Reader,

"What do you want?"

In The Coaching Habit, Michael Bungay Stanier (aka MBS) suggests this simple question "lies at the very heart of adult-to-adult relationships." Yet it's one we rarely ask or answer truthfully:

That's why MBS calls this "The Foundation Question." When you take the risk of answering it, you're taking the "notoriously difficult" step of "taking responsibility for your own freedom."

The act of writing opens with an illusion of freedom: A blank sheet of paper. An empty Word document. An email or a social media post that doesn't begin as a reply. All of which seem to say, "The world is your oyster, write whatever you want!"

But that's not actually what happens inside our heads, is it?

The moment we sit down to write, we invite a chorus of critics to the table. They're never physically there. They're in our heads, which is even worse. They stifle the flow of our words and tell us we're not free to whatever we want. And that's precisely why MBS's Foundation Question is the first thing you need to consider when you start to write a book.

A housekeeping note

​As I told you last week, I'm shifting my newsletter to document the process of writing my next book. I'm still figuring out what these emails will look like, but for now, I'm anticipating something like this:

• An introductory reflection
• A demonstration of how I'm putting that reflection into practice
• A brief update on the progress of my book
• A teaser question about next week's email (thanks to reader Valerie for suggesting this!)

While I'm partly doing this to make sure I actually write this next book, I'm also doing this to give you a practical, hands-on example of this process. Many of you are trying to do the same thing, and I hope these emails give you some resources for your projects.

If you have questions, suggestions, etc., don't be shy. Send them over! Your feedback will help me shape this series into something far more helpful and productive.

So: what book do I really really want to write?

Full disclosure: I'm not just writing this book for kicks and giggles. I hope it'll demonstrate my writing chops and make potential clients excited about the prospect of working with me.

Conventional wisdom says my book should be prescriptive nonfiction that teaches a reader how to do something. Take my friend John's new book, for example: Sold Out Coach: Exactly How to Earn $10K+ Per Month Group Coaching 90 Minutes Per Week. As the subtitle declares, this book will teach you how to build a group coaching program that can change the way you run your business. It's a valuable read for coaches and consultants that are tired of 1:1 or project-based work.

(Full disclosure: I'm not getting paid to tell you about John's book, nor is that link an affiliate link. However, I did edit it for him.)

This approach has worked wonders for John. He writes one of these books every two years or so, a practice that's helped him build and grow a very successful business. And there are plenty of other coaches, consultants, and speakers who take a similar approach to their writing.

The thing is, it's just not what I want to do. As valuable as prescriptive nonfiction books can be, my favorite books offer a different kind of reading experience. I don't read people like Austin Kleon, Mary Karr, and Annie Dillard just because they have something to teach me. (Though they do.) I read and then re-read their books because I love spending time with them. I love their voice, I love their stories, and I love the way their words stay with me long after I put their books down.

In short, I want to write a book that raises more questions than it answers. I want to write a book that feels like solid blue-collar writing. I want to write a book that tells my readers what I find so thrilling about writing so that they can consider why they are also drawn to put pen to paper.

Here's why that's important: when I think about approaching my project this way, I feel energized. I'm legitimately excited to get to work and start writing. That's vitally important. Writing a book is hard. Writing a book you're not excited about from the outset is pretty darn impossible. In my experience, people who lack this energy never get their books written.

Current progress

I've begun going through my old newsletter emails. It's been an unexpectedly delightful project. Turns out I don't hate what I wrote nearly as much as I thought I would. Some of them will need to be completely rewritten, but that's to be expected. What matters is that I have these starting points.

I've thought about recording a Loom video so you can peek over my shoulder as I do this. If you think that would be interesting, hit reply and let me know.

Next week we'll look at ...

"Who is my reader?"

I've written about this before, but this question demands another look. Because while I need to be energized and excited by what I'm trying to write, I'm not the only person who matters here. If I don't get clear about my reader, I'm not going to achieve any of those "wants" I mentioned above.

Keep your stick on the ice.

Frank Ewert
Writer, Editor, Book Coach, and Question Collector
Author of Embrace Your Writer's Block and Blue Ice​