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Have you ever thought about writing a book? Do you ever wonder if somebody is going to want to read what you have to say? Do you feel like you're not eloquent enough to communicate your ideas? Believe it or not, so do most authors. Writing books, though, has been a primary form of communicating ideas for thousands of years. Anybody can write a book, but coming up with the idea can be the challenge. Having both recently just written books, Zach and John come together this week to talk through their writing processes, how they got started, and address some of the challenges that occur while writing a book. If you have a story to tell, we want to encourage you to tell it.
Purchase the You Can Mentor book:
You Can Mentor: How to Impact Your Community, Fulfill the Great Commission, and Break Generational Curses
youcanmentor.com
Purchase the You Can Mentor book:
You Can Mentor: How to Impact Your Community, Fulfill the Great Commission, and Break Generational Curses
youcanmentor.com
Creators & Guests
What is You Can Mentor: A Christian Youth Mentoring Podcast?
You Can Mentor is a network that equips and encourages mentors and mentoring leaders through resources and relationships to love God, love others, and make disciples in their own community.
We want to hear from you! Send any mentoring questions to hello@youcanmentor.com, and we'll answer them on our podcast. We want to help you become the best possible mentor you can be. Also, if you are a mentoring organization, church, or non-profit, connect with us to join our mentoring network or to be spotlighted on our show.
Please find out more at www.youcanmentor.com or find us on social media. You will find more resources on our website to help equip and encourage mentors. We have downloadable resources, cohort opportunities, and an opportunity to build relationships with other Christian mentoring leaders.
You can mentor is a podcast about the power of building relationships with kids from hard places in the name of Jesus. Every episode will help you overcome common mentoring obstacles and give you the confidence you need to invest in the lives of others you can mentor.
Speaker 2:Hey, mentors. Just a reminder about the You Can Mentor book. It's titled, You Can Mentor, How to Impact Your Community, Fulfill the Great Commission, and Break Generational Curses. The whole point of this book is to equip and encourage mentors with new tools and ideas on how to make the most of their mentor mentee relationship. If you're a mentor, hey, go pick it up.
Speaker 2:And if you're a mentoring organization, pick some up for all of your mentors. If you would like to order mass copies, like more than 20, send an email to me, zach@youcanmentor.com, and we will get you guys a special price. But go and pick up that book. It's good. You can mentor.
Speaker 2:Hi, Zach. Is there not gonna be a moiety?
Speaker 3:Decided against that one. Why? I don't know. I just felt like it was good for the time. But you know what?
Speaker 3:There's something in scripture about new wine and new wine skins. And and, brother, I just don't wanna pour that old that that new wine and that old You're your ride up.
Speaker 2:You're putting m, boy howdy and scripture in the same in the same pot, and you're gonna stir that around? I'm really sorry
Speaker 3:to do that.
Speaker 2:Welcome to You Can Mentor. This is Zach, and I'm with John.
Speaker 3:I'm so excited to talk about what we're gonna talk about today.
Speaker 2:I can tell. For sure.
Speaker 3:I'm sitting on the I'm literally sitting on the edge of my seat.
Speaker 2:You are?
Speaker 3:Yep. And you're just reclining back there in that wingback chair. Wow.
Speaker 2:I just wanna paint a picture of where we're at. We're sitting in John's workshop recording a podcast with a fake fire that is a space heater drinking delicious coffee that has not made.
Speaker 3:The coffee's good, though. Right?
Speaker 2:And today, we're gonna talk about one of John's favorite topics, writing.
Speaker 3:Mhmm.
Speaker 2:Writing a book. Before we get started, I know that whenever I just said that, today, we're gonna talk about writing a book. Y'all are like, jeez. I'm gonna go listen to some other podcast.
Speaker 3:Yeah. Tune out.
Speaker 2:But don't tune out. It's for you. This is for everyone. John, why is this for everyone?
Speaker 3:This is for everyone, Zach, because I believe I believe that everybody has a book in them. I think that everybody has the potential and really needs to consider make writing a resource, whether it's by themself or maybe with a team or a partner. Like, I'm always trying to get you and I to write a book. Like, we have yet to write a book together, but it's going to happen and I'm so excited
Speaker 2:about that. That kinda felt like a dig.
Speaker 3:No. No. No. No. No.
Speaker 3:Not at all. It's a matter of timing. And I know we haven't just found the timing yet.
Speaker 2:But We haven't even
Speaker 3:talked about
Speaker 2:it. It's
Speaker 3:gonna be when I grab my
Speaker 2:book first I'm hearing of this.
Speaker 3:When I grab my book and I put it on top of your book right here.
