Douglas Robbins’s Writing Journey: The Power of Words
Jennifer Dawn: Hey, hey. Welcome to a new episode of the Happy Productive Podcast. My guest today is going to be so much fun, whether he wants to be fun or not, you guys, Douglas Robbins, welcome to the show.
Douglas Robbins: Thank you, Jennifer. Dawn, how are you today?
Jennifer Dawn: I am wonderful and I have to tell you guys, so here’s the funny thing. Those of you who have been around me a while, you know, Douglas Robbins is actually also my husband. And I’m super excited to have him on the show. So you’re probably gonna hear us chuckling and poking at each other just a little bit. And that’s because he’s my husband, I’m his wife. And we can do that because we love each other. But the most important fun thing that I want to talk about is, uh, writing a book because nobody knows this better than Douglas, and he actually leads our Author Accelerator program, and so many of you may not even know that we have an Author Accelerator program. The beautiful part of this is that it actually came about from one of our retreats. So last year we were in Sedona, Arizona leading a retreat and during one of our wonderful retreat gatherings. Um, we had a lot of clients who were wanting to write a book, and that’s one of the things we definitely wanna dive into today of what that even takes, what that really means, what goes into it. And I saw so many clients were like wanting to write a book. And so at the retreat I was like, guess what? We’re just gonna start an Author Accelerator. Doug is gonna lead it. He didn’t even know until I said, “Hey, guess what? You know, Doug, you would be perfect for this.” To lead it. And that’s what he has done and he now has several groups and he is helping so many business owners get their books into the world. So Doug, let’s start with you though a little bit of, tell us just a little bit about your writing journey, because you have just released your seventh book. So just tell us a little bit about your writing journey.
Douglas Robbins: Uh, Jennifer, uh, my writing journey began many, many decades ago in, in high school. Uh, I was not a big student. I didn’t really want anything to do with the school or classes or anything at all, frankly, um, institution related. So, but a teacher did ask like us to write a poem, and in that poem it was kind of a snarky little teen angst type of poem. And I wrote it and there was some funny lines, and then I asked my father to listen to it. And I didn’t often get a lot of, uh, attaboys or acknowledgement from him. And I read it to him and, and he really enjoyed it. He laughed. He thought it was funny, uh, insightful. And then I brought it to the class. And same thing, the teacher enjoyed it, other students enjoyed it, and I found like it was a eureka moment, and I found a power in words that I had never really known elsewhere. You know, you’re getting, you know, when you’re a kid, you’re a teen. You don’t really have a lot of control. You just kind of shuffled through things and, um, you’re supposed to, you know, get good grades and, and play the game and all that. And so I found a power in words. I was like, “oh my goodness.” You know, words affect, words affect each other, and it’s the words that we carry with us. Sometimes good, sometimes bad, but they can inspire and they can damage. So words really have a great power in that changed the course of my life a bit, uh, at that time.
Jennifer Dawn: And now you’ve actually just come out with your seventh book. Tell us a little bit about that.
Douglas Robbins: Well, it’s a book that started long ago. The germination of it started long ago. Um, when I just started wondering what do Native Americans do during Thanksgiving? Uh, because it’s not, uh, you know, it, it is a reminder, um, of often genocide or systemic, you know, issues. Um, and so it got me actually really thinking and going down this, this avenue of creating a story that sort of brings this to light. And, uh, the story is comical, but the undertones are much more serious. And ultimately they take over the native, uh, the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade.
Jennifer Dawn: I love it because what I learned, because I actually helped Doug with some of the edits during, uh, the, the writing of this book. I learned so much, so much history that I didn’t even know, and I didn’t know that Thanksgiving is actually the day of mourning for Native Americans. And so that, um, was so powerful and so many other things that you included in the book is just a super, super powerful story.
Douglas Robbins: yeah, yeah. It’s very powerful because. You know, Thanksgiving is about sharing and, you know, joy and family, togetherness and, and you know, abundance and all these type of things. Um, often it’s about overeating, uh, and watching football, but, you know, nevertheless, so it just got me thinking of the disparity, right? Like, you know, on one hand you’re, you’re we’re saying how wonderful everything is, but on another hand, we’re sort of ignoring. Some, some issues, some very serious issue that has been taking place in this country for, for decades, if not centuries.
Jennifer Dawn: Yeah. Agree. Agree. Um, overeating and watching football. Two of my favorite things, no question whatsoever. But
Douglas Robbins: Yeah,
Jennifer Dawn: come back and at the end of the show, I definitely want you to share like where people can find your book and what was the name of
Douglas Robbins: absolutely. *Black Cloud Rises* and the protagonist is named Black Cloud.
