Inside an Open Book Coaching Session: What Really Changes When You Write

We love the moment a book lands in our hands.

‍

What we don’t see is how it got there: not one grand sprint, but a thousand small, faithful choices.

‍

In our recent Open Book coaching session, we didn’t trade tips. We talked about transformation — the kind that shows up on the page because it’s happening in you.

‍

Here are the ideas members said shifted everything.

‍

1) Progress is a ritual, not a rush

A simple exercise: keep a container on your desk. Every 15 minutes you write, add an item. It sounds trivial. It isn’t. The container makes discipline visible, momentum tangible, and your brain more likely to return tomorrow. Transformation happens when effort becomes a ritual.

‍

2) Start with self-awareness

Most of us sit on two sliding scales:

• Structure ⇄ Freedom
• Substance (facts, frameworks) ⇄ Story (voice, dialogue)

There’s no “right” setting. Know your natural bias and use it on the draft. Then, in the edit, consciously add what balances the work: more credibility if you’re story-led; more humanity if you’re data-led.

‍

3) Write for you. Edit for your reader.

The first draft’s job is to exist. Messy, repetitive, earnest. The second draft’s job is to serve: clarify the promise, tighten the arc, line up evidence with empathy. Perfectionism is a poor drafting strategy and an excellent editing one — in that order.

‍

4) Treat structure like a puzzle you can move

Overwhelm comes from trying to assemble the whole picture at once. Break your work into movable pieces. Store sections in separate files. Rearrange freely. Meaning emerges through motion. Two anchors help you not get lost:

• A one-page contents (your north star)
• A proposal (your map)

Zoom in to write; zoom out to choose.

‍

5) Your book doesn’t need to be “new” — it needs to be true

‍A common fear: “Hasn’t this been said before?” Probably. But your lived experience, timing, and framing are the value. Readers don’t need novelty for novelty’s sake; they need resonance in this season of their life. Write the truest thing you can say, as clearly as you can say it.

‍

6) Count the orbit

A member offered a beautiful reframe: instead of a jigsaw, think solar system. Notes and ideas swing close, drift far, then return at the right time. Daily writing that feels unrelated? Often it’s not. Keep circling. Keep collecting. Trust the gravity of your theme.

‍

7) Choose action over aspiration

We closed with this: the difference between hearing and listening is action. Don’t wait to feel ready. Pick one, small, repeatable step:

• Draft a simple contents page.
• Free-write a “dirty” scene you’ll clean tomorrow.
• Add an item to your container and guard the next 15 minutes.

‍

Books are built in minutes, not in myths.

When you honour the minutes, something else shifts: your identity.

You stop trying to write a book and start being the person who writes — today.

‍

‍What’s your next micro-step? Write it down. Do it now. Then put one more item in the container.

‍