As I worked through my outline and then the editing process, I was constantly adding and changing content. That’s the nature of being an artist. From the first drafts of some of the chapters to the end, there were drastic changes and some ended up being pretty close to the initial writings.

My goal when I began was to create a book that told a story of struggle, reflection and success. Putting together the three makes a road map of sorts of how to go after your dreams. The key for me as the author was to keep that in mind and not get bogged down in the minutia of the “guide” itself and instead just focus on letting the stories themselves do the teaching.

Because I was so close to the subject matter and had been writing the book in my head for years, I needed a team to help me. That’s where my tremendous editors came into play. But before them, I had at least four people review the outline sketch to make sure that not only did the concept work, but did they think my direction was correct.

My editors were charged with that task as well, but with the complete text. Nathanael, Karith and Stephen were a tremendous team and pushed me to go places as a writer I hadn’t gone. I found my biggest problem as a writer, especially when talking about stories that were near and dear to my heart, I’d leave out details. Certainly not on purpose but simply because I knew them and glossed over them in the writing. Those three made sure that wasn’t evident in the final draft.

I’ve always known the importance of having a strong team and support system around you, but this definitely solidified this for me. No matter where I go in life, I will build a team of people who are dedicated, smart, passionate, creative and certainly honest. Without this team, I would not have ended with this amazing book.

(flickr photo via atomicshed)