From Idea to Book: The Author Accelerator Process
Jennifer Dawn: Nice. I love it. Okay, so sitting here listening to you talk about how you just released your seventh book. I know listening right now that are like, “I’ve got a book in me,” right? There’s a book in me. It’s in, it’s sitting there in my heart, but I just don’t know like how to get it out, how to get it out into the world, how to get that book on paper. And you guys, when we first started our Author Accelerator, I remember giving Doug some guidance. I’m like, we’re coaches. That’s what we do. We coach people, coach them on the writing process, and Doug didn’t do that. He instead made it more of like a writing class of like, “Hey, you submit your work. We review it, the group reviews it.” And I hate to say this, he won’t hear me say this very often, but Doug was right. He was right about how to lead this Author Accelerator group and help our clients get their books out of their hearts and onto paper. And so can you just speak to a writer who is like, “I know I’ve got this book, but I have no idea where to even start.” Could you just speak to that for a moment?
Douglas Robbins: It’s funny because I’ve had so many people say to me, “oh, you should write my story. You should write my book. You should write, you know?” I was like, “no, I write my books. You have to write your book.” And you know, it can be intimidating if you haven’t. Written before per se, you know, a blog or, or, or an email or something like that. But you know, if you’ve never crafted something that’s 30, 40, 50,000 words, it can obviously be a, a little daunting and where to start. And we have all these thoughts swirling around our heads and all these experiences and, and anecdotes. And that’s really how the Author Accelerator program was born because, uh, again, you know, a lot of business folks. They’re not professional writers, but they have these great stories and they want to get their information out there, uh, about not so much, not just about their business, but about their expertise. And so that’s what the Author Accelerator program can do, is give that credibility, that expertise, that sort of stamp of approval by having a book. This is a key benefit of **authorship for business credibility**.
The Business Value of Authorship for Business Credibility
Douglas Robbins: And I gotta tell you, it’s so, um, satisfying to me because I’ve had several people in, in, in the groups come through and say, “I’m not a writer.” Uh, most people start with, “I’m not a writer,” uh, fill in the blank. And, or they get bad information of, um, from someone. “Don’t write this. Nobody needs to hear another, another business book.” “Oh my lord. You know, nobody wants to hear your story,” but the truth is, your story affects us. Your story matters. Your story can influence others. And I can’t tell you how many times where people started seeing in the group itself. How their story was affecting other members of the group. And that’s why like it’s so imperative to have others to bounce ideas off of and share in this journey. But that’s it. You know, we help guide you soup to nuts. Okay, let’s get an intro, let’s, you know, get some ideas down as far as what you’re trying to say. And then we figure it out as, as long as, as as we go. It’s not gonna be perfect upfront. You’re not gonna know everything upfront. Uh, and I said this to, you know. The, the conscious mind can only hold about 40 bits of information a second. It’s not designed to hold everything that we know. Bless you. That’s what the subconscious, the subconscious is the storage, basically. And so once you start writing, it starts triggering memories and triggering ideas and leading, uh, you know, this story to that story in threads. You start seeing the thread. And so really within a few weeks or a month or two, you see people finding their voices, finding that muscle, finding that power. In their voice, because the truth is we all have voices and we need to use them in this world. That’s why we’re here.
Jennifer Dawn: I love it. And so then as your writers, as they start to like embrace this, and I’m sure there’s probably some challenges where they’re just like, wow. But do you see them start to kind of get to a place where they sort of get into a groove with the writing? Like does that happen where they kind of find their voice.
Douglas Robbins: Yeah, absolutely. They find the voice, they find that muscle, uh, and you see them finding a groove. Like they kind of get, you know, once we figure out. Okay. You need a beginning, middle, end of sort of every chapter. Every story has a beginning, middle, end. Every chapter has a beginning, middle end, and once you start kind of understanding the structure of it, uh, that’s when the gloves kind of come off because now you have a structure to work from or a model to work from. Uh, and, and that’s where you see the, the, the real transformation take place. This is what leads to **authorship for business credibility**.
Jennifer Dawn: Beautiful. And what are you seeing, um, as a business owner? ’cause I know that you’re writing, you, you personally write a lot of fiction books, but usually as a business owner, we’re gonna be writing some kind of a nonfiction book. so what are some of the things that you’re seeing that the people in the Author Accelerator, like, what are they using the books for, um, in their businesses? What are you seeing?
