7 Things I've Learned About Writing a Book

Today is a big day for me.

It’s the UK launch of my book 'Creative Demons & How to Slay Them'.

I’d like to share 7 things I’ve learned about writing a book in the hope that it’s helpful to any other unlucky soul burdened by the suspicion that they have a book in them too.

1. Good things can come out of bad. In my early 30’s the agency I’d founded was winning awards and making money. By my early 40’s I was broke and living with my in laws. But the recalibration led me to where I am now. With a better life. And a book.

2. Visualisation can work. Maybe. Three years ago I wrote a list of stuff that I’d like to do in my professional life and put it in a drawer. Top of the list was write a book.

3. You can sneak past the gatekeepers. Before I began writing I tried to get an agent and failed. After I’d been offered a publishing deal I tried to get an agent and failed. I still don’t have an agent. But I do have a book.

4. Don't underestimate the power of a good title. I was going to name the book after my podcast 'The Wind Thieved Hat’. Someone wise said you need a less oblique title. And so I came up with 'Creative Demons & How to Slay Them' and the whole structure fell into place.

5. Compared to the world of advertising and design - where ideas are born and made in a matter of weeks - publishing takes time. Lots of time. Glacial is the word.

6. Write it straight, then right it great. Writing in a stairwell during a pandemic, with two home-schooled kids bowling around and builders in, was tough. The only way I got to the end was switching the quality control filter off until after I’d got the first draft down.

7. Research is procrastination’s posh cousin. But they’re closely related.

Should any further inspiration be required, may I humbly suggest you click this link.