Speaker 2:You're trying to make a book baby. Oh, no. Okay. So John just finished his book. I wrote a book a couple years ago.
Speaker 2:You can find both on Amazon, And I agree with John. You have something inside of you that the Lord has put specifically inside of you, not anyone else, that you can share to advance his kingdom. It might be a 500 page chapter book. It might be a little 35 page little booklet. It might be a podcast.
Speaker 2:It might be something. But your experiences, your stories, your background, your the things that you focus in on, If you share those in the name of Jesus, even if it only helps one person, you never know what that one person's gonna do. So today, we're gonna talk about the right stuff. Right? W r I t e.
Speaker 2:Yeah, man. You're you're really excited about that.
Speaker 3:That made me smile just by you saying the title of of today's episode. I'm very easily entertained, but, yeah, I think that's pretty cool.
Speaker 2:Alright. So today, we're gonna talk about the roadblocks in writing a book or a resource. We are we will say writing a book, but just know that when we say that, it's just talking about any kind of creative resource.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 2:We're gonna talk about roadblocks. We're gonna talk about building up the confidence to create. We're gonna talk about the process in which we create, and then we're gonna talk about some people who can help us out in taking your creative ideas and turning them into something.
Speaker 3:Absolutely. And, listener, this is what I would challenge you to do. I just want you to kinda think about this as Zach mentioned, in terms of, you know, what resource are we talking about? This could be everything from as an individual mentor, you're meeting with a mentee and you as you're kind of living life together, you're realizing, you know what? This student needs to really spend some time on this chapter of the Bible.
Speaker 3:Or I find myself talking about this topic with my kids so often. I probably just need to come up with a little devotional that maybe this kid could use for over a 5 day span. Or maybe you're kind of thinking that, again, with their spiritual development, it would be great to give them something that they could just spend some time in scripture each day. It could be something like that all the way into some huge series that your organization needs to put out. That would be a comprehensive look at some some kind of thing that would help other mentoring organizations as well.
Speaker 3:So this is the vein that we're coming at you with to say, if you've never even considered it, hopefully, by the end of this podcast, you'll say, you know what? Maybe I should start thinking about this, or maybe I should pray about this because it is a worthy endeavor. And that's why, like many things in life, the hardest things are the things worth doing. So this is why we're going to kick it off. Talking about some of the roadblocks.
Speaker 3:Should we talk maybe specifically about some of the roadblocks that we had in our writing process?
Speaker 2:A 100%. Okay. So I think the first thing that comes up that is keeping us from doing this is fear. Fear of I'm not a good writer. Fear of I don't have anything to say.
Speaker 2:Fear of how in the heck am I even going to get started? And all those things that you hear, all of those lies, that's the enemy trying to keep you from doing it. And Yeah. Sure. Like, we we could, like, hone our hone our craft.
Speaker 2:We could figure out how to, you know, structure a book in in a good way and everything like that. But the main fear is I don't have anything to say. And then who in the world is ever going to read this?
Speaker 3:Mhmm.
Speaker 2:And so those that fear mixed with insecurity, like, who am I? Who am I to write a book? I'm, you know, 40 years old. I haven't done that much in my life. I am an okay mentor.
Speaker 2:That insecurity can also keep us from creating.
Speaker 3:I totally agree. I think also that sometimes the nature of the mentor, one who realizes that they wanna have relationship on the ground level and really invest in the life of of another, These are typically not the type of people that wanna be spokespeople, right, kind of out speaking to many people or or teaching on such a large scale. So, again, I think all the more reason why we would just kinda encourage those to say, oh, you're you're doing such good work as you're investing in the life of another, and you have remarkable things to say that other individuals and organizations could benefit from. So why not really give this some some thought and understand that, again, every step of the way in this process, you're going to think maybe I should just stop or maybe this isn't good, quite good enough. But that's why we want to be able to encourage you to say, you've got a lot of good things to say, and you really should be investing in the idea of a resource in this way.
Speaker 2:I'll also say some of the roadblocks is the expense. You know? It's gonna cost anywhere from 2 to $5,000.
Speaker 3:For a self published book. Yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah. Yeah. But if you're a part of a mentoring organization, if that's gonna help your mentors mentor better, then you have to ask yourself, is it worth it? Mhmm. If it helps advance the kingdom, I bet you could find someone who supports you to possibly underwrite that.
Speaker 2:So more roadblocks is I just don't have time, and that's true. All of us don't have time. But we're we're gonna give you some tips to kinda try to try to shrink this down into bite sized chunks That's right. So that you can manage creating in such a way that it's not overwhelming. Yeah.
