How to Start Writing a Book

“I have a seven-week sabbatical coming up, and I want to start writing my book. Where should I start?”

I heard this question on a discovery call recently, and I knew it would resonate with so many aspiring authors.

Maybe you’re in a season of life where you’re finally ready to dive into a book project… but you have no idea where to begin. Maybe you’re ready to finally write your memoir, but you’re feeling hesitant because you don’t know what process to take.

When you sit down to write, you feel a mix of excitement and overwhelm.

Where do you start? What comes first: the structure? The stories? Building an audience?

Here’s the guidance I offered my client, expanded a bit for anyone ready to turn intention into momentum.

1. Find Your Writing Rhythm

Before you worry about perfect sentences or word counts, focus on creating your personal creative rhythm.

Writing a book is less about having hours of uninterrupted inspiration and more about building consistency. When do you write best—early mornings, late nights, weekends? Do you thrive on 20-minute bursts or need 3-hour deep-focus blocks?

Experiment for a week or two. Notice when your mind feels clear, when distractions quiet down, and when you feel closest to your creative flow. Once you find what works, commit to it. Get those sessions scheduled in your calendar, and think ahead about the conflicting priorities that might pop up.

Are you really willing to commit?

Consistency is what builds confidence. Every time you sit down to write, you’re teaching your brain, “This is who I am now—someone who shows up for my book.”

2. Face Your Fears and Resistance

Every writer carries creative baggage. Memories of being criticized. Fears of not being “good enough. ” The echo of someone saying writing isn’t practical, don’t waste your time on creative projects.

Instead of pushing those fears and thoughts aside, pause and look at them. When have you felt creatively shut down in the past, and why? What story does your inner critic tell you about what it means to write a book?

Is there a part of you that believes you’re not capable of doing this? What does that part of you want you to know?

Tracing those old wounds helps you heal them and release the past. This is emotional work, not just creative work. And when you clear resistance, you’ll feel lighter and freer to write what’s true.

3. Start Where It Feels Easiest

Some writers need an outline; others need the freedom to experiment without a set plan. There’s no right way to begin writing.

If mapping the structure helps you feel grounded, sketch a loose outline. But if you feel boxed in by too much planning, skip it and start writing a scene, a memory, or some moment from your life that holds wisdom.

I’ve recently been working with a few book coaching clients who have PhDs. Part of our work together is them freeing themselves from past ways of working that were extremely boxed in… they had to follow rigid academic structures, cite every thought, and write for approval rather than expression. Now, as they step into creative writing, the challenge is to unlearn that hypercritical voice, to let their ideas breathe without over-editing or needing every sentence to be justified by research.

Our work together through coaching has been about giving themselves permission to feel their way through the page instead of proving their intelligence on it. It’s a process of loosening the grip of perfectionism and rediscovering the joy of writing as exploration, not performance.

Writing is discovery. Let yourself begin wherever there’s energy—the story that won’t leave you alone, the lesson that feels urgent, the scene that feels cinematic in your mind like you’re watching a movie of it play out.

Don’t let perfect planning become procrastination. Just write. Get something on the page. You’ll shape it later.

4. Reflect on What’s Working (and Celebrate It)

The early stages of a book can feel wobbly. You’ll have great writing days and days where nothing clicks.

That’s okay—it’s all part of the foundation you’re building.

Pause once a week to reflect: What felt easy this week? What surprised me? What do I want to keep doing?

Then celebrate those small wins. Maybe you wrote one strong paragraph. Maybe you finally named your book’s central question. Maybe you just showed up when you didn’t feel like it.

Celebrate! Those are important wins!

Building celebration into your process early on keeps you connected to joy—and joy fuels endurance.

If we wait to only celebrate a book project at the end, when it’s complete and launched, we miss out on so much wonder and delight that’s available the whole way through the process. I highly encourage you to become someone who celebrates often as you become an author. It’s a way to live more and enjoy the little victories.

5. Revisit Your “Why”

This might be the most important part of starting to write a book. To look inward and answer questions like:

Why this book? Why now? Why me?

Ask yourself what’s at stake if you don’t write it. Is there a message you’ve been carrying that the world needs to hear? Is there healing, closure, or creative fulfillment waiting on the other side?

Write your “why” somewhere visible—a sticky note, a journal entry, your phone wallpaper. Revisit it often. Let it evolve as you evolve.

Your “why” is the anchor that will carry you through the messy middle and all the drafts to come.

When You’re Ready for Support

These are the kinds of things I coach writers on when they hire me as a book coach: building a process, dropping perfectionism, and stepping fully into the identity of “author.” It’s unique for every writer, but everyone faces ups and downs.

Hiring a coach can be the difference between spending 4–5 years circling the same idea… and spending 6–9 months in focused momentum, with a solid first draft in your hands.

If you’re ready to move forward on your book with more flow and less frustration, I can help.

I offer:

• Private coaching for authors who want hands-on guidance through every phase of the writing process

• Full-service ghostwriting for those who’d rather have an expert writer bring their story to life

Let’s make this the season you finally begin your book—and see it through!