Befriending the Blueprint
A guest post from Amy L. Bernstein, one of our Blueprint Summer Sprint book coach hosts. Details on joining us for the Blueprint are below.
This is one in a series of posts about the #amwriting Summer Blueprint Sprint. If you missed the previous posts, they are here:
At first glance, Jennie Nash’s Blueprint may come across as a sophisticated test that you assume you’re expected to ace. After all, you’re a writer. This is a tool designed for writers. If you can’t figure this thing out pretty darn quickly…then are you really a writer?
Wow, the amount of anxiety packed into those four sentences already feels overwhelming. So let’s ratchet this up some more, shall we? Let’s go from, say, 10 on the dial to 100—all the way into the red zone.
The Blueprint contains a bunch of questions and concepts you may have considered in passing, or perhaps never considered, or perhaps you’re not even sure what some of it means.
What’s a structural prototype?
How do I know if I’m doing the Outcome Outline right?
You read the book multiple times and along the way you assume that other people understand all this stuff. Other writers have already figured all this out…You’re the one who’s going to look unprepared, like you have no idea how to write a book, andnow you’re not even sure you know what your own book is supposed to be about…
This Blueprint is beginning to remind you of that algebra test you failed in middle school. And suddenly, you’re coated in flop sweat, and you’re still not sure what the “right” answers are to this “test”…
And do you have enough time to get this done?
And will going down this road only deepen your confusion?
And…
And…Take a deep, cleansing breath.
This is not a test. A test is designed to measure what you already know on a given subject. The Blueprint is more like a treasure map sending you on an organized quest designed to deepen your understanding of your passion for your project, the readers you want to connect with, and the heart of the story you wish to tell.
And unlike a boring, old test, there are no hard-and-fast right or wrong answers here. There’s a wide array of responses that you are empowered to shape and shift and bend until that exquisite ah-ha! moment arrives when you’ve figured out something vitally important about the point of your book.
So, no, the Blueprint isn’t laying traps for you. It’s not trying to make you feel foolish. It isn’t an instrument diabolically designed to expose all your self-doubts and worries about your skills as a writer or your commitment as an author.
If you conceive of the Blueprint as your nemesis (seeking to trip you up), then you need to change your mindset. The Blueprint is the friend that’s going to help lead you to the treasure you so eagerly seek—and have not yet figured out how to reach.
And when you struggle to decipher the instructions on this treasure map, a book coach is there to help you discuss and interpret the map—so that it’s meaning becomes clearer to you.
As an author planning and/or writing a book, you’re far better off with this map—this Blueprint—than without it. Once you find your X marks the spot, you’ll uncover a deeper and more coherent vision of what your book can become than you ever thought possible.
Acknowledge your doubts—but trust the process.
Question and explore—even when you feel lost.
Search for the deeper meaning in your project.
Do all this, and you’ll find the gold.
Amy L. Bernstein runs Wordfirst Book Coaching Services, which supports aspiring and experienced nonfiction authors as they develop long-form projects from the raw-idea stage to polished, market-ready book proposals, and points in between. Amy’s client base includes an eclectic group of authors, including a microbiologist, a middle-school educator, and a TV journalist. She also works selectively on memoir projects that blend the personal and professional.
Amy’s affinity (and affection) for nonfiction stems from a combined three decades of experience as a print and public radio journalist as well as senior communications roles with detail-oriented nonprofit organizations and state and federal government agencies, where Amy handled everything from drafting Congressional testimony to writing speeches for top government officials.
Amy is also the author of several novels and plays, as well as a forthcoming nonfiction book, Wrangling the Doubt Monster: Fighting Fears, Finding Inspiration, which is designed to inspire and encourage writers and all creative people struggling with self-doubt.
Book Coaching: wordfirstbookcoach.com
Author Website: amywrites.live
On Substack: Doubt Monster
Join the Blueprint for a Book Summer Sprint
The Blueprint for a Book Summer Sprint starts July 2. To play along, you must be a paid subscriber.
Once you sign up as a paid subscriber, you can set up your podcast feed. Don’t worry, it’s simple! Click here to go to your #AmWriting account, and when you see this screen, do two things:
Toggle “Blueprint for a Book” from “off” (grey) to “on” (green).
Click “set up podcast” next to Blueprint for a Book and follow the easy instructions.
Once you set those things up, you’ll get all the future Blueprint emails and podcasts (and if you’re joining the party a bit late, just head to our website and click on Blueprint for a Book in the top menu).