Speaker 2:The process of a book. You know, there there are lots of things to do, and we are gonna talk about that today as well. But the main thing is if you believe that you don't have anything to say, but there's this little tiny, like, piece of you that's like, maybe I do, then sit on that and ask the Lord to kinda shine a spotlight on that and just see what happens.
Speaker 3:So there's a saying that says that good readers make good writers, and it kinda makes sense. I think that anything that you are really interested in, you're gonna be good at in that way. Or you have the better chance of if you read a lot of books, you kinda know what what makes a good book. And so you take that knowledge into the process of writing as well. I would go so far as to say also though that some of us maybe aren't natural readers in that way.
Speaker 3:Now, Zach, you're a reader. Mhmm. You're you don't have to make yourself read, or do you? Is that is that kind of a
Speaker 2:you know?
Speaker 3:And now is it kind of a just like a a you just naturally do it because you kinda spend that time investing in being a reader, or are you just kinda natural? My wife is a is a natural reader, and I'm not. So what about you?
Speaker 2:Yeah. I would say that I had to learn how to become a reader. That's that's all I got.
Speaker 3:So you read often. Mhmm. And again, you feel like you can I mean, have you ever put a book down because a real published book because you thought, I just don't like how this book is written? Yes. Okay.
Speaker 3:That still happens. Yes. People write bad books. People write bad books. Publishers publish, like, real legitimate publishers publish bad books.
Speaker 2:Yes, they do.
Speaker 3:It does. It happens. Mhmm. So I just think it's so interesting that you might be an incredible writer out there and you don't even know it because you don't maybe aren't a natural reader. Maybe you didn't have an English degree.
Speaker 3:Right? And so you're kind of coming at this thing from a different way. Well, I think that's a really fresh way to kind of think about it and consider it to say you still have great content, and you can probably even deliver it in such a way that's informative and entertaining. But it doesn't necessarily mean that you have to have a master's degree in language or
Speaker 2:in writing. Right. In fact, I think in some ways, just you speaking or you creating in such a way where it just feels natural. I think that is more attractive than someone who's spent their whole life trying to learn how to write in such a way that it feels almost academic. But, yeah.
Speaker 2:But, so I I do like to read. I do like to write. I try to write almost every morning. Have so for the last probably 10 years. But, you know, anytime that you show your writings or anytime that you show anything that you create, whether it's a painting or anything, it's like the most terrifying thing that you've ever done.
Speaker 2:It's similar to someone seeing you naked. It's like, oh, I don't want that. Like like, this is weird, and I'm I'm ashamed, and they're gonna it's not good. You're vulnerable. Super vulnerable.
Speaker 2:Yeah. And how how I got to writing a book is this. I was having coffee with a guy, and he was, you know at at the time, I was I was probably 36, and he was 28. And he just published a book. And, in my mind, I was like, man, someone publishing a book?
Speaker 2:That's like next level. Like, that only superstars do that. And yet, I'm sitting across from the table from this dude who I mean, he's a great guy. He's sharp, but he didn't look like a guy who wrote a book. And he didn't talk like 1, and he didn't sound like 1.
Speaker 2:And I was just like, man, if this guy can write a book, maybe I can. And that is what I've come to realize is I've met probably a dozen people who have books, and all of them are just like me.
Speaker 3:Mhmm.
Speaker 2:All of them are insecure about what they have to write. No one knows if it's gonna be good or not, and everyone's just taking a leap of faith. So I'm sitting there having coffee with this guy, and I was like, you wrote a book? And he's like, yeah, man. And I was like, how did you do that?
Speaker 2:And he's like, well, I actually hired a ghostwriter. And I'm like, what is a ghostwriter? And he's like, well, I've got these podcasts. I've got these sermons. I've got things that I've done.
Speaker 2:And I just give it to this guy, and he creates a book out of it. And then together, we kinda shape it. And I was like, really? That's super interesting. Well, it turns out that I know the guy who is his post writer.
Speaker 2:So I went to high school with his wife. So I called him up, said, hey, man. My name is Zach Garza. Can the 2 of us have coffee? He said, yeah.
Speaker 2:Sure. So we go out for coffee, and we're just kinda, you know, hey. How's it going? Why don't you tell me about yourself? And then we started talking about writing.
Speaker 2:And he is a at the time, he was a pastor. Before that, he was a lawyer. And now, he's a counselor. Kinda crazy. And he has 2 books out.
Speaker 2:I think now he has 3. But I was like, how did you write a book? And he just kinda started talking about how he started to create a book. And I just said, yeah, man. I like to write.
Speaker 2:And he's like, really? And I said, yeah. And he said, well, can you send me some of your stuff? And I'm like, he wants to read my stuff. And I was like, yeah, man.
