…and why it’s important to get it right

You may have an idea for your book which has been sitting in your head, taking up ‘mind-space’ for a while. Now you’ve finally ready.

You are ready to take action. You want to start writing. But how do you get started? What do you have to do to ensure your book gets written in a way that is easy, effective and enjoyable?

Book Structure

The first step is to organise what might seem to be a jumble of thoughts that you have about the ‘content’ of the book into a structure. ‘Emptying your head’ is the easiest way to clear your mind and writing down everything that tumbles out is the first step. It might be that some things get re-ordered but having that process from Day 1 will mean that you include all that you want and need to include, ditch what doesn’t belong and that nothing gets left out. Use the steps below to guide you. Start with the ‘Book Title’ and dump all of your ideas down on paper. As well as emptying your head, it allows the space left behind to be open to new ideas, spark your imagination and help your creativity to flow more easily.

The process we recommend is to get the framework for your book set as this will give you clarity and your writing will flow more easily. You can do this by working through this set of steps:-

1 Write down your book title
2 Intro snippet – what will this say to introduce your reader to your words? (think inside left when you open a book)
3 Contents page & Chapter Headings – these are the ‘big chunk’ items that provide a framework for the words to hang
4 Copyright – this is an important and mostly ignored page in a book – but make sure you have it!
5 Dedications – consider who this might be, it’s not compulsory.
6 Acknowledgements, Thanks and Credits – keep it brief. You might want to add this to the back of your book.
7 Introduction or Prologue – this sets the scene for the journey you are taking the reader on
8Content, start, middle, end (including placement of illustrations if included)
9 Index (Subject Matter Books)
10 Recommended further reading
11 About the Author
12 Back Cover ‘Why Buy Me?’ blurb

Having Chapter headings will help break the task of writing down into bite-size chunks. When you write on a regular basis, those Chapters will soon start filling up.

Some additional pointers to help you to overcome what is commonly known as ‘Writers Block’ (though in our opinion, it’s a bit of a myth)

1 An A4 page will hold 500 words. If you wrote 1 page a day for 6 months, you’ll get to 90,000 words. That’s enough for a novel. A subject matter book can be a lot less.
2 There’s a lot of talk about ‘Writer’s Block’. We call it procrastination and lack of habit building. Get into the habit of writing a few words a day. Set yourself a task of 500 a day and build a consistent habit. Imagine how good you’ll feel once you’ve written your ‘1 page’ for today.
3 Join a writing accountability group. We have one that meets on a Sunday morning for 1.5 hours on zoom. There’s no agenda other than to hold each other ‘accountable’ and spend some time, every week, just writing. There’s no constructive feedback giving, no criticism, just support and accountability in a space for those who want to write. If you’d like to join in on our Sunday morning ‘Write Together’ session, please get in touch.
4 Think carefully about why you set out to write a book. What’s your reason and what’s your motivation to keep going? Write it down and stick it somewhere in your eyeline and when the going gets tough, look at it. It’ll remind you of why you set out to write a book and it will motivate you to keep going.

If you’d like help with starting your book project, we can help you with our ‘Book Starter – Book Structure session.
In fact, this is where Mandy excels. You talk, Mandy listens.

You’ll get 2 hours for your ‘Book Starter – Book Structure’ session and this will include a copy of our new book ‘The Authors Journey’ plus:-
√ A 2 page summary of everything that tumbled out of your head – with your book structure and a clear framework for your writing
√ A book ‘Title’
√ 12 Chapter headings (there may be more, there may be less, depending on your book type)
√ Ideas and suggestions of what each of those chapter headings will contain – based on the information you offloaded in the 2 hour session
√ A framework that will make your ‘follow up’ writing easier to get done

If you’d like help with setting your book up for success with a Book Starter – Book Structure session, please get in touch, we’d love to help you.