How to finish birthing a book with quiet, dignity and grace: Part 2 – Pushing

“If pregnancy were a book they would cut the last two chapters.” -Nora Ephron

I am SO ready to cut those last two chapter right about now!

I mean, sure. When folks stop me and ask how the book is coming, with less than twenty days until it’s supposed to be done and available for purchase, I thrown on my brightest smile, pull up my GSD BGBOPs, and proclaim, “it’s GREAT! There’s so much to do, but woo boy we are gettin’ it done! Yeah! We’re ON it!”

And that’s true. We are getting it done. All at the same time. Working on refining cover designs and interior layouts while finalizing the copy–all 240+ pages of it–while realizing that the length of my book puts limitations on the way it can be laid out because the press can only print 280 pages for my binding type but we haven’t even incorporated all the illustrations in the layout yet so who KNOWS how long the book will really be and oh my goodness the illustrations still need to get finished but I can’t finish the illustrations until I’ve got the copy solid because they help tell the story and I can’t draw the illustrations separate from the copy but we need the copy and illustrations for the layout mockups and oh man I forgot about asking my heroes for cover blurbs for my book and if I think I’m working on a short timeline will Ken Blanchard even be able to say “yes” to my request because, come on, he’s WAY busier than I am and oh crap I still need to finish the stupid BARCODE for the book, and…and…sniff…

Bwaaaaahh!!!

Yes, this is what it looks like to write a book.

Five tips for dealing with stress and writer’s hormones

The last stages of a book coming together are bloody stressful! Plus, the world doesn’t stop when all this is happening, so while your (okay, my) emotions swing from elation to endurance-marathon confidence to eroding hope to endless panic and then back again, I STILL get to maintain that ever-desired quiet, dignity and grace while around anyone and anything with a pulse or a breath of life.

Here, then, are my current strategies for appearing calm and confident on the outside while dealing with crazy writer’s hormones on the inside:

• I draw some seriously-hard core boundaries. Friends, family, and awesome peeps: I love you. And I will still love you once this is all over. But you honestly aren’t really going to see much of me until I come out the other side. Am I free for lunch right now? No, not really. How about next Tuesday? No, not really. I will take breaks and rejoin you lovely sane people as I am able, but I need to do this on my own terms right now. I will celebrate with you over the phone, but right now my calendar is officially booked into October.

• I work with my team, and own responsibility for my final decisions. I need help pulling this all together. From design and editing to getting feedback from my friends and colleagues about what works and what doesn’t, there are tons of details and decisions to be made. And I still get to make them. It would be so lovely to be able to waive my book off to someone else at this point and say, “here, you finish it all up, okay?” But that won’t work. Help is awesome. Abdicating responsibility? Not so much. If it’s my book, I need to stay true to my vision and work with my team to make that vision a reality.

• I take my own breaks. If I didn’t make time for me to get away from my book and all the stuff I need to get done, I would implode. Every day (and I mean EVERY day) I build in quiet time just for me to restore, recharge, and decompress from the day’s stress. Sometimes it’s a massage. Sometimes it’s a Land of the Lost marathon on TV. Sometimes it’s a dance party for just me and my kitten. Whatever form it takes, it needs to erase my brain, lift my spirits, and leave me ready to return to the work at hand.

• I only do three things. As you can imagine, my to-get-done list is a mile long right about now. In order to manage stress and overwhelm, I only see the next three things I need to get done at any given time. Once those are done, I update the list. A complete list is there, remembering absolutely everything for me. If I worked off of THAT list, I’d freak out within thirty seconds of starting. When I pick three things and keep them on a sticky note on my computer desktop, I work my way through one item at a time with some actual quiet, dignity, grace, and results!

• I play my Happy list. It’s my music playlist of every single song on my computer that leaves me feeling happier after listening to it than when I started. There’s obvious stuff there, crazy random stuff there, and some seriously inappropriate stuff in there as well. One of my all-time favorite songs is Natalie Portman Rap, by The Lonely Island, featuring Natalie Portman. Not a song to sing along to while walking through the office, let me tell you! But does it make me ridiculously happy when I listen to it? Every. Single. Time. (No more questions!)

Getting ready for the final push

In these last (less than) three weeks, I’ll be moving into full-on labor for my book pregnancy. Your support and encouragement all along this journey has meant the world to me…so please don’t stop it now! Keep sending those wishes for a smooth delivery, and let’s get this baby delivered! (Woot!) (Bwaaah!)

I cannot wait to see what we draw forth together,

How to finish birthing a book with quiet, dignity and grace: Part 1 – Labor