Speaker 2:Of course. Yeah. Sure. And inside, I'm just freaking out. So after our coffee, I go home, and I I'm sitting at my computer, and I'm just staring at the screen for probably 15 minutes just waiting to hit send because I'm so scared.
Speaker 2:And, finally, I just sent him, like, 2 or 3 little, like, one page things that I had written. And he wrote me back within an hour and he's like dude, you need to write a book. You can do this. You have something inside you that people need to read. And that's how I got the confidence to write a book.
Speaker 2:Because I met someone who had done it. They gave me the confidence, and then they introduced me to someone who told me that I had what it takes, I had something to say, and that I could do it. And so I think one thing that's so important in regards to gaining confidence and overcoming roadblocks is having a community of people to encourage you and to support you. Because any time that you create, there's consistent doubts. Right?
Speaker 2:Oh, man. This is terrible. I don't know if I said this right. And a community can help you overcome this. So the second thing that we are second thing that we're we're gonna focus in on today is how to overcome the roadblocks with confidence.
Speaker 2:And a ton of confidence can come from community. And I'm sitting here today telling you that if you think that you have something to write, John and I are here to be that community for you. We are here to encourage you 100%. If that's something that you want.
Speaker 3:Yeah. So my story of this resource kind of goes back to having spent for years feeling really inspired by scripture and also thinking about things that I get to mention during our escape camps of just being able to teach and and also wanting to kind of tell the story of how people had really blessed me throughout my entire life and helped me kind of grow in ministry. And I can tell you this is what's cool about my process was that you and I were sitting down eating tacos one day Always. As we do, as one does. And and I believe I was talking to you about your process of writing, and this is what I always bring up to my friends who are authors is to say, man, I wanna start asking you a few questions, kinda finding out about how you worked your way through the process as this is, you know, again, I'm considering what's keeping me, what's keeping me.
Speaker 3:And you really helped show some helpful information in how you mentioned that a pastor would take content from sermons, and that would be their chapter content. Because I would say one of the biggest roadblocks for me in my writing process was, you may or may not know this, but I'm a bit of a brainstorm thinker. I'm not really linear in how I process things. Now, I value that because it served me well at times to be able to kind of have some creativity in my thought. However, sometimes it might lead those to say, hey, are we gonna land this plane?
Speaker 3:Like, what what where are we going with this? And I say, I don't really know where we're going, but let's go together. But when you were able to share that a pastor was able to put together these sermons in such a way to make kind of a comprehensive book resource. I just thought that was gold.
Speaker 2:And when John says a pastor, I mean, Max Lucado.
Speaker 3:Yeah. That one.
Speaker 2:Yeah. So out of out of college, I worked for Max Lucado's church. I was the junior high intern Mhmm. At Oak Hills Church in San Antonio. Max, if you hear this or if anyone who goes to Oak Hills hears this, please don't sue me.
Speaker 2:And so I'm a junior high intern hanging out with kids, and part of my job is to attend church. So, I attended church and I got to hear Max Lucado preach. And Max is an incredible author and he is a very good communicator. But I would say that his sermons aren't like they're not super powerful. They have great information, but he he's just a real, like, calm, soothing he's a man of peace.
Speaker 2:He isn't gonna be like, God. You know? So I started to pick up that Max did his sermons through sermon series. And every sermon series was 8 weeks, 10 weeks, you know, and he'd he'd have 2 to 3 sermon series a year. And then, 9 months later, a book with that exact same title would come out.
Speaker 2:And it just dawned on me. I'm like, oh my gosh. Every sermon is a chapter. And that gave me the idea of, oh, so that's how he does it. Mhmm.
Speaker 2:He creates a sermon. He gives the sermon. He puts some more meat on those bones, and that becomes a chapter. Well, that's kind of what we do with our podcast. So with my book, I think there's 10 chapters.
Speaker 2:In every chapter, before I wrote the book, I did an outline. That outline became a podcast. The podcast became a chapter. And then I just had to merge all of those chapters together in one book. And so I think there's a podcast with Max Lucado and Carey Neuhof that talks about his process of how to create a book Oh, nice.
Speaker 2:Which is awesome. But that that really did give me just a ton of confidence of, like, oh, so, like, that's how that's how he did it, And that sounds pretty simple. I think I can do that too. Mhmm.
Speaker 3:I remember going away from that lunch together thinking that very thing, saying, you know what? I know that one of my struggles is organization. So if I can begin to kinda eat this elephant one bite at a time, that way I can look at the overarching work and say, okay, if I had 10 to 12 chapters and within each chapter I kind of just considered it maybe that sermon. You know, what if I consider it like a 3 point sermon so that the chapter kind of has a beginning, middle, and end? And then also as the book goes, I'm thinking about that way as well, the process, the art, right, from beginning to end, kind of landing that plane and saying, okay, well, always keeping my eye on where I want it where I want this thing to go because that is kind of naturally a struggle that I have when I create content.
