“I want to write a book, but I don’t know where to start.”

People tell me a lot, and I often feel excited when I hear it, because answering it is fun.

As John Cage, the experimental composer, said,

“Begin anywhere.”

Literally. Just start writing. It can be the first page of Chapter 1, or it can be some vague section you don’t know where it’ll end up.

Just get some ideas down.

Of course, this assumes that at some point you’ll do some organizing. Thinking about the book as a whole, maybe writing the Table of Contents. But I always encourage “just start anywhere” because it gets the ball rolling.

It’s sort of like someone asking “Where should I get into the pool?”

Well, there’s a ladder in the deep end, a ladder in the shallow end; you can cannonball, dive, or belly-flop. They all get you IN THE POOL.

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Starting is one of the hardest parts, because we often think we have to do it perfectly. We believe there’s a secret “right way” that other people know about that we don’t.

There isn’t.

There are as many ways to go about writing a book as there are people who write them.

You get to be as creative in your process as in the content.

You can do it in whatever way makes sense to you.

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Word to the wise: Once you start, keep going.

Commit.

Don’t second-guess yourself into an “indefinite pause.”

Just keep writing, knowing that everything is a placeholder.

The first draft is just gathering sand, from which you will later build a castle.

I’m Kimberly, and I’m a book coach and ghostwriter specializing in memoirs and fiction with themes of mental health, spirituality, and social justice.

If you could use some extra guidance, real-time feedback, and accountability while you write your book, you may want to work with a book coach. (If you don’t want to write at ALL, you may want to work with a ghostwriter.) Message me below to learn more.