A question I hear from new non-fiction book writers is, “How do I organize my material?” While my first answer is always to do what works best for you, I would like to share a strategy I learned in college. I think it will help you see how all your thoughts and notes fit together in your book.
In my senior year of college, I studied abroad. One of my assignments was to write a lengthy thesis paper based on research, interviews, and observations in different towns of my host country.
I didn’t have a computer back then. Just a notebook and pen. I would have to hand write my final paper, and I wondered how I would sort through all the notes I was scribbling. It seemed overwhelming.
A fellow student gave me excellent advice. It worked! Even today, though I have technology to assist me, I find that advice helpful for organizing notes to prepare for writing a book. I hope you will find it helpful too.
Here’s what my classmate told me to do: Look at each paragraph I’ve written in my notebook. In the margins, give each paragraph a generic label related to my thesis topic.
For example, I was writing my thesis on environmental pollution in that country. My margin labels might have included water pollution, interview with government official, description of environment in a village, regional health problems related to the environment. Some paragraphs might have included two labels, such as air pollution and interview with scientist.
The idea was that I could glance at the margins of my notebook and start to see common topics emerge. I could see which sections of notes would go with each topic, even when those notes were on different pages of my notebook. These labels were the beginnings of an outline. The sections of my thesis paper were falling into place.
The beautiful thing about that process was that I could keep taking more notes, and keep labeling. I didn’t have to worry about how new material fit in. I just needed to capture and label it, and the fitting-in would become apparent.
When it came time to start writing my thesis paper, I discovered that much of the paper was already written in my notes. I just had to link those paragraphs together. And the category labels would help me do that.
If you’re starting to write a book and have lots of different notes and thoughts, you can use that category-label strategy shared by my classmate. It’s even more effective with today’s technology. Just assign labels to sections of notes. When you’re ready, list your labels in a document and copy/paste relevant notes under each label. You’ll start to see your book take shape.
This process will also help you see if some sections need to be combined or divided into two, based on how many notes you have for each label. You might also find that some sections don’t fit well with this particular book. That’s okay. Save them for your next book! Or a blog article.
So, if you’ve been jotting down thoughts about the main topic of your book, without a clear outline or sense of direction, this process can help you get started. You can dive into your thoughts and notes, assign category labels, and watch as your outline takes shape. Create a new document listing the category labels that have emerged. Copy/paste sections of your notes under the relevant categories. No worries about looking at a blank screen. The basic content of your book will already be there.
Hopefully, this strategy will give you a starting point for organizing your book material. A big thank you to my fellow student who shared this strategy all those years ago. It’s still helpful today.
Janet Eriksson 