Befriending the Blueprint
A guest post from Amy L. Bernstein, one of our Blueprint Winter Challenge book coach hosts. Details on joining us for the Blueprint are below.
This is one in a series of posts about the #amwriting Winter Blueprint Challenge. 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.
Do The Blueprint With Us This Winter!
Starting January 5, we’ll be walking you through the 14 steps of the Blueprint over 10 weeks. Some of the steps are very short and we combined them into one episode.
Every episode speaks to fiction writers, memoir writers, and nonfiction writers. There are workbooks, and you will get a link to the digital download of the Blueprint book of your choice.
We’ll also be hosting weekly AMAs (ask me anything), write-alongs, and Zoom meet-ups with coaches—and KJ will be writing her own Blueprint, and Jennie will be coaching her through it in weekly episodes.
If you finish your Blueprint during the Challenge, you will be eligible to win a review from either Jennie or KJ. (If you missed the #AmWriting Success Story about the writer who won the Blueprint Sprint grand prize in 2022, give it a listen. It’s very inspiring! It’s right HERE.)
It’s going to be such a good time and we’d love to have you join us! Plus, we have a sale on annual memberships until December 31, 2024 only—save 25% if you decide you’re in now.
If you’re already a paid subscriber and you know you’re in, you can set yourself up now and rest easy knowing that the January Blueprint will roll right into your inbox and podplayer—just follow the instructions HERE.
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