Speaker 3:I just found that to be so helpful and really kinda be something that got me through that roadblock.
Speaker 2:And I think for me, John, whenever we did the podcast series on Mephibosheth
Speaker 3:Mhmm. You said that perfectly. Thank you.
Speaker 2:I was thinking in the car yesterday. I was like, I think we I think I should just call him Fib. Just Fib? Sup, Fib? Like, hey, man.
Speaker 2:Do you think today's the day that we're gonna talk about Fib? Yeah. So much easier than my fibbish chef, but whatever. Whenever I heard you talk about fib, I was like, oh my gosh. I have never I've never heard this before.
Speaker 2:Mhmm. I I've given my last 15 years to mentoring and Jesus. I read the bible, And, I've never heard this story before. I've I've like, I have read 1st and second Samuel dozens of times. Mhmm.
Speaker 2:And, it has never stuck out to me, this story. And, whenever you started talking about it and it was obvious that this is something that you've been talking about or thinking about or for for years. Yes. Right? So how long have you been thinking about this story?
Speaker 3:Yeah. You know, I'll I'll say this. This is what's interesting when people say, oh, John, you wrote a book. That's yeah. That's really great.
Speaker 3:Well, you know, how did you find the time? And I think time is something that we're gonna go back to that's really important because I'm active. And Yeah. And it's and it's a struggle. I'm
Speaker 2:kinda active.
Speaker 3:You know what I say, Zach? You might think, well, why did John call himself active? Like, he's out he's not wearing, you know, like, he's not wearing yoga pants or something over here. Okay? You know what I do?
Speaker 3:You know what I say? I I should have said I'm busy. Right? But, dude, instead of saying I'm busy, which means that life is happening to me, I say I'm active, which shows me that I am happening to life.
Speaker 2:Oh my.
Speaker 3:Right? That's a frame of mind thing, dude. And so I wanna give our listeners that word to say, let's stop saying that we're busy as if we're we're victims of our own schedule. We're active. We're going for it.
Speaker 3:What do you think?
Speaker 2:That's not your next book. Okay.
Speaker 3:I'm not a vulnerable person.
Speaker 2:So but what I let's get back to the point here.
Speaker 3:What I wanted to say is that I got the sense of you know what? I've been writing this book for years. Right. I've literally been writing this book for years. Have I been typing on my computer for that long?
Speaker 3:No. But I really knew what I wanted to wanted to say. I knew what I was excited about. I knew that in conversation, this kept coming up, and so this was something that I wanted to be able to put on paper.
Speaker 2:And you didn't even know it. Right. So whenever I heard you talk about fib, I could tell that you've been thinking about this for years. Mhmm. And that's when I was like, bro, you gotta write a book.
Speaker 2:Yeah. It's in you. You've just gotta expand it out some. So number 1, roadblocks. We have to get that fear out of here.
Speaker 2:Number 2, confidence. Mhmm. Community, examples, but also, what are the things that you talk about all the time? And what have you been talking about all the time for the last 3, 5, 10, 15 years? Mhmm.
Speaker 2:Like, all I talk about is relationships change lives. All I talk about is you can't be what you can't see. All I talk about is generational curses that can be turned around because of relationships. It's not good for man to be alone. All of us have, like, 10 things that we just talk about on a consistent basis.
Speaker 2:And I was like, oh my gosh. I could probably take those things that I've talked about and that I have that's been on my mind for decades, And I can somehow put it down on paper and maybe it helps one person. And here's one more thing that can give you confidence. You don't have to sell a $1,000,000. You don't have to don't don't even worry about that.
Speaker 2:Just worry about is God calling me? Has God put something on my heart? Is he calling me to share it? And, am I being faithful? And, that's what's so crazy.
Speaker 2:I was talking to one of my friends. Peter Lewis is his name. Peter wrote he's written 4 books. And Peter said I was telling him about a book that I wanted to write. And he's like, Zach, there comes a point where you have to ask yourself, should I write this book?
Speaker 2:Or are you asking yourself, am I being disobedient because God has called me to write this book? And I was like, oh, man. Like, okay. So now it now it's it's not a choice thing. It's an obedience thing.
Speaker 2:And I'm like, oh my gosh. So with Peter, he's written a book called Back to the Gospel and a couple more. But, like, his first book sold, okay. 2nd book sold, okay. 3rd book sold, not so great.
