Writers, like me, are a terrible breed, we procrastinate, struggle, and need something additional to kick out our rears to get us in movement. If I would have write a word every time that I sit to contemplate I will have the novel done. The good news is that the novel is moving forward, and I am getting back into writing on this, my blog.
I try to spend time writing and reading daily, honestly I do better the second one than the first one. Not because I am not a writer, not because I don’t like to write, but because I love to read so much, I love to write, to tell to explain, to create, but more often than not, I doubt my own style, my own writing, my own creations.
In a way, I remember those great moments, when I was a virgin writer, I didn’t believe on many things and I was sure this was the path. Then the dark cloud of doubt came, people was able to seed my fears, to feed my doubts and I simply decide to stop writing, to forget about the life I originally choose, the life of the writer.
So I went to Law school, and begin writing and researching law, so In order to avoid the writing I went and got an MBA, got into sales, and I have done during the last years many things in witch I am very good, the problem with the things you do really good, is that stop you and distract you for the things that you are really good, the enemy of the great is all those things that you are really good. I am focusing more and more effort into those things that I am extraordinary and less on those that I am simply good, in other words focusing more on my writings in a way to walk the path.

I have been a like missing in action. Sadly, I have not been writing as much as I should, I have been busy with things that should not entertain my head, but do, things that bring me to a dark place, a deep place that it is hard for me to get out.
I get the fear, the lizard, the resistance, writers block, doesn’t matter how you call it, the fact is that is a place that slow you down little by little until you simply freeze.
I have been in that place for longer that I am willing to admit, (see my last post for ideas) and this time has been harder to come out of this place, the reason, more fear, a bigger lizard and a lot of resistance, I am afraid, not what will happen if I failed, but what happen if I am successful, what happen if the success take away the time to do what I enjoy, or worse, that take so much time that I will don’t have time to do the other stuff.
I am confronting the fear, and I am working on get myself out of the deep and dark place, I hope you can see me tomorrow here, and little by little celebrate with me the getting out of this place to the new place I need to be.

If you have never read Stephen Pressfield Book, ‘The War of Art’ stop reading, go and read it, then come back.
My friend Tara recommend this book to me, and I am eternally grateful for that, I have read the book at least five times, and is a great testament of the War we constantly have with what Pressfield called ‘Resistance’ with capital ‘R’
We all suffer from Resistance, the difference is how we confront and act in front of this Resistance, you can act as an Amateur or as a Professional. I am a writer, I am also a Sales Person, on my day job, I act as a Sales Manager.
I have been a Professional Sales Person for the last seven years, I make sales regarding of the economy, how difficult it is, regardless if it is saturday, sunday or holiday, I learn my product, I observe my competitors, and I try to get the most out of every opportunity, and honestly, I am good at it, I am a professional and my hard work over years has bring me here. Until recently, I was an Amateur Writer, I want it to be a Writer, but I had not turn Pro, the Resistance and the fear was getting the best out of me.
I have join a MasterMind Group, as well as work in this issue for over a year, and I begin writing, and then stop, and begin again and stop.
Recently, I happen to listen to the War of Art while driving to work, and for the first time I got the change from Amateur to Professional, and I turn the switch. I am now, also a Professional Writer. At the same time I decide to begin publishing in Twitter my daily count, even if I don’t write, I need then to Tweet Zero Words Down Today.
What has change from the amateur to the professional is that I am showing up everyday, regardless of weekends, holidays, or any other type of excuse, i am showing up to write regardless of any excuse I have, I am investing on improve my craft, in the same way I continue learning business and sales books, I am trying to be patient with the art as well as my self, and I am acting in face of fear, regardless how terrified I am on this, I am writing everyday. Finally, I am not afraid to failure, but I will finish this novel.
I had over the years begin three novels and two business books, and the fear of failure, and starvation has always stop me. This time “The Novel” will be finished and revised. If it is terrible too bad, we will write another one, and if that one is also bad we will write a third one.
Around the same idea of this novel, I had wrote two manuscripts, this is the third one, and I think I make the mistake of not work hard enough on revise the two I had wrote before, and the Resistance is telling me to go back and revise them, and we will (me and the Resistance) but not know, in the next months we will write everyday “The Novel”, after that, my dear friend Resistance, you will be more than welcome to revise the other ones.

