Five Tips to Help You Write One Book a Year

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As an author having just submitted my sixth book to a publisher, I’m being asked the question of “what’s your process?” What makes it possible to write and launch one book a year, as I’ve done since 2019? Although there is no ‘one way’ to do it, I have learned a couple things that work for me and could work for others too!

Tip 1: Identify the gift your book gives others

Most of us start with a book idea. Perhaps it came to you at 4am or while talking to a close colleague. Maybe you realized from your client work that you have a message to share with a broader audience. Similar to a TEDx talk, asking yourself “what is the message worth spreading” can help you get clear on why you want to write this book in the first place. Identifying your gift also reinforces the bigger vision and audience of your book, which comes in handy as you decide to either self-publish or pitch your work to a publishing company.

As an example, let’s take a look at the ideas behind my books over the years:

1)    The Empowerment Model of Clinical Supervision (2019)-- introduced a new model of clinical supervision for mental health leaders.

2)    Perfectioneur: From Workaholic to Well-Balanced (2020) (English, Spanish, and Workbook)--offered 22 concrete tools to support driven professionals who struggle with self-care or burnout.

3)    Helpers with Hashimoto’s (2021)--explored an idea that professional helpers are more suspetible to thyroid conditions due to compassion fatigue, trauma, chronic stress, and the desire to help others at the risk of their own health.

4)    Estrangement Energy (2022, coming soon)—identified a clinical gap in representation of adult women who make the difficult choice to estrange from their mothers.

Tip 2: Create a book outline

I know, I know, this is reminiscent of high school English class where we groaned at the extra work of an outline. However, an outline helps you organize themes or concepts you want to highlight within your book by making them into chapters, allowing an easier flow to your writing. An outline serves as a roadmap to your writing process while taking readers on a journey with a cohesive beginning, middle and end.

Tip 3: Set a time to write, preferably daily

This can feel daunting but necessary. As a new mom in 2022, I knew if I didn’t carve out the time (after putting baby to bed) the book wouldn’t be written within the deadline that was set. Think about a 1-2 hour chunk of time at most. I gave myself weekend nights off to rest my brain, but felt it was important to at least revisit what I last wrote or complete a few sentences every night to keep a sense of momentum. Consider designating a place to write in order to condition your body to recognize that being in that space means it’s time to focus and get to work!

Tip 4: Embrace strategies for writer’s block

When feeling stuck in your writing, consider any of the following strategies:

1)    Revisit what you wrote and revise as desired. Sometimes just re-reading a section gives you a new idea or helps flush out a concept that previously had you feeling stuck.

2)    Brainstorm with a family member, friend or colleague to see what they’d want to know about your topic. This is immensely helpful in adding more content to your book or outline.

3)    Read other books on the subject to generate ideas and/or formulate possible new perspectives regarding their content. You may have a different spin or perspective to offer in your own book that is revealed by reading what others have to say.

4)    Pace as you brainstorm. The movement helps get creative juices flowing.

5)    Sleep on it and take notes if you wake up with a new idea, allowing yourself to capture the idea before resuming your sleep cycle.

Tip 5: Talk about your book

Just the act of talking about what you are writing can hold you accountable to getting the book done because sharing it with others keeps it fresh in your mind. Not only can talking about it keep you emotionally invested in your writing, it can help you identify a list of folks who want to know when the book is published because they’re excited to read it!

So there you have it! Five tips that have worked for me as a published author who averages one new book a year. Additionally, check out my on-demand self-paced course Professional & Published, which takes you through the process of writing, publishing, and marketing your first book. I hope these tips can help you on your journey to becoming a published author!

Clinical Writing: Consistency and Confidentiality

A question heard frequently in private practice is how do we stay on top of paperwork when our passion is engaging the client in doing meaningful work? What if clinical documentation supports them in getting additional resources such as disability or explores reunification with their children? When working with individuals or families involved in the Department of Human Services (DHS), probation, diversion, or other entities evaluating your client, the documentation you keep takes on an additional level of importance in capturing the client’s progress. So how does one balance recording the content of the session consistently while protecting client confidentiality? Balancing requirements for documentation with client privacy is an art form that requires consistency and practice.

Construction of Case Notes

Depending on your preference for hand written, typed, or electronic notes, your content and formatting of those notes could be dictated by private or state assistance insurance panels in order to process claims and receive payment for services rendered. With this in mind, most insurance panels require the following to be identified in each note:

• Full name of client and insurance ID
• Date of service
• Time of Service
• Duration of Service
• CPT Code that indicates individual therapy, family therapy, case management, etc.
• Overview of therapeutic interventions utilized in the session
• Progress towards identified treatment goals
• Current mental health diagnosis
• Client presentation in session
• Next scheduled appointment

By formatting your notes in a similar fashion, you can streamline any documentation needs from secondary parties desiring collaboration. Don’t forget a signed Release of Information from your client to facilitate collaboration!

Consistency in Content

Formatting not only provides the outline of a universal progress note, it can support consistency that will reduce the time spent on notes each week. Many therapists report frustration that their notes are behind schedule due to wanting to dedicate their time and energy to the client work. By utilizing a template for notes, it will become easier and more efficient to complete notes in a timely manner, especially in utilizing clinical language. When struggling with how to write clinical language that captures the professional interventions present in each session, it can be helpful to have some go-to phrases that indicate progress without providing too much detail. Here are some examples of common content and professional language that could be helpful in writing clinical notes:

Confidentiality for Clients

In addition to clinical documentation supporting professional record keeping in line with ethical requirements, another component it can support is client confidentiality. It can feel like a fine line providing adequate written evidence of professional interventions without violating client privacy.

One strategy to ask yourself is, “would my client feel uncomfortable with my notes being seen in court or by others?” If the answer is yes, you may want to re-evaluate how you write your notes to support clear, concise interventions that would not put confidentiality at risk. Below are some documentation tips to consider in supporting client privacy:

• Keep client direct quotes to a minimum.  They are best included when capturing safety concerns. Client reported “I want to die” leading to assessment and safety planning in session.
• Avoid emotion-driven language without evidence such as, client was happy/sad/angry in session.
• Support ownership of statements such as, this writer observed or client reports when documenting statements or content of a session.
• Keep language neutral. It is best to avoid a positive or negative tone in notes to prevent accusations of bias or alignment that would put professionalism in question.

It is recommended you seek consultation or supervision to further explore your documentation needs. Your professional organizations can provide ethical guidelines whereas insurance panel websites offer Providers valuable templates for clinical documentation that meet audit standards. With luck, you will perfect your clinical writing to maximize time in therapeutic interventions while remaining compliant with documentation needs to best serve your clients and your practice.