How to write a book, one pearl at a time

My first book, The Next Chapter Book Club, grew out of my real-life book club. The books we read often unlocked the most shocking, jaw-dropping stories I had ever heard from the group. After more than ten years of reading together, I thought I knew them. Yet, they still managed to surprise me.

Their stories compelled me to write my debut novel, even though I had no fiction writing experience.

How hard could it be?

Famous last words.

Progress was impossibly slow. Words did not flow easily. Ideas refused to surface. What I managed to write felt crude and embarrassingly clumsy.

Many days, I sat in front of my computer and cried into my hands, frustrated and overcome with imposter syndrome. Who did I think I was? What made me think I could ever write a book anyone would want to read?

In my younger days, I would have thrown in the towel as soon as things got tough. I lacked the resolve and self-belief to see a massive project through to the end. It would have become one of many dreams tossed aside

But after years of picking myself up from one failure after another, I knew I could face my fears and keep going, even when I doubted myself.

I had nothing to lose.

I believed my story would resonate with many women.

I knew my book could make a difference to someone.

So I willed myself to write every weekday, whether I was in the mood or not. Some days, I wrote pages. Some days, I managed only one paragraph. Some days, I wrote beautiful passages I loved, then scrapped them because they didn't serve the story.

Two steps forward, one step back.

It was just enough progress to keep me going.

To stay focused on my writing, I removed every constraint that got in my way.

I stopped obsessing over word count.

I stopped worrying about the shitty quality of my writing.

I removed the pressure of a deadline by getting rid of it.

As long as I kept up the momentum, writing and refining every day, I knew the pages would eventually add up.

My favorite therapist, Phil Stutz, called this process A String of Pearls. He described each action toward a goal as a pearl added to a string. Every action counted, whether it was large or small.

And every pearl had a turd in it. His words, not mine. No effort was perfect, but that wasn't the point. The goal was to take the next step and keep going, even in the face of uncertainty. On the days I stumbled, fumbled, and made a fool of myself, I kept putting the pearls on the string.

"The highest creative expression for a human being is to be able to create something new right in the face of adversity," Phil said in the film Stutz.

And one day, after years of toil, I looked back and saw what all those imperfect days had made--a complete book, one flawed pearl at a time.