Douglas Robbins: Yeah, well, well, it’s funny, I actually, the first book I ever tried to write was nonfiction, but it was so vast. I’m still working on it slowly over the years and we’ll one day finish it, but, um, it just con, con constituted a lot of information. But, um, so I’m sorry. Ask the answer, the ask the question again, Jen. seeing? Because I know like I’m getting ready to write my next book series. It’s gonna be of nine books, the *Oh Crap Survival Guide* series. Very intentionally writing those books for my ideal client, um, I want them to be a lead generator for the business to get clients. And so you have a lot of people going through the groups, and so what are you seeing, um, business owners using their books to do?
Douglas Robbins: Well, we haven’t had anyone finish yet. There are a few people that are close or several people that are close. Um, but it’s exactly that. I mean, credibility. I mean, it makes you an expert in the field. Uh, again, you can get on podcasts more easily, so it sets you apart from probably 95%. Of other or similar business owners who do not have a book. Um, so what’s the difference between you getting on a show or not? Some credibility, some expertise, uh, and having a book that people can hold in their hands, can, can, can be the difference. This shows the significant value of **authorship for business credibility**.
The Two Mountains of Authorship: Writing vs. Marketing
Jennifer Dawn: I love it. So, so many people think, oh, I’m gonna write a book and I’m gonna be the next Stephen King. I’m gonna be the next JK Rowling. Um, I would love you to speak to that. Um, and it’s not that you can’t sell a lot of copies of your book, and of course. We all wanna do that when we go through the effort of writing a book, but like, how would you speak to the person who comes in with like, “oh, I’m gonna write a book and I’m gonna sell 10 million copies.”
Douglas Robbins: Great. Good for you. Uh, and when you send, send, sell 10 million, I I’ll be very happy for you. Um, look, it, it’s, it’s a battle. Like anything else, I’m. Mean, the, the, the sky does not open when you finish a book. Believe me, I, I have run into that myself. Uh, always just like, okay, I did my part. Now it’s supposed to just happen because I wrote the book and it would be nice if it worked that way and it feels like it should work that way, but it doesn’t work that way. You know, writing is half the battle and, and it is a battle for sure because it is a long game. It is a, a distance run. It is a marathon. So that’s part of it, obviously. That’s the big part. You have to have a book, but then you really have to focus on marketing. Uh, and that’s a totally different beast in itself. Uh, but just like running a business, it’s the same thing. I mean, you know, you, you can’t just kind of figure out organizational stuff and not put it out there. You have to put it out there. Uh, and that’s obviously, there’s a vulnerability to that and, and a lot of people don’t want that vulnerability. But it’s the only way to get your voice out there, your business out there, whatever is by taking risks. Um, but yeah, marketing is certainly is a key piece, obviously. Um, even if you got a, you know, a publishing deal with, with a big house, a traditional house, uh, it’s not the same as it used to be. Um, you would still really need to do a lot of marketing, social media stuff. All, all the footwork you’re probably doing now in your businesses.
Jennifer Dawn: Yeah, I mean I’ve seen that as well. Like people think, oh, I’ll go get a six figure book deal, and if you’re already an established name, yeah, that might still be a. Possibility. But for so many new authors, that’s just not happening. And even publishing houses expect you as an author to be able to market and sell your book. And I’ve seen many business owners that until they could demonstrate that they could actually sell their own book, the publishing houses aren’t even gonna look at them. Um, it’s just things have definitely changed.
Douglas Robbins: Yeah, there are different, you know, there there’s some similar challenges to being an indie or a self-published person and a traditional. Uh, as Jen just mentioned, if, if you’re a big name, great. Yeah, they’re gonna, if you’re a Hillary, you know Clinton sure. They’re gonna, you know, run ads for you and you’re going to be, do a big book tour and she’ll get a, a big, uh, advance and all that. Um, but if you’re not a big name, you’re gonna have to, to fight for. You’re gonna get in the trenches and you’re gonna be doing it. Um, but there are ways to do it as well. And it’s through this process that you build **authorship for business credibility**.
Jennifer Dawn: Yeah, I feel like the marketing, like writing the book is like the first mountain that you climb, and then marketing the book is the second climb. And in some ways, it’s almost like the marketing is the harder mountain to climb because there’s so many different things you can do to market. Uh, your book and get it out there Absolutely worth doing, especially as a business owner, to give you that credibility and that authority, depending on what your business goals are. But definitely go into it understanding that there’s, there’s two very distinct mountains that need to get climbed when you’re like, “Hey, I wanna write a book.”
The Power of Accountability in the Writing Process
Douglas Robbins: And it’s like anything, I mean, hire people smarter than you. You know, like I am not a marketer. That is not my bread and butter. That’s not my, my, that’s not my zone of genius, if you will. Um, you know, I, I’m the writer. I have a podcast. That’s where I feel like I’m, those were my strengths. Uh, to spin my wheels trying to market. Yeah, I could do some things and I figure some things out, but, you know, hire the right people who can run Facebook ads and some, anyone, you know, YouTube, whatever it might be, shorten the curve. Um, and so you can focus on the things you’re best at. This is vital for **authorship for business credibility**.
