononichi Techo line for 2025 is out and I am trying to decide if I will extend the now-2-month personal challenge to hand letter a piece every morning, not just through the end of 2024, but through 2025. And then I need to decide if I want 6 months in a book or 12 months in a book, and whether I will stick with the smaller A6 size or try the larger A5. Did I mention some of the new illustrated covers are delightful? So many decisions!

This is my profile pic for all my social media accounts for the next 10 years.

2024W32: Writing a Keynote Speech

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I mentioned last week that I’ve been in a program to learn how to build a keynote speaking part of my business. I finish the program in November, but I got an invitation to keynote next week, at the Keller Williams Young Professionals Advance event!

I’ve had two coaches weigh in on my talk-in-progress, and my third and final coaching call in preparation for this talk is tomorrow. So far, I’ve had some useful take-aways:

  1. I’ve been public speaking at workshops for so long that my natural style is to speak at the strategic and tactical levels. It’s taking a lot of focus to stay broad and big-picture.

  2. Stories bring a significant amount of value to keynotes. I’ve pressured myself to populate my talk with specific (and true, obviously) stories that are profound and meaningful, but you can also tell compelling stories about culture and society and ideas themselves.

  3. I’ve never had to be so purposeful about humor. I think I’m pretty good at finding humor in the moment, rather spontaneously. But maybe only 5% of a keynote is spontaneous. You have to know you are hitting all your points in a specific time frame, so there isn’t a lot of riffing to be done. This is also strange and new and terrifying!

What is life, if not embracing the strange and new and terrifying?

I’m including a picture from the Pop Cats Austin show last weekend. I was so lucky my friend Lisa Teichner invited me! We had a great time.

Antoinette poses on the floor at the Pop Cats Austin show with a basket of fake catnip.

2024W31: Exploring Different Aspects of My Voice

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I’m finishing my third month of a seven month structured program to build part of my business that will offer keynote speaking. This is very different for me than workshop speaking, and it is requiring big stretches and great leaps of faith. 😅 My workshop approach and voice are pretty refined after 20+ years! Everything about workshops feels natural to me, from how I prepare to what I say, not to mention the heavy emphasis on strategy and tactics, with the ultimate goal of action.

Keynotes however? They exist on a different plane from workshops, and focus on the big picture. I’ve spoken in that big picture, visionary way for a few minutes at a time, usually during the facilitated sections of workshops, while responding to something that’s come up organically in conversation. It’s a big change to fill 45 minutes this way, all planned, totally uninterrupted. No questions the audience answers out loud, no verbal interaction.

I’m glad I have a few coaches to help guide me. It’s truly humbling to write a fairly complete outline of a talk and be encouraged to start over, haha. Not so much on content, but on style — I’m still processing everything through a very technical lens, and I guess I need to loosen up. Imagine!

2024W30: A Story About Fierce Foundations

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In February 2006, ten thousand other real estate convention attendees and I filed into the big auditorium at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas. I knew from the program that the topic of the keynote we’d all come to hear was Fierce Conversations, and I expected to hear a speaker justify the fast-talking, aggressive sales persona that many associate with real estate professionals.

Put that coffee down. Coffee’s for closers. (Glengarry Glen Ross.)

Thankfully, that’s not what we got.

Instead, what we got was Susan Scott, author of Fierce Conversations, speaking truth so powerful, you could hear a pin drop. Ten thousand people hung on her every word for ninety minutes. And she didn’t just provide truth and motivation — she brought a conversational model, so we could take action.

All these years later, I recognize that the Fierce Foundations Susan shared were building blocks for the kinds of conversations that would help me create both a business and a life I love. What I remember turning over and over in my head was the definition of a Fierce Conversation: it is one in which we come out from behind ourselves, into the conversation, and we make it real.

It’s the part about coming out from behind ourselves that wouldn’t let me go! Even though I was one of the most assertive communicators I knew, I still found places to hide in some of the more stressful conversations.

  • Sometimes I hid behind “armor” — especially when previous conversations of this type or with this person had conditioned me to expect the worst. Clearly, being weighed down with a hundred pounds of metal isn’t a helpful starting point for a conversation about a challenging topic.

  • Other times, I hid behind my image, shaping my response based on what I thought my reputation was with others. I edited what I said based on what seemed “on-brand” for me.

  • Occasionally I hid behind Accountability (notice the Capital A there). I centered my high hopes and expectations regardless for the situation, in blame mode and not in solutions mode. This made it difficult for me to engage in the conversation that needed to happen, instead of the conversation I wished we were having.

In a Fierce workshop, we dig deep into all the things we hide behind in a typical conversation, as well as the unfortunate prices we pay for not being real and not getting Fierce. One of the best things about Fierce Conversations is that we don’t just talk about the models — we talk about how they exist in the real world. Join us in September and October as we dive deep into Foundations and three conversational models that help us create the businesses and a life we want.