As I have written my books, I’ve learned the power of having clarity behind your words. It’s not that you need to write faster. What it comes down to is that you need to hesitate less. Because most of the time, it’s not the writing that slows you down. It’s that pause before it. 💥 That’s why I talk about being consistently so frequently! 💥 That moment where you’re hovering over the keyboard thinking: “Is this the right direction?” “Does this even fit?” “Am I messing this up?” Instead of moving forward… You reread. You tweak. You question. Or you step away entirely, telling yourself you’ll come back when it feels clearer. And then when you do come back… It takes time just to find your place again. That’s where the real time is lost. It’s that hesitation that can be the killer for your book. 📕 The second-guessing and trying to feel certain before you move. But clarity doesn’t come from waiting. It comes from deciding what your story is actually moving toward and trusting that enough to keep going. 💥 That’s the shift. 💥 That’s where speed is created. Not by pushing harder, but by knowing where you’re going. So tell me this: Where do you hesitate the most right now in your book? 📕 The beginning? The middle? A specific scene? A character choice? That hesitation point… That’s your clarity gap. And once you see it clearly, you can finally move through it instead of around it. Share it in the comments and let's grow!

I haven’t done a weekly check in for a bit. So, let’s hear how you all are doing. Where are you in your book creation? Has it been smooth, tough, or in between? Share the wins, the lessons learned and what you feel up for sharing! This is a great time for us to help one another because if you stay stagnant, there’s no growth. Meaning, no book will create itself without the help of a human. So what steps do you need to take in order to finish it?

If you’ve restarted your book more than twice… It’s not a motivation problem. It’s a clarity problem. Think about it, you can have a heck of a lot of motivation, but if you don’t have the direction, how are you getting there? Many famous authors have a structure at the beginning to help guide them on their path. 💥Dan Brown: Employs detailed outlines that include research, character motivations, and specific plot points to create high-stakes, suspenseful narratives. 💥George R.R. Martin: Uses extensive planning to manage intricate storylines and world-building, which ensures his complex plots maintain direction (think of the books he has completed from this. It has come to my attention that he has fallen off of consistency since readers are still waiting for his new book. This shows us that everyone can have times where they lose their direction.). 👉 What part of your story keeps changing every time you restart? Share your answer in the comments. That’s the piece we lock in first and helps us understand the hole you have within your story. Book a time for us to chat, and let’s find a solution together.

Not just your time. It’s asking for your honesty. Your attention. Your willingness to not run when it gets uncomfortable. Think about this for a moment. There’s something that our stories want from us more than time. This could be self-reflection, thinking as your ideal reader, understanding what is needed in the story, and many other things that play a role within a book. 📕 When I teach Story First, it helps you find your path within your book and it helps lighten the load further down the process. Now, I want you to ask yourself this question and then write your response in the comments below! 👇 👉 What is your story asking from you right now? Answer that… and you’ll know your next step.

Ernest Hemingway believed that the most powerful writing doesn’t explain everything. He called this the Iceberg Theory. The reader only sees the tip of the iceberg, but the deeper meaning exists beneath the surface. Instead of explaining emotions directly, the writer lets actions and small details reveal the truth. The underline meaning in a story, beneath the surface is something that many great authors use. It’s also something that I teach writers to find with the Story First method since I truly believe the power of the inner story. A wonderful book has an inner story and an outer story. 📖 Something great that you can do, especially as a newbie writer, is practice other techniques, play with the writing styles. This is how you find your own personal way of getting your words onto paper. 📑 If you’re an experienced writer, what a great way to hone into your skill than by trying other writing techniques! 😁 ✅ Your Challenge Write a short scene where a character is experiencing a strong emotion — but you cannot name the emotion. We’ve done a challenge similar to this in the past. But now, we are trying it out with more details. Don't use words like: 😢sad 😡angry 😱afraid 😄excited 🥺heartbroken Instead, show it through: 💥body language 💥small actions 💥dialogue 💥environment details Example: Instead of saying "He was nervous." 😬 Try something like: "He checked his watch again, then wiped his palms on his jeans." Let the reader feel it without being told. Bonus Challenge Write the same scene again but with the opposite emotion.