Just before I wrote this post, I went ahead and print what I have write on the first draft of my novel. The Pages file so far is 8,786 words, or 26 pages.
One of the things I notice on this draft is that I am having much more fun than the previous two, and I think that has been actually really cool.
Also you may have notice if you follow my twitter, that I am posting my daily word count. I have never done this on the past, and I am doing it in a way of motivate myself. Stephen Pressfield on his great book ‘The war of Art’ talkes about the difference between an Amateur Writer and a Professional one. I have been an amateur writer for more than twenty years, and is now that I have grow to be a professional, and for that reason I am posting my progress, and talking about it, and doing it even when the Resistance (with capital R) play against me.
So far, all that I can say of my novel and character is that we are running out of Los Angeles and are at this time in Denver, Colorado, trying to make sure we are alive long enough.

I took a month off this blog, almost a month off, my last post was May 25th, and Today is June 14th.
As I share on my last post, I was beginning with the third first draft, and is working fine so far. I had wrote 8,000 words in the last days, after two weeks totally off.
I need it to get back in the groove, I need it to reinforce the writing, toss that second draft was extremely frustrating, so I want it to have fire on this third draft idea, and I think I have it.
So Starting Tomorrow, I am back in the blog, and I will be sharing about my Novel, and the process of writing and the other stuff I share and write about.

In case you haven’t notice, I was missing in action yesterday. In case of doubt I was writing, yesterday and the whole Blog post pass by me. For that reason (and since I also miss my post this morning) I  decide to make tuesday’s my Writing Journey Report Day.
So I am writing the third draft of my novel. This is the first time I am writing this draft in Spanish, I don’t know why, but I can say that I have been enjoying this draft a lot. I think I enjoy the other 104,000 words (51,000 and 53,000) but there is something about this draft in spanish that I am enjoying.
I made peace with Mr. Gabriel Garcia Marquez. Yes, laugh now, I fight with Garcia Marquez in 1998, and since then I had not read a book or want to have anything to do with his work. Don’t ask me why, and don’t ask me how we make peace but we did. Actually, not only I made peace, the character now, is leaving the last train from Macondo, and that’s what I am going to share with you today, on this Writing Report Day.
…”That was the morning I leave Macondo, I knew that I was never going back. You know, my mother never told me who was my father, but I always knew was one of the Buendia, my mother, who was a really good woman, but not so bright, give me Jose Aureliano as my name. I don’t know if you know this, but the kings of Macondo, were the Buendia, Don Aureliano Buendia. As I was telling you I got the last train that was leaving Macondo, my mother got me a ticket that was going to take me with a distant cousin, far, far away, and ask me that I should never come back, she told me that we will never see each other again, but she want me to be sure that she love me very much”…
…”I got distracted, and forgot what I was telling you, oh, I remember now, I was telling you that my mom cousin teach me to read and she send me to a school, I remember that as is was yesterday, I read my first book, when I was sixteen, and was that the day that I told myself that I was going to spend my life writing, I wasn’t going to do anything else. Of course, in case you don’t know, write is one of those things that are hard to do, not because write is so complex, but because every time you write, you feel that fear, or should say, I feel that fear”…
This is part of the first chapter, and I am happy to report that I have been constantly writing the last week and a half on the book, not so much on the blog, but planning to begin posting again tomorrow.
If you are a writer, I will love to connect and read what you write, so let me know.

If you are not familiar with Seth Godin book, Linchpin, please do yourself a favor, go to this link in Amazon and buy it.
A lot of organizations had linchpins, but a lot of them don’t do the diligent work to ensure that those linchpins stay happy, and for the longest time possible.
According to the New Oxford Dictionary, linchpins, are those people or things that are vital to an enterprise or organization.