Jennifer Dawn: Yeah. One of the things that I have seen in your groups of why they’ve done so well in helping, um, so many people like get their book into the world is that weekly accountability. guys look, weekly accountability is not the sexiest topic. A lot of people are like, ah, you know, “I don’t wanna be held accountable.” But that weekly accountability to submit something that seems to be a real key element as to authors are succeeding. Can you just speak to that for a moment?
Douglas Robbins: Oh, absolutely. That, that is such a key factor because people wanna show up for others. We might not always show up for ourselves, uh, but we wanna show up for others, we don’t wanna let other people down, et cetera. So when, you know. “Hey, your slot is coming up at two o’clock on a Tuesday,” you’re gonna say, “oh my God, I gotta write something here. I’m gonna put something out there because they’re waiting for me. I’m the one submitting this week.” Um, and time and time again, like, it’s almost like a college paper or, or a high school paper. Like either you’re procrastinating, it’s midnight the day before and you start working on it. It’s like, but you know, you have to do it and you do it. And sometimes that, that fire under your feet, you know, yields a good, uh, good result. So. That accountability piece is so imperative. And then you have that positive, constructive environment. You know, it’s a safe space. Uh, no, no jerks allowed. It’s just, it’s there, it’s a nurturing environment. Um, and in many ways, I wish I had this through the writing process ’cause it could be a very isolating process. And you finish this book that’s taken you a year or two a write to, to. And then you, you give it to people to review, to review, and they go, “oh, you got all these problems. You gotta change X, Y, Z.” But if you have people making commentary along the way, that’ll shorten the curve for the inside. Um, so I can’t say enough about, you know, accountability group regarding writing. Uh, it’s really imperative to to, to writing and again, shortening the timeframe, shortening the curve. Um, most of the people in the groups have. Said just that, it’s that accountability piece that has kept their, their feet to the fire.
The “Stumbling Forward” Approach to Writing Your First Book
Jennifer Dawn: I love it. You know, and it’s interesting for me because I’m not in the Author accelerator ’cause you’re running that piece of the business, but I’m on the business coaching side and so. These clients, they’ll show up and they’ll, I’ll, I’ll see ’em when they first get started. And of course I give ’em that encouragement of like, just keep going. I know in the beginning to get on the book, even if you don’t have any idea about what you wanna write, you just know I wanna write a book. Great. Just stick with the process. And I see them, you know, four, six-ish weeks in, they start to get into a groove. They start to really enjoy it. Um, and I, I see that happening on the business side when they show up and I’m like, “Hey, how’s the book going?” And they’re really, really excited because they found their groove, they found the rhythm, they figured out like what they wanted to, to write about. And so I think as a writer, I mean, is that, is that a normal thing where you don’t always know exactly what you wanna write, but you just kind of gotta get in there and get started?
Douglas Robbins: Well, yeah, I mean, if you’re looking for per perfection, writing is not the place, you know. Uh, it’s sort of, especially with newer writers, it, it’s really like stumbling forward. Like, just put some stuff down. Don’t worry about if it’s perfect or where it’s gonna be placed exactly in it. Just start writing on, on the thoughts that are most pressing and then just keep doing that. And eventually you’re gonna start seeing these connections. “Oh, that’s chapter three. ’cause that leads to that.” Um, and you start feeling encouraged by your own writing once you start reacting to it. “Oh, I’m reading this chapter. Oh, that’s pretty good.” And now let me add a little here. And so, you know, that first draft, that rough draft, is simply you putting stuff down, throwing paint on the wall, if you will, and then when you come back to it, you can refine it. And that’s when, that’s when the good stuff starts happening. You’re not gonna write gold, you know, the, the first, you know, sentence or the first paragraph, or first whatever. Just do go through the process. Something like, almost like going to the gym and working out. You haven’t been there in six months. Are you gonna be an Olympic athlete then? No. You’re just gonna, you’re gonna pump some iron. You’re gonna feel pretty good after. That’s the same thing. Put it out there. Get it out there. Get it on the page. You worry about the refinements later.
