How to Organize Writing Notes and Stop Feeling Scattered with Kathy Sparrow

Kathi: Hi everyone. I'm so excited to be here and speak with an award-winning author, a literary midwife and university professor, Kathy Sparrow. She's the CEO of A Writable Life Publishing. She's also the co-author of Ignite Your Leadership. But I'll tell you what, she's also a certified life coach, a Jack Canfield trainer in the Success Principles and Canfield methodologies. To say Kathy is accomplished is an understatement, and I'm so excited to get started. So I'd like to welcome Kathy Sparrow. Thanks for being here.

Kathy: Well, thank you for having me here, Kathi. This is exciting.

Kathi: Absolutely. Absolutely. So we go back a ways, but I'd like you to tell our audience: why did you actually start A Writable Life Publishing?

Kathy: A Writable Life Publishing actually evolved from a writing and coaching business that I've been doing for 20 years, which started with a question: what do you do? And when my answer is, and was, "I am a writer," I hear the remark, "I've always wanted to be a writer." And after listening to it a number of times, I went, oh, there's something here. I'm supposed to help people write. So that started 20 years ago. And then over time it evolved, and I started helping people write their literary business plan, which is also called a book proposal, and finding publishers for their works. And then just this last year, actually during COVID, it came to me: why am I doing this? I know how to help people publish, so why am I not doing it? Because I was a publisher for a while, and I also worked in the traditional publishing world. So it was a no-brainer. It was an evolution.

I know how to help people publish, so why am I not doing it?

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Kathi: So what do you think is the main challenge that people have that you help solve? Where's the glitch? Where's that stop point for wannabe authors?

Kathy: Accountability. That's part of it. Writing is a solo adventure, at least the creation part, most of the time. But with me on board, it becomes a collaborative adventure. So they know that they have someone that's going to be waiting for their assignment, and waiting to give good feedback. And I think that's also important. The feedback is important because when we're writing, those doubts come up and we're thinking, oh, nobody's going to read this. This is garbage. So I help my authors overcome that challenge of accountability and those self-doubts.

Kathi: Yeah. Absolutely. And especially with writing, there's a lot of self-doubt that creeps into it. Do people care? Do they care what I have to say? Am I saying it right? And all that good stuff. So having accountability, and actually having that feedback loop from you for people writing, is so hugely important. I know that to be true for myself as I was publishing my books. So let me ask you, you work with a lot of entrepreneurs. What's the hack that you help them with? What's the best piece of advice or hack that you tell them to move towards as they're going into the process of writing?

Kathy: I think it's important to have a writing practice: to show up, if not every day, as many days as possible, or a dedicated time once a week. This is my writing time. This is when I'm going to work on this project. Because it's easy to let life come in and disrupt us and interfere, or we get, you know, squirrel.

I think it's important to have a writing practice: to show up, if not every day, as many days as possible, or a dedicated time once a week.

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Kathi: Yeah. And so, about the freedom. We all do this to create freedom, right? Do you have a hack that you use yourself so that you feel that you have more freedom within your business and your business doesn't consume you?

Kathy: That I learned just recently, probably in the last year. I've hired my own mentors and I'm building a team. I've pretty much got the team built, and then I'm adding extra support, just to have some buffer in case somebody's too busy to work with me. I work with subcontractors for copy editing and the interior design and cover design. And I also want to match my client's project with the right designer, so I want some leeway there. But that's been important. One, I'm not a graphic designer. I don't design. And most recently, I added a production manager to take care of following the baby through the birth canal, and then I'll be there catching it on the other side. So I'm very involved at the beginning with the creation part, and then I have my production team take care of bringing the form to it, and then I put the bow on it.

Kathi: Yeah. And having a team is what gives us freedom, and the hardest thing for solopreneurs and entrepreneurs to do is to delegate and to create that team. So I think that's the biggest organizing hack that you've offered: create a team, learn how to delegate so that you'll have freedom and you're not just trying to do everything for everybody and going a little bit crazy. What do you think is the one lesson your business has taught you that you think everybody should learn at some point in their life?

Kathy: Oh, listen to your intuition. The biggest mistakes I've ever made in my life, particularly for my business, or I could say across the board, business and personal life, have come from overriding my intuition with my logical mind. It's easy to create an argument: oh, this isn't going to work, this isn't going to work. And it doesn't work when I listen to my logic. But if I have the courage to listen to the intuition, my inner knowing, which I cultivate with a daily meditation practice and yoga and some quiet reflective time, that's the key. Have that practice, listen to your intuition, and also then bring the mentors in to just bounce ideas off of.