Many times this linchpins play a role that is not easily noted, they are so vital that people tend to take them for granted. Years ago, I heard the story of a lady in the Social Security Administration that when she retire (after keeping the department by herself for more than 40 years) was replaced by 5 computers and 5 people to handle them.They were also all the time late, and somehow this person was always on time. I also learn of a person that was promoted to a different department on her organization and her position was replaced by three people, and these three people could not keep up with the work load, she is another linchpin. Years ago, I also learn of a person that use to handle the Sales for the Latin American division. This division had never made profit. For the two years this person handle the division, not only the division saw profit, the second year that division close in Latin America the biggest deal they had ever had on one of their products, later this person leave the company, no replacement had been able to repeat those results, this person was also a linchpin.

What is the cost of a linchpin when they leave? Probably is impossible to calculate, but I can assure you is really high. The problem is organizations are afraid to loose linchpins, so instead of keep them, motivate them and allow them grown and engage with more, they hope they stay there forever, and hope is alway bad news in business.
Organizations are in most cases aware of this linchpins, so this is the people with the biggest load of work, but at the same time is the people that get pass in promotions, and get motivated the least, and pushed the most. It’s true, linchpins, will move forward, despite of all that, but also eventually will move away, linchpins believe in the organizations, and are somehow conscious that their job is vital for the organization, and they are proud of it. That’s at least until the moment the straw breakthe camel back, or should I say the linchpin back. When that happen, you just lost that linchpin, and your expenses will go up exponentially.
Are you ignoring your linchpins, hoping that they stay, or are you trying to get this linchpins to attract more linchpins for your organization? Are you aware of the cost of this linchpin if he or she leaves? Are you making sure your linchpin is happy and motivated, or again you are just hoping?

I remember when I read the story that Jason Friend told about their book Rework when (I am paraphrasing) remove all the fat from the the draft to the final version of the book. Their editor not necessarily agreed, but that decision, make their book simply remarkable and incredible.
Last weekend I read a book that I was actually looking forward for a really long time, and two third of the book were incredible, then the author continue writing to the number of words the editor need to sell this book, and that last one third, was poor, I should say bad, pure fat.
As a writer, I have been in the game of words, you need to write a number of words in order to be able to call your book something, and after read this other book, I decide that my books and stories will had the long of the story. After I finish I will remove the fat, and make it with only the necessary stuff, to make it more close to remarkable.
For now own, in my own writing I will Keep the necessary and remove the fat…

I have been struggling with the third first draft of my novel. The first two didn’t work, and I toss them in the trash. I have been struggling, when I sit to write the novel I get absorbed and stop focusing on the rest of my life, and when I know I only have a little bit of time, I simply don’t want to write it. But this only happened to me when it is fiction that I am writing, I had noticed that when I am writing non-fiction, like this post, I can do the time need it, or less, come back, or anything, doesn’t matter. Curiously, the same thing happen when I am reading, for that reason I read more non-fiction books than fiction ones, because if the fiction book is good, I have a really hard time disconnecting from the book.
I had been journaling about this, even before discovering the connection between my reading and my writing, I had just never associate both until recently.
I remember when I read “The Shadow of the Wind” by Carlos Ruis Zafon, a great fiction book, and a recommendation to any one that loves books, I begin reading and could not stop until it was done, actually I am lying, I stop, because I could not continue reading at four am, but a soon as I open my eyes the next morning, I went directly for coffee and more reading. A special thanks to my wife, are in order, that instead of kill me that morning, took care of our baby with a smile.
In contrast, on a non-fiction, I can read half a page, continue later for two and later for another half to be able to read for an hour at night. No strings attached. The same thing happen when if I am writing, I get into the fiction world I am writing, and get mad if I get interrupted, that make it extra difficult for me to write fiction.
Based on that, looks like I prefer to read and write non-fiction, when in reality is exactly the opposite, but I had not learn yet, to read and write fiction in dashes, I only know to do it until the body drops. That in theory is ok, except I have a family, a day job, and other projects that don’t allow me to just get into a room and write.
I will love for some coaching on how to improve this, I will love to read more fiction, but honestly I am afraid, because I am aware that if it’s good fiction, I will read until I drop. Sadly the same applies to my fiction writing, and for that reason tend to happen only on fridays and saturdays and I get to have a miserable weekend, because of exhaustion.
Do you have the same issue, or have you even noticed?