Jennifer Dawn: Although Doug. When you do write something for the first time and you think it’s gold, because this is what do. Uh, I write something and I give it to Doug and I say, “oh, read this honey. It’s so good.” And he reads it and he is like, “yeah, that’s crap.” And then he writes his stuff and he says, “Hey Jen, it’s done.” It’s ready to go. And I’m like, “yeah, you got some work to do here,” and
Douglas Robbins: Yes. Wait, hang on. Be yes, because the reason is, and sometimes you know, you feel like it’s done. I read this book, *Black Cloud Rises* six months ago. I thought it was done because it was done in my head and my head fills in the blanks. It reads between the lines. It knows what I’m trying to say, but a reader, the first reader doesn’t know any of that, just knows what’s on the page. And so that’s why it’s so important to have people reading the book, accountability groups or friends or whatever it is before it gets to that final draft. You need input from others. It is critical. All the big writers have it.
Jennifer Dawn: Agree and absolutely. And even though you may not want that input, you’re like, “wait, no, I thought it was done.” And ah, you know, “I gotta go back. I gotta keep working on it.” It’s so important to really make a good book because you, you make a great point. The reader is not in your head and what, what they’re reading is so important because at the end of the day. As a writer, you work for the reader, right? That’s your, that’s your client. That’s who you work for, is you work for that, for that reader. And so putting out the best product to them, just like any business, I think is super critical, especially if you wanna be successful as an author. This commitment to quality is what builds **authorship for business credibility**.
Connect with Douglas Robbins and Jennifer Dawn Coaching
Douglas Robbins: You work for the Muse and the reader? Yeah.
Jennifer Dawn: Yes. I love it. Well, Doug, thank you. Thank you, thank you for being here with me today. Um, those of you, like, if you’re feeling like, “Hey, I wanna write a book.” can absolutely help. This is one of the things that we’ve done with Freedom Builders. So Freedom Builders is our signature group coaching program where we obviously help business owners, um, create businesses that fuel their freedom and as one of our value adds. When you are a member of Freedom Builders, you could be in our Author Accelerator and it’s all included, so there’s no additional charges. And I know right now there’s a lot of companies that charge. A lot of money to help you get your book written, and Doug and I have both experienced this, um, thousands and thousands of dollars, uh, wasted frankly, on programs and resources that didn’t deliver what they said. And I’m, I don’t wanna call anybody out, but I do wanna make it really clear that when you get ready to write a book, there’s a lot of companies and organizations that wanna charge a lot of money. To help you write that book. And Doug and I saw that happening, and we did not like that at all. And so we wanted to create something that had a lot of value that would really help you get your book into the world. And so that’s why our Author Accelerator is part of Freedom Builders. And then we, of course, have tons of marketing resources and places we can refer you to so that you could get your book out there and into the world. But for, um, without breaking the bank or without uh, having to like kill your 401k, you know, anything like that. So. If you’re like, “Hey, I want more information,” just please reach out to us at Jennifer John Coaching. We’re happy to share. Doug, would you mind just taking a quick minute, tell everybody where they can find you and where they can find your new book.
Douglas Robbins: Uh, thank you, Jennifer. You can find me at douglasrobbinsauthor.com, but you can find the new book pretty much anywhere. *Black Cloud Rises*. And I think it’s a really powerful, unique story of when people don’t feel seen. And you know, I think there are times that we often, we all feel unseen for one reason or another. Uh, but it’s essentially about, you know, bringing the past into the present to heal it. And we all need to heal the past, what, whatever it might be. But you can find my books in Barnes and Noble, Amazon, wherever books are sold, *Black Cloud Rises*. Thank you so much.
Jennifer Dawn: I love it. And if you’re interested in Doug’s books, you can go to Douglas Robbins Author.com. We’ll put that in the show notes. If you’re interested in the Author Accelerator, if it’s time for you to get your book out of your heart onto the paper, you can also find Doug directly at Doug@jenniferdawncoaching.com, and feel free to reach out. We’ll put that in the show notes. This was fun, honey. Maybe we’ll have to do this again.
Douglas Robbins: This was fun and it was nice to hear on a recording that I was right about something.
Jennifer Dawn: I know you have it recorded, and so you’ll have to, uh, that and put it somewhere
Douglas Robbins: Just play it. Whenever you give me trouble about anything,
Jennifer Dawn: That’s right. You can say, “Hey, honey, this one time y’all was right and you.”
Douglas Robbins: that’s what I want.
Jennifer Dawn: Nice. I love it. Well, I can’t wait to see what, um, happens from our next retreat of what we manifest together because beautiful things and lots of beautiful books coming out into this world. Um, your guidance and assistance,
Douglas Robbins: And we all make a difference. The world needs it. Okay. Yeah. Absolutely. awesome.
Jennifer Dawn: All right, guys, write that book. If you need help, reach out to us. That’s it for today’s show. Get out there and have a happy, productive day y’all. Bye.
