The Emotional Roller Coaster of Writing a Book
"Normalize the roller coaster" is one of the mantras of Dallas Travers who runs The Hive, a business mentorship program for coaches.
Ahh ... the emotional roller coaster.
One day you’re a coach or an entrepreneur flying as high as a kite! You've gotten a few new clients, have discovery calls lined up, and your bank account is finally looking healthy.
Everything is clicking on all cylinders.
Until it isn't.
One of those new clients backs out. On one of those discovery calls you were so excited about, the prospect challenges your prices. You start panicking about the money you're spending on your virtual assistant.
The emotional roller coaster isn't limited to coaches and entrepreneurs.
It happens to writers.
This week it happened to me.
Last week I was still flying high after getting a book deal!
You can read about my book deal here.
But this week life happened and the high wore off.
My elderly mother fell and was sent by ambulance to the hospital.
I started my book revision and realized how much work I still have ahead of me.
I didn't sleep well because I was worried about my mom and my sister who is on the front lines caring for her.
After a few nights of less than ideal sleep, I began to worry about my revision too.
Was I making the manuscript worse? Was I messing up what was already a pretty awesome manuscript?
In the middle of it all, I met with clients—and some of these writers were experiencing lows too.
"How can I draft a book proposal if I don't even know what my title is yet?"
"I'm overwhelmed so I'm not doing anything."
"How do YOU make time for writing?" A sure-fire sign that this writer wasn't making time for her writing.
Here's what I told my writers & myself:
The roller coaster is normal, life happens, and you get to find a way forward when it does.
Life has a way of interfering with the best laid plans and all we can do is adjust, pivot, make a new plan—sometimes that’s taking a break—and then get back to it.
Don't let the roller coaster stop you from writing your book.