Long time ago, GTDConnect (You can get a 14 day trial) had a Magazine that they produce called the GTD Journal. Sadly they stop it, but in the 3rd issue, there was this article for me and my weekly review booklet. I ask the DavidCo people and kindly they allow me to republish here.
I choose to copy the text as well as the 2 images on the original formatting (that was really cool) , and also add the PDF version at the end for you to downloaded.

The Weekly Review Booklet

For many people, one of the most difficult things to understand the value of – and therefore to develop as a habit – is the Weekly Review. When I started working with GTD, I didn’t fully comprehend the importance of it. But once I discovered how essential the Weekly Review is, I decided to find ways to improve my system.
After many trials (it seems I found 1,000 ways how not to do the Weekly Review), I created what I call “The Weekly Review Booklet.” This booklet allows me to go through the review process page by page, keeping my focus and concentration at the same time. The booklet also helps to remove the overwhelm factor that a lot of us feel during this time. This is how it works:
Here is a copy of the Weekly Review Template Handout that’s available inside GTD Connect. I have numbered it to correspond to the steps I’ve outlined.
Each item on this list will have its own category and at least one page, for capturing content specific to it.
Now let’s begin the Weekly Review.
Step 1: Collect Loose Papers & Materials.
I have a page with all my collection systems. It is a checklist to make sure I am not missing any collection point. (Power Tip: Process the inbox the day before your Weekly Review to jump into the fun faster!)
Step 2: Get IN to zero.
David says, “Process completely all outstanding paper materials, journals and meeting notes, voicemails, dictation and emails.” You already collected materials from all your sources in Step 1.
Step 3. Empty your Head.
David states, “Put in writing and process any uncaptured new projects, action items, waiting fors, someday maybe’s, etc.” For this step, you will want to make sure that you’ve placed the Incompletion Trigger List (which includes personal and professional triggers) inside your booklet. The trigger list is available inside GTD Connect.
Step 4 thru Step 8.
These steps involve interaction with your GTD System – your Action Lists, Calendar, Waiting-for List and Project List. Make sure you have a page for each step; that way you know you cannot go faster than the step you are on.
Step 9: Review Relevant Lists
In my case, there are currently 17 lists. This number varies over time.
My current lists are as follows (again, one page per list):

• Weekly Checklist
• Weekly Call List
• Work Checklist
• Cleaning Routines @ Home (5 Lists depending on the week of the month)
• Monthly Routines
• Quarterly Routines
• 20k Areas of Responsibility
• Family Roles – Friends
• 30k 1-2 year goals
• 40k 3-5 year goals
• 50k Mission
• End of the Year Checklist

Step 10: Review Someday/Maybe
This is when the fun begins. After my entire system is in check, I now go to the last pages, the Someday/Maybe lists. At this time, there are around 20 pages for this section of the booklet. As I said before, this number will vary.

• Presents for my Wife
• Things to buy for me
• Things to buy for our home
• Games to buy
• Book lists
• Music & movies to buy
• Ideas
• Fun Stuff to Learn / Activities to Engage
• Things to fix in our cars
• Trips we want to do
• Things to research
• S/M Personal Projects
• S/M Home
• S/M Work Short Term (less than a month)
• S/M Work Long Term – Clothes
• Fun places to go
• S/M Daughter
• Things to buy for Daughter

Going through this booklet page by page while I am doing my Weekly Review has allowed me to make sure the habit stays and I am on the top of my game.
If you have questions, please feel free to contact me in the GTD Connect Forums: apinaud.

The Original Article:

The full PDF: Augusto’s Article GTDJournal03