Speaker 2:But then he wrote this 4th book, which is a 30 day devotional, and it's sold, like, thousands of copies. Mhmm. And he's just like, I just felt like God put something on my heart, and I felt like I was being obedient to write it. Whether it produces fruit, that's up to him. And so I thought that that was super cool.
Speaker 3:Man, I think that is great. And so a word to the devotional as well because I think that's a great entry point for a lot of writers Yeah. A lot of investors and teachers as well. So I would encourage our listeners as well to think about this process that I got to take part in a few years ago with Middleman, and that was I really wanted to be able to offer a devotional in Proverbs. So 31 chapters, 31 lessons, a passage from the chapter that I've just felt like really stood out, and something that I wanted to be able to really develop as an idea.
Speaker 3:Just say, Hey, you know what? This verse says this, and I think it's really impactful. And then finally, now this is what we can do based on that. And so we called it 31 days of wisdom. And we actually I've just spent some time writing this little resource about 10 pages long.
Speaker 3:I sent it to a friend who's a graphic designer. He threw a PDF together with a really cool looking logo. And then we put that PDF up on our website and offered it as our free resource to teenagers or mentors, anybody that might want to do that in their youth group as well. So that was really my first endeavor in the art of public publication, and that was a real kind of fun process. And, again, it involved a few friends and just something that said, you know, this has served me well.
Speaker 3:I think it could serve others. And that's that's another good way to get this process started.
Speaker 2:I'll also say this about how to create confidence to do this. I've had an opportunity to write some stuff. I've had an opportunity to speak, whether it's a sermon or, you know, public speaking. And this happens a lot. I'll create something, and I'll be like, oh my gosh.
Speaker 2:This is so good. Like, I am going to crush this. Like, man, people's lives are gonna be transformed because of what I just made. This sermon, it's the best sermon ever. And I prepare and I get up and I give the sermon and I crush it.
Speaker 2:Like, I could not have said the sermon better. Mhmm. And I'm expecting, like, everyone to be like, oh my gosh. Life changed, Zach. Thank you so much.
Speaker 2:I was going this way, and now because of your powerful words, my life is formed. And I get done with the sermon, and no one says anything. I just stayed alone after the service and walked to my car and then sit in there and cry because it doesn't feel like anyone got impacted. Mhmm. But I was so confident.
Speaker 2:I was like, this is good. Yeah. This is really good. On the flip side, I've had times whenever I'm just, like, fumbling through it. I'm just like, man, I am struggling to come up with anything.
Speaker 2:Lord Jesus, you have to show up because I have nothing. And I get up there and I have a sermon that I have kind of prepared, but I'm, like, sweating because I'm, like, man, this isn't gonna go well. And then I give it, and then when I'm done, I'm freaking out because I'm, like, that was bad. That was terrible. And And then I have multiple people come up to me and say, man, that was exactly what I needed to hear.
Speaker 2:Thank you so much. That was incredible. Or I'll have someone come up to me weeks later and say, man, that sermon really impacted me. And the point of that story is this. We're pretty bad judges of our own material.
Speaker 2:But you might think it's good, but just because you think it's good doesn't mean that everyone else will. And you might think it's bad. And just because you think it's bad doesn't mean everyone else will as well. So this comes back to the just create. And, like, yeah, you have to put it out there, and that's vulnerable, and that's scary, and there's tons of fear.
Speaker 2:But you just be faithful to create and see what the Lord does, because his ways are not our ways. That should give you confidence.
Speaker 3:And again, just shows that every step of the way, community really matters in this process, doesn't it? Mhmm. Because we are such bad judges of our own content sometimes, and we are kinda so self defeating at times. But whenever we can kinda go to others and then maybe even just say, hey. Can you take a look at this?
Speaker 3:Or what do you think about this idea? That is really where the gold is as well, where people can say, hey. You know what? You got some good stuff here. Keep going with that.
Speaker 2:Okay. So we talked about roadblocks. We talked about confidence. Let's talk about the writing process.
Speaker 3:Here we go. Okay. So again, Zach, you're, you're a very active guy when you're writing. You can mentor. How did you how did you find the time?
Speaker 3:Can you tell us maybe just how did you how did you schedule time to be able to put pen to paper?
Speaker 2:Yeah. So I, you know, I was fortunate. I was able to take well, first off, the the process started with making an outline. And I mean, that's not hard. That might take an hour.
Speaker 2:Maybe. Create the outline. Then I turn that outline into a podcast. And even if you don't have a podcast, you can still invite a friend to have a conversation with you about what you wrote down on that outline. Because this is always what happens.
