When you strip any book down to its chassis, you find three things and three things only:
These are your essentials. An essential is something that can’t be taken away without destroying the whole.
Sometimes when you’re in the thick of working on your book, you’ll come up for air and realize you’re totally confused; you don’t know what you’re doing or what you should be working on.
In every case, this is because you’ve inadvertently loaded your mind with too many things at once.
The next three sections—Your Truth, Your People, and Your Map—are all you need to stay on track. They are your touchstones. From beginning to end, they’ll see you through.
If you ever feel lost, come back to them.
What exactly is a touchstone?
The term comes from geology. Touchstones are fine-grained stones or tiles of neutral properties used to test rocks and minerals. You rub a rock or mineral on the touchstone to make a streak, then check the color of the streak. Knowing what minerals make what color streaks helps you tell, for instance, fool’s gold (gray streak) from real gold (gold streak).
So a touchstone is a test of authenticity. For writers, a touchstone is a gut check, something to come back to in moments of uncertainty. What’s real? Am I writing in harmony with my original, genuine ideas? A touchstone is a list of notes on the most essential elements of your book, something that brings you back to a focused, effective, productive state of creativity.
I like the thought of having something in my pocket that I can reach for and feel reassured.
Real stones have a kind of power. They have, well, gravity. Hefting a smooth stone in your hand makes you feel more grounded than you were a minute ago, perhaps a bit calmer, a bit quieter.
No companion is as silent as a stone. When you touch on one, it helps restore your appetite for taking your journey, it reminds you of where you’re headed. It helps settle the compass needle of your heartbrain.
In these next sections, you’ll further flesh out your book using these touchstones. Then, if you ever find yourself at a loss for direction, return to them. Write on them. Never make it more complicated than that.