These shoes are made for…talking?

Who’s shoes are you wearing? How do you make sure that what you’re doing for someone else is actually what they want?

Story streamline

Editing is going well and I’m throwing myself into it as I’m impatient about getting others to read it…but not just quite yet. Going through the chapters there are many stories and parts to my journey. I’m obviously making sure it reads right and flows nicely but I’m also asking myself if it can be streamlined with less detail or even deleted.

Page Turner?

My son asked me “Why would you delete it if you spent all that time writing it?” I guess the answer is because it’s all about the reader. These are NOT my memoirs, this is an autobiography. I want the reader to be gripped; I want a page turner as well as them understanding what I went through and being inspired.

Kill the conversation

For example, the story of me getting my wetsuit adjusted because of my disability I feel needs to be in the book because it shows that I wasn’t leaning on excuses but instead I turned them into a challenge. It doesn’t however need the full dialog of what I said to the shop assistant and what she said to me and then what I said back to her etc

So the questions that I’m asking myself are:

Does this section need to be in? Why?

Does it need just mentioning or does it need describing with details, feelings and emotion? Why?

Best bits of the book

I want the reader to have the best bits of my journey in the book. I want a clear path for the reader so that they CAN see the wood for the trees. This is the editing process which I need to follow which started initially with feedback from my book coaches, mum and girlfriend. Then back to me again and then out to others…and then back to me again…etc!

It’s a long process but if I want this to be the best book with no regrets then I’m willing to put in the time and effort as well as listen to the feedback, from myself and from others. If anything, that’s what I’ve learnt from writing up my very own journey.

The wrong shoes?

So I wondered. When you are preparing ‘something’ for someone else how do you make sure it’s what they want? Maybe you’re doing something, making something or creating something for a client or friend or family member. How do you put yourself in their shoes and what questions do you ask yourself to get it absolutely right?