Speaker 2:You write down 10 things on the outline, but then whenever you start to talk about it, that those 10 things turn into 14 things. Someone once told me this. You can someone can have a hard time writing, but no one's ever had a hard time talking. So, when you start to talk it out, more stuff that you don't even know is inside you starts to come out. So outline, conversation that for me, it was podcast.
Speaker 2:Then I went back and I listened to it and I added some more meat onto the outline. And then I had you know, every chapter has, like, 9 points that you would care to talk about, and then you just turn those points into paragraphs. Toss in a couple stories, have an intro, point, story, point, story, point, point, point, story, then finish it up. And that is how I created a chapter. So, you know, outline takes an hour.
Speaker 2:Podcast or discussion takes an hour. Recapping that podcast or discussion, that takes an hour. And then actually creating it, you know, I set aside 2 to 3 hours a day for a couple weeks, and I'm fortunate enough to have a job where I can do that. Mhmm. And that's how I created chapters.
Speaker 3:Was there an optimal time during the day? Are you kind of a get up and write in the morning?
Speaker 2:I have to do it in the morning time. So if I don't do it in the morning time, I I'm done. So I get progressively more unproductive throughout the day. Mhmm. So so, like, if I so my ideal hours are from, like, 6 AM to to lunch.
Speaker 2:So I have to guard those times. I'm not setting any meetings. I'm not gonna go work out. Those times, it's for Jesus in writing because that's when I'm at my sharpest.
Speaker 3:And that's awesome. For me, the process really was kind of just being throughout the day, doing all the tasks, being with all the people, and just kind of thinking about and contemplating what I was gonna write later that night. And so my process involved kind of doing all the parenting, you know, after work and getting everybody attended to, getting everybody in their places. And then my house was quiet. So I would go and just take the laptop at the dining room table and just kind of spend that hour or 2 writing.
Speaker 3:And I found it for me, too. I just kind of felt a sense of accomplishment when I would look down at the bottom left of the document and see how many words I had put out. Okay. Now we're gonna talk about maybe that process of of, you know, when you put how much you put out there. I knew that I wasn't putting a 1,000 quality words on the page, but to get that type of that amount per evening just felt
Speaker 2:really good. So one piece of advice that a friend who has books told me is don't ever read your work. Mhmm. Just create. Don't go back.
Speaker 2:Because if you go back, then you'll start to get kind of paralyzed with, oh my gosh. I said this, and I should have said that. I told this story, and I should have told that story. No. Just just write.
Speaker 2:Mhmm. And then give it to someone else and let them edit it. So you don't ever read your your work until someone else has read it and given you suggestions. And then together, y'all work on it. Because, kinda like what I said, we are terrible judges of our own stuff, and you'll just get paralyzed with, oh my gosh.
Speaker 2:I I didn't do this right. This isn't good. So just right.
Speaker 3:No kidding. During that rough draft phase, you're not you're not sculpting the intricate parts. What you're doing is you're throwing as much material right, up up up on that pedestal as possible that you're gonna later go and shape.
Speaker 2:I think my one of my books, it was 90,000 words. And whenever it was all done, it was 35,000 words.
Speaker 3:Goodness.
Speaker 2:So, like, 2 thirds of the book, they cut out. And I was like, oh my gosh. That hurts. But an editor a good editor, and we will talk about this next, but finding a good editor who gets you, who who understands how you write, understands how you work, what's important to you, that's essential. Okay.
Speaker 2:It's almost like this is what I love about it is it it takes a team. It takes you. It takes your friends or your spouse reading it and giving you ideas and feedback. It takes an editor. Like, it's it's it's almost like the process forces you to rely on other people, which I think is the Lord.
Speaker 2:He loves it when we work together and when you create opportunities for people to use their skills. So that's great.
Speaker 3:No kidding. I can remember when I had completed a rough draft of the first chapter, that was really kinda what I wanted to take to a few people that I knew that I trusted that had also written as well.
Speaker 2:Yeah. Which was not me. Well, that's right. Yeah. Because you you didn't give it to me, and I was hurt.
Speaker 3:B team now. I'm not talking a team just yet. You know what I mean? I took it to No.
Speaker 2:No. You aren't coming back from this.
Speaker 3:I'm still hurt. So that was also very much a confidence builder When someone can say, yes, you have something here, don't stop this process of what you're doing. But absolutely, we're going to say this time and time again, which we already have. It's all about community.
Speaker 2:Next next week, next podcast, we're going to talk to who? We're going to talk to
Speaker 3:our friend over at Tall Pine Publishing, and his name is Nick Poe. And he is a great guy.
Speaker 2:He is a great guy. Boy, howdy. So he will really help shine light on his experiences. So I think that that's gonna be a great podcast.
