The reality is procrastination robs us of our passion. Delays steal our drive and hinder our vision. The flames of passion are quenched when we put our dreams off for tomorrow, next week, next month…indefinitely. However, you can reignite the writing flames through prayer. Go to the Source – the One who gave you the idea in the first place. Pray and ask God to give you His vision for the book. Ask God to give you the desire to write again. Pray and ask God to give you the motivation to complete your book. Pray and then listen. If this is God’s appointed time, He will resurrect the dream. God will begin to reignite the flames – give you a vision for the chapters, provide motivation and clarity. The number one tip to kickstarting the writing process and completing a book that will inform, inspire and impact the world is keeping your ears and heart open to God. Pray, be silent and listen.

Every action begins with a thought. Make up your mind — be determined to complete your manuscript. Envision the completion of your book. Envision your book in the hands of someone who will benefit from its content. Decide once and for all to start the process and follow through. With your mind made up, it is important to note that you will not see your book in the hands of consumers until you wholeheartedly commit to a writing schedule. It is important that you schedule time to write. Think about your day-to-day activities and the times that work best for you. For some, it may be early in the morning before the family awakes, and before the hustle and bustle of the day. For others, it may be late at night, when the chores of the day have been completed and you can finally quiet your mind to hear God and write. It may be once per week for two hours. It may be three times per week for one hour. Regardless of the time, be sure to make it a priority on your schedule. The key is consistency – write when you are scheduled to write. Some days the thoughts will flow and you may find it difficult to stop writing, and other days you may only have a paragraph or two written, but do not give up. Schedule your writing time and stick to it.

If you have started jotting down notes here and there, it is time to get organized. Pull all your pieces of paper together into one Word document and work from that document alone. One of the things that keep us going in circles during the writing process is having too may unorganized thoughts scattered in this book, or on that pad, or on that paper. Get organized. Once you have all your writings in one document, step back and look at what you have. Is this the vision that God gave you? Has the vision changed and as such, do you need to delete some texts from the original document? Organizing your writings into one document will allow you to see clearly where you are, and where you need to go. Working from one document helps to eliminate confusion—you will be able to easily pick up where you left off in your last writing session. Getting organized helps you to stay on track, and keeps you motivated as you will be able to see the visible evidence of your progress. Organize and write. 

Write what God tells you to write. Write with your reader in mind. Write, write and write some more, and eventually that one document will be a completed manuscript ready for the next step in the publishing process. “Commit your works to the Lord, and your thoughts will be established” (Proverbs 16:3). Remember, your story matters and the world is waiting for you to tell it. Pray, schedule and organize. Happy writing to you!