I only went a wrote A BOOK!?!
YESTERDAY. WAS. NUTS. I finally let you lot in on the secret project that I’ve been working on since May last year. MAY! 2017! Now I wouldn’t say that I’m the worst at keeping secrets, but I’m a big chatter who just likes to talk and sitting on this project that has pretty much consumed my life for the past 18 months hasn’t been easy. So it feels pretty freeing to be able to finally announce that I’ve written a book. A life organisation book DUR. It’s called ‘An Edited Life‘ – yep just like the newsletter, although I was working on the book way before the newsletter came about, how the sausage is made and all that – and it’s available for pre-order now.
So where am I at right now? Well have a watch of yesterday’s video if you fancy seeing the behind the scenes clips that I’ve been filming along the journey, but in essence all the words are down on paper. Yep all 80,000 of them that it’s taken me since January to write. The cover has been finalised after a bit of back and forth with the designers and I’m so chuffed with the end result (notice how the green is a match for my favourite nail polish shade, Smith & Cult Bitter Buddhist?). The ironic thing is that I’m now at the editing stage of a book that’s all about life editing. After I’ve refined everything down, it will be time to design the pages (FYI it’s a colour book which is v.exciting) and sign it all off for printing, so it will be ready to wing its way to you just in time for the post-Christmas, ‘I need to sort my shit out’ new year cleanse. But let’s rewind to where it all began…
I know it’s the classic thing to say when an Internet person writes a book, but writing a book is something that I’ve always wanted to do, I just never thought it would be possible. My favourite pastime when I was eight (aside from pretending that I was on the Spice Girls tour in my bedroom) was to write magazines and staple the pages together. Writing my blog has always been my favourite category of content to create and since I started it in 2010 I’ve written posts on here pretty consistently. I’m sure that pumping out 10 posts a week wasn’t my greatest literary moment, but to this day it’s a process that I find incredibly relaxing and one that really does appeal to me because you can look like a steaming crock of shite whilst you do it (and yes that described me best over this book writing period). Over the years I’ve toyed with the idea of writing a beauty book (‘The Hairy Girls Guide to Beauty’ – I wrote one chapter on how awful bikini waxing was and realised that I had nothing else to say), a general lifestyle book, a career book – but nothing ever felt right. That was until I thought up the idea of ‘An Edited Life‘ one day on a car journey home from visiting my family, and began to furiously type the introduction into my notes app. It was a weird and wonderful lightbulb moment that I’m not sure will ever happen again.
Thanks to my management having an in-house book team I was able to have my hand held throughout the whole proposal process, which basically involves you taking the idea and turning it into a taster for the book; an introduction and some samples of how you feel the chapters are going to pan out. After shopping it to a handful of publishers, PEOPLE WERE INTERESTED! This all went down a year ago and I’m so lucky to have found an Editor who has truly been a dream throughout this whole process; encouraging me when I needed it most and providing feedback that is taking this book to the next level. It’s honestly already surpassed my hopes for what I hoped the book to be. There are charts! Lists! Worksheets! Marble patterned pages! Easy on the eye, but with a method for an edited life that’s easy to follow too.
Once you have a book deal you errr, have to write a book. Seeing as I’ve got 2,500+ blog posts under my belt you’d think that the transition would have been an easy one and although it’s been enjoyable, it’s definitely been a lesson in learning how to turn my ideas into a longer format than I’m used to and injecting a level of detail which I just haven’t gone to before. I began in January and handed in my draft at the beginning of September. I’ve written on planes. On press trips. On holidays. But mostly I’ve written nestled into the sofa on my office with my feet hoiked up on my desk chair, with one hand writing and the other dipping into a gigantic bag of snacks with my laptop on my lap. It took a while for me to find the flow, but when I did I had some really glorious writing days. I had bad ones too – the budgeting chapter in particular gave me many sleepless nights – but overall I think I only cried twice *pats self on back*.
So the actual book? Well, yes, at its core it’s a life organisation manual. I’ve read a shitload of books on the topic and saw that there was a gap for those who want to declutter all aspects of their life; not just their belongings or their wardrobe. Through trying on different minimalist approaches for size I’ve also realised that there’s not a one-size-fits-all answer, and instead an organised life is going to look different for everyone; whether you own four pairs of shoes or 40. It’s also not a one-and-done process and instead it’s about constantly tweaking and readjusting where you see fit as you grow and change over the years – hence the importance of editing. It’s up to you what you edit and how, and how often aspects of your life, work and home need readjusting. The structure of ‘An Edited Life‘ is simple and starts by addressing areas of life organisation, before tackling work and then moving onto the home and streamlining your belongings. Ultimately I’m sharing the routines and habits that I incorporate into my life that save time and up my efficiency, so that there are more hours on the clock for me to do things that make me happy. Less faffing + more doing = you feeling chuffed and content and a more zen you. So throw out the rulebooks and become your own editor. You’ll be sauntering into NYFW shows with your big sunglasses on in no time at all.
Ok, so here are the deats. ‘An Edited Life’ will be released in the U.K, Europe and Australia on 10th January 2019 and then across the U.S and Canada on 5th February, but no matter where you are in the world you can find the best place to pre-order by following this link (just a heads up that we’re aware of issues pre-ordering in the U.S, India and Italy – but these should all be sorted ASAP!). I’m hoping to do some touring and Q&A sessions, so holler with your location if you fancy me popping over to sign your book. I’m also pleased to announce that from December I’ll be back up to dropping two videos a week, starting with a 10-part organisation series accompanied by 5 print-out PDF worksheets that buddy up with chapters that I cover in the book. PHEW. You know earlier when I said that I never thought that this would be possible? Well it definitely wouldn’t have been without you, so for that I need to extend a HUGE thank you your way. I truly appreciate the support you guys give me and if you fancy joining me on this adventure then I’ll be forever grateful and if we do ever meet I can’t promise that I won’t give you a bear hug that’s 10 seconds too long. I’m a big hugger you see. Now, let’s get ready to edit…
Photos by Emma Croman
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