What Is Your Writing Process?

I’m often asked about my writing process for the book. I started by building an outline of the chapters and key ideas in each. Favorite stories, chapters, and ideas emerge. What’s interesting is how those evolve over the course of writing.

I didn’t write the chapters chronologically. I began with the ones I felt pulled to write that session. Some wrote themselves. A few took a bit of work to bring into the vision I had.

And one chapter kept getting kicked down the road, the way you kick a stone along while walking:

Chapter 18. Vulnerability and Storytelling.

It wasn’t that I didn’t know what to say. It was quite the opposite. I always wanted to include a chapter on the vulnerability of storytelling. It comes up in every client workshop. It’s something I navigate often – from keynotes to publishing articles and a book.

It didn’t feel like a chapter that could be rushed. I wanted to sit in the vulnerability of the book. It is the chapter that had the most marinating time. It was important to me to make sure it not only addressed what many people experience, but it provided suggestions on how to navigate it.

It was the second to last thing I wrote, just before the epilogue. The vulnerability through the months of writing played a big role in shaping it.

Now, when I read each chapter, I think:

THIS one is my favorite.
This ONE is my favorite.
This one IS my favorite.
This one is MY favorite.
This one is my FAVORITE.