Sussex Exclusive Columnist, Dee Blick on her latest book adventure.
When writing a book, it becomes obvious-on-steroids that multiple characters are residing in your head. I’m not talking about the ones making it into your hallowed pages. Indeed, as I embark on the publication of book number 6, You’re the Best! How to build an authentic and magnetic personal brand, these characters are like schoolkids in a playground. Each one is jostling for attention, with the loudest threatening to take over; the stoic determined one, glint in eye, muttering under their breath, “No way Jose. You may be shouting the loudest, but I will prevail.”
The schizophrenia of writing
Let me lift the lid on some of my wonderful and indeed worrisome characters who live in my head when I write and why they have made a remarkable comeback at this juncture. The ones I am not partial to are not dissimilar to that acquaintance, you know the one, where you called time on the relationship. It had run its course. Neither of you wants to flog a dead donkey, but here you are bumping into one another in the ‘Free From’ aisle at Sainsbury’s. The fumbling conversation turns to “We must meet up for coffee again,” a throwaway comment you both prayed would land in the frozen fish section. Yet one of you caught it and with a heavy heart, suggested a time and place. You’re now hovering by your mobile hoping every ping is a cancellation…
I digress…without further ado, let me introduce you to:
- You’re brilliant, Dee, you’ve got this!
This is the cheerleading character; the one you’ve worked so hard on cultivating, over many years. You’ve nurtured them with tub thumping books on how to love yourself big time and they don’t disappoint when they rock up. Usually, when you’re about to go on stage and talk to a big audience and, hands up at the back, when you’ve found a large spider on the loo seat after washing your hands and a panic attack threatens. I love this character. I egg them on and always invite them to join me at the top table. Alas, they can be picky. They don’t want everyone to see them. They grace you with their presence, sometimes sparingly, sometimes plentifully. But you will not give up on them. One day they will be tied to that trestle. One day.
- Time to pause, then stop. Dee
This character is a power partner even though you want to overrule them more times than you care to admit. They are the antidote to diving headfirst into a situation, in my case, a stinging one-star review. They’re the character you must lean into whether you like it not! I keep them on side, bolstered by that brilliant book, The Chimp Paradox. My natural inclination in the face of unfairness is to wage war even though I know I will not win. The internet is a cruel place, with authors lambasted for daring to take on a reviewer schooled in the academy of Finest Trolls’ Training.
- Let’s hug a tree, Dee
Oh, that this character could be my one and only! If you’re inclined to a spot of spirituality, you know this character so well. Meditation, thinking kindly of your fellow man and woman, embracing the universe; being at one with your Jo Malone candle, oaty latte and all that jazz. I must focus on bringing hug-a-tree-Dee to the table on book publication day and indeed in the months that follow. If I don’t, the next character is ruling the roost, and I can’t have that.
- Bouncing off the walls meets crash, bang and wallop, Dee
It’s publication day of your book. Every email, every little message, every check on Amazon (30 minutes apart, no less) has the potential for this character to send you soaring into the sky or hurtling to earth. Your emotions are bouncing from giddy gallivanting to deep despair. I recall this character ruling the roost when I was staying at a hotel in Wimbledon. I was basking in a dreamy day when I had received so much praise for my book. Then, the first one-star review landed. Not content with denouncing said book, the reviewer described me, and I quote as: ‘a con, a liar and a plagiarist.’ At that precise moment when I was pondering how long it would take to reach Beachy Head by bus, I came under enemy fire from a drunken guest trying to force entry. Thankfully, security prevailed and instead I entertained crash bang and wallop Dee as my unwelcome intruder.
So which characters are calling my name as I survey the landscape, my book just weeks away from publication? I am delighted to say that ‘You’ve got this Dee’ seems to be keen to hang around for longer this time. And that’s fine by me.
About Dee Blick
When she is not writing her column for Sussex Exclusive, you will find Dee writing books. A Fellow of The Chartered Institute of Marketing and an international bestselling author of several marketing books, Dee’s sixth book. You’re the Best! How to build an authentic and magnetic personal brand, launches 25th November. With this book, Dee blends humour, candid insights on overcoming feat of failure before sharing what it takes to become a magnetic person of influence, with her no fluff or filler, guarantee. You can message Dee at Dee@themarketinggym.org or say hello on LinkedIn and Facebook.
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