If I have the courage to listen to the intuition, my inner knowing, that's the key.

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Kathi: Thank you. You answered my next question, which was how do you tap into that intuition? So thanks for following that up, because I know a lot of people will be saying, okay, that's easy, but follow your intuition, what does that mean? And I definitely agree that it's quietness, and having that dedicated space to listen to yourself and actually give yourself space to say something to yourself.

Kathy: Right. Yeah. And I think exercise, too. I take daily walks. I love my walks. And that's the time I can reflect. I don't plug myself in. I just walk. And I'll think about different decisions I have to make, or whether I want to work with a project or not. And having a sense of body awareness, too, and just feeling what feels right and what doesn't feel right within our body, is helpful. So it all works together. Writing is not just a heads-up activity. It's the whole enchilada.

Kathi: Yeah. The best books are very holistic and include everything throughout. I totally agree. So you've been an entrepreneur for a long time. What do you feel is your biggest organizing obstacle that you've had to face and overcome?

Kathy: The paper. I'm a creator, so I have lots of notes. I wake up in the middle of the night. Last night I was up at 2:30, like, "Oh my god, I've got to write this down." So I had to go scrambling for my pad, but then I've got to get those notes to where the project is. So keeping notes with projects is the biggest. And I have computer files, and I have paper files because I mind map on paper. So there's a lot of activity going on. And that's not even counting the business tasks.

Kathi: Right. Right. Yeah. Paper. As a writer and author myself, paper's actually a challenge for everybody. So you're not alone. We all have those challenges, for people who just love the feeling of the paper, and we like the actual process of writing. I know that a hack a lot of writers will use is one notebook per topic. So if they have something in their brain and they decide that they're going to write something about that topic, they grab that notebook. And that can be easily done with small spiral notebooks, one for each topic or each book that they're theorizing on, or whatever. And also having a spiral notebook for each mentor and each person that they're studying with absolutely helps. And I know I do that for my clients. Each client has their own section within the spiral notebook, so I can grab right to it and keep those notes flowing for that individual person. So yeah, loose pieces of paper don't work, of course. Having at least spirals is a good way to do it. Okay, so you have so much to offer. Gosh, everybody needs to write a book, and everybody that wants to write a book needs a publisher like yourself who's intrinsically involved with it. What valuable resource do you have that you can offer our listeners here today?

Kathy: So I have a really short white paper that has the top 10 questions everyone must ask before they write their book, before they begin writing. Because the key point is before you begin writing. A lot of us go diving right into a project, and then it has to be dismantled. So this paper actually helps overcome some of that dismantling process.

Kathi: I love that. I think I need that, because as a creator, I just jump right in and start writing, and then it's like, well, what's the purpose for writing this? It's like, oh, I don't know, but I really enjoyed writing it. What are you going to do with it? So yeah, I have to read those questions myself, for sure. That'll help me stay focused on what my next project is. I love writing so much that you can just go off into the ethers and then wonder what you're going to do with it.

Kathy: Right. Right.

Kathi: Okay. So what I like to ask all my guests is, what's the one question that I should have asked you during this interview that I did not?

Kathy: So I think the question is, how do you begin writing? Since I'm a writer and I help writers. And I really like starting with mind mapping first. That's how I started my day today. I have a new idea for a series of blogs, and I started to write it, and I realized I was going off track. I was like, "Oh, this isn't easy." So this morning I mind mapped five different blogs within this one topic, and I was like, "Oh, this is so easy." And now from there, I'll take each of those sections and be able to write it. I may outline. Luckily, I've been writing long enough that I can sometimes skip it, but often it's mind mapping to outline, and then drafting comes next.

Often it's mind mapping to outline, and then drafting comes next.

Kathi: Yeah, I absolutely agree with that. When you do movies, you think about the storyboarding. The mind mapping is the same thing for your book. I tell people all the time: come up with your 10 chapters. What are the topics to start out with? And back to your reason of why you are writing it, and how do those chapters fall into why you are writing it, so to speak. So yeah, I love it. Love it. Well, you know what? I always enjoy speaking with you. Always. And I really appreciate your time. Everybody, make sure to download the 10 questions, because that's going to really help you super focus on what you want to write next. And of course, you'll have links to Kathy and links to all of her offers and her website, so you can see more about her. If you're getting ready to write your book, go for it. There's nothing much more fun than having your book published and come to fruition. Trust me on this. It just feels fabulous. So thank you very much. I appreciate your time, and I will see you in the next podcast.

Kathy: All right. Thank you. Thanks, Kathi.