My Book and Baby Are Due the Same Day! Follow Along on My Journey. Next up: It's Okay to Step Away. Jessica Abo shares how she's working through her biggest obstacle: restructuring her table of contents.
By Jessica Abo
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This video is part of a series brought to you by Entrepreneur's book division, Entrepreneur Press, the publisher of Jessica Abo's book Unfiltered: How to Be as Happy as You Look On Social Media.
Have you ever worked on a project and had all of the elements, but couldn't figure out how to put all of the puzzle pieces together? That's how I felt writing this book. I was sitting on years and years worth of personal stories; but, I wasn't publishing a diary. I had to figure out how to make sense of my own anecdotes, interviews with experts and the main themes I wanted to incorporate in this book. Whenever I hit a wall, I would take a step back and give myself time away from the project or I would share my ideas with other people to to get their feedback since they weren't as close to the material as I was.
In my first episode, I shared how I was working on the table of contents and sample chapters to submit to Jennifer Dorsey, Entrepreneur Press's editorial director. When I got back Dorsey's comments, I was surprised there weren't a ton of edits. She said I was on the right path and that I passed the "vision check." More constructive edits would come in time. This was hard for me initially because I spent so many years working in a newsroom. I was used to a producer reading a script and making changes on the spot. I wasn't afraid for Dorsey's edits and wanted to make sure I was submitting the best work I could at every stage. Dorsey reassured me to trust the process, and that was very helpful advice. By not telling me what to do right away, Dorsey allowed me to find my own direction for this book.
The table of contents were really important for me to get right because I wanted to make sure I was putting stories in the right order and using the interviews I did with experts in the chapter that made the most sense. So if you're stuck, don't be afraid to take a step away or share your work with someone who can give you a fresh take on your content. But don't be afraid, like I was, if it all doesn't come together overnight. Writing a book is a wonderful lesson in patience and in not only having faith in the process, but also having faith in yourself.
Watch more videos from Jessica Abo on her YouTube channel here.
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