One and one, side by side

Accountable to no one (except your accountability buddy, and maybe yourself)

Author

John Lim
March 29, 2024

Spring is … brrr 🥶

Take account of your book with an accountability buddy

Is winter on its own version of DST? Is season savings time a thing? It’s colder this week than it has been for most of February.

[pffff-pffff warming hands], Ok kids, we’re almost at the point where you can start working away like Bob Cratchit with nothing but a single lump of coal and a candle to keep you company. We have just one, er, two more pre-planning steps to go before you’re off to the races. Speaking of races, I wouldn’t just hop into my Toyota if I were going to enter the Indy 500. Similarly, we’ll look at why you shouldn’t be so quick to rev up your laptop to start writing your book. 🏎 💻

-John

Moving Forward

Episode 463: Picking your writing tool and the power of accountability

When it comes your first draft, you’ll likely have a lot of preconceived ideas. Hopefully, I’ve debunked some of the big ones over the past couple of weeks, including writing schedules, time, and what you need to do before you start writing. One of the last big misconceptions to dismantle relates to what you will write with. We’re so tethered to our computers, be it the laptop, desktop, or tablet flavor, that we naturally assume that’s what we’ll write our book with. While it seems logical, even preferable, I’m going to ask you to step back and think about the possibilities. As the late great investor Charlie Munger once said, make sure you ask “why, why, why” before doing anything. Below, I’ll do just that before you start pecking away at old faithful.

Computer 💻🖥

I think of computers as the modern day Swiss Army Knife. They can do just about anything from your taxes to emails to slide decks and more. And that is both a pro and a con. Computers are almost too good at what they do. When it comes to writing your book, you may find too many distractions to make them an effective first draft tool.

Third party writing devices 📠 

A few years ago, a bunch of friends got together to spend approximately $30 on one of the best birthday gifts I’ve ever received: a used Alphasmart Neo 2. No, it’s not a keepsake from Matrix Reloaded. Alphasmarts were devices primarily used by grade schools in the early 2000s to teach students how to type. And while you might think this gift was a commentary on my typing skills (ye reader of little faith), these devices have found a second life for authors. Devices like the Alphasmart and the more moden Freewrite can be great alternatives to laptops for those who want a distraction free writing experience.

Pen and paper ✍️

Imagine a device that’s cheap, easy to replace, extremely portable, and will never break if dropped; assuming it doesn’t land into a puddle of coffee you just spilled, in which case, you need to go home and call it a day. Pen and paper are tried and true, and the writing tool of choice for many authors and screenplay writers like Sylvester Stallone.

Voice 📱

If none of those do it for you, pull out your portable multimedia studio from your back pocket, brush off the fingerprints to make room for more fingerprints, open your recorder app, and start channeling your inner Socrates. Many authors will “talk out” their first draft. I’ve used this unorthodox method before and it has many advantages, including being a great way to jog your memory, and make connections and observations that don’t always come as easily using a linear, top-down drafting method.

Remember, you don’t have to stick with what you use day in and day out to make the donuts. You may even be sick of looking at your computer by the time you sit down to write your book, especially when you’ve spent all day on spreadsheets, zoom calls, and doom scrolling X. Consider your drafting tool, and pick one that will work best for your book and your peace of mind.

Learn more on this week’s episode, now playing on Spotify.

❝

The scariest moment is always just before you start.

-Stephen King (On Writing)

What else on this week’s episode:

  • The pros and cons of four major writing tools.

  • How efficiently designed keyboards can inhibit your first draft progress.

  • An important consideration before investing in a third-party writing device.

  • The carrot-stick method to make the most effective use of accountability buddies for your writing.

Hacks

Keep account with an accountability buddy

When it comes to your first book, the biggest risk factor to finishing isn’t your idea or desire to write it. It’s the loosy goosy “I’ll get it done … sometime” mentality. The “one day” cloud in your brain that kept you from starting yesterday is the same fuzzy toxin that can kill your momentum and prevent you from crossing the finish line.

“Ok,” you say, “so I’ll set a deadline.” The problem is that self-imposed deadlines are often hard to follow, especially with a first-time endeavor when you’re unsure whether you can pull it off.

Thus, until you become better at this, find an accountability buddy. Accountability buddies wear several hats: friend, confidant, motivator, boss. For authors, an accountability buddy is the person who will help you cross the finish line and be there to dunk water on your head when you do. This is the person who will keep you running with words of inspiration while simultaneously spraying your shoes with lighter fluid and striking a match. Find someone, be it a friend, mentor, spouse or your cat (well maybe not the last one) to help anchor your goals and deadlines. Be sure to pick a person who can talk-the-talk but also walk-the-walk when it comes to helping you stay on course and on track.

Finally, choose someone who is as invested as you are (or as close as is possible given human nature) in your success. After all, this person will be your “I knew it all along” bullhorn once your book is hot off the presses. It’s also a given that they’ll be immortalized in the acknowledgments section of your book’s back matter so pick someone who is equal to the task of being your 🥕 and 🏑 (substitute wooden hockey stick for stick - how is there no branch emoji???).

“You missed your deadline so start digging!”

Weekly quirky news

Ti-moo or Te-mu? = 📦✈️🚚💰, 🇯🇵☕️ w/ 🦫🦫, 🐈📊, 🪟💻

  • How Temu disrupted the ecommerce game by cutting out the middleman and spending millions on a Super Bowl ad. Also why they don’t care how you pronounce it.

    • Speaking of, find TEMU coupons, and get a chunk of your cash back when you shop at TEMU and many other places, with Rakuten. Sign up through my referral link.

  • Japan once again proves it’s living in 2030 with a cafe where you can drink ☕️ with two Capybaras.

  • If fat cat shaming is wrong, I don’t want to be right because this is the greatest IG post ever.

  • Lenovo demos a transparent laptop so you can pretend to be Tom Cruise in Minority Report while writing your book.

Upcoming

My spring class is full!

Write and Self-Publish Your First Book With a Step-by-Step Plan with John Lim | Johns Hopkins Events

For those of you who could not sign up for this class, stay tuned for future sessions. Also be sure to subscribe to Moving Forward and The Weekly Quirk for important book writing tips.

https://bemovingforward.beehiiv.com/subscribe

Resources

Teach a man to fish, you know the rest (if you don’t, check these out).

  • Book a coaching call with me on Clarity.

  • Follow me on Goodreads for book recommendations.

  • Check out one of my favorite daily newsletters Morning Brew (affiliate referral link).

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