Speaker 3:Yeah. And, really, we're not gonna get into it a lot with publishing, but I will say this, that for me, one of my fears was this publishing process is gonna be so long. It is gonna be so expensive, and I could really just kinda lose my way within it. This is what was beneficial when I got to start having conversations with Nick was, man, he just kinda laid all my fears to rest and kinda showed me, no. Actually, it's a lot simpler than you think.
Speaker 3:And so that's what I'm excited about him being able to share next time that we get to talk to him.
Speaker 2:So as we as we wrap up, I think the main things that we want you to walk away with is just this. If you have something in your heart that you can't stop thinking about, if you kinda say the same things over and over and over and you give the same sermons over and over and over and you just find yourself talking about the same things, and you have been for the last, you know, seasons, maybe you've got something in you that more people need to read or need to experience. Don't worry about the fruit. Just is god calling you to do it? And if it changes one person's perspective, if it impacts one person, and that one person can impact others, I think it's worth it.
Speaker 2:Don't believe the lies that you don't have anything to to share. Don't believe the lies that, you know, you're not a good writer or you're not this or you're not that. But just go to the lord and see what he says about it. I think that is my main encouragement. The enemy wants to fill you with fear and insecurity, but the Lord guides you in whatever way you should go.
Speaker 3:Amen. Listen. We have been created by a creative creator who allows us to take part in that process. Right? So so to add our creativity to making things and to putting things out there for others.
Speaker 3:And so as we finish today, we think about these three keys to success from taking this idea that you may have to having an actual book in your hand. Number 1, talk about your ideas with your friends and your colleagues. Make it a point to discuss these ideas and develop them in community in that way. Number 2, write and then write and then go and write some more. Do not stop the process of writing.
Speaker 3:On your laptop, in your notebook, Just put words to the page. You'll find even that is a really encouraging thing to do as you spend that time putting content down. As Zach says, it's easier to remove than to add, and so invest that time into what it takes. Whether you're a morning writer, whether you're an evening writer, or throughout the day, you may be able to spend 15 minutes here and there, or you may be able to put a a chunk of 3 hours on the schedule. But find the time to do it and just keep writing.
Speaker 3:You'll find that you're actually becoming it'll just become even more natural throughout the process.
Speaker 2:And I know for me, like, with my cell phone and notes, anytime that I have a creative idea, I have a page on my notes on my iPhone, and I just go in there and, oh, man, I have to capture this so I don't forget. There's an email that I subscribed to by a guy named James Clear. And he says this, with the creative process, the key is to create a lot and edit a lot. Make more than you need, then remove everything that isn't exceptional.
Speaker 3:Mhmm. Man, that's wise. And finally, you know what? Go the distance. Alright?
Speaker 3:Speaking about little Field of Dreams there, go the distance. You're so old. I know. But I'm I got I mean, somebody out there is thinking, you know what? That's one of my favorite movies as well.
Speaker 2:Man, I'm so active just watching Field of Dreams in my yoga pants.
Speaker 3:Dad, wanna have a catch? Oh my goodness. That's the moment.
Speaker 2:No one knows what you're talking about.
Speaker 3:Well, listen. Field of Dreams, a certain actor by the name of Kevin Costner? Who? Excuse me? Go the distance, folks.
Speaker 3:Shape, rewrite, find readers, find these friends that will sit down with your manuscript and read your book and edit and find a good editor that you trust, who knows your voice and who values what you, where, where you're going with this resource. Do all that it takes to make this happen, you guys. Because just as as Zach mentioned, this may be a matter of obedience more so than just your your neat ideas. This may be what God is is having you do.
Speaker 2:And this podcast is called You Can Mentor. And, yes, we do believe believe that relationships change lives. But you can also mentor through creating, through giving resources and things like that. And so I I just wanna encourage you to think about the process and to see if it's for you. There it is.
Speaker 2:Boy, howdy. Boy, howdy. Alright. You can mentor, you can write, you can do it. Holler at John and I, we really don't have anything else to do.
Speaker 2:I mean, we are lonely and we are just staring at our inboxes all day. This Is someone gonna email us? Zachzach at youcanmentor.com.johnjohn@youcanmentor.com. You can even call us. Like, I I I like talking on the phone.
Speaker 2:John likes talking on the phone. You can come to Waco, Texas and we'll buy you tacos. We'll go to Waco Taco Yes. On 18th Street and we'll eat some tacos.
Speaker 3:Oh my goodness. It'll be delicious. That would be awesome. It would make my heart so happy if someone takes us up on that. Alright.
Speaker 2:You can mentor. You can write. Share it with a friend, holler at us. See you next week.