Category: Book Writing How To

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One Journey at a Time: How to Know What Belongs in Your Book

When starting a new book, most writers don’t struggle with a lack of ideas. Instead, they feel overwhelmed because they have too many ideas. They care deeply and want to share everything they know about a topic for the benefit of their readers.

That’s a great problem to have, but it feels daunting. For good reason. When a writer puts too much information into one book, it’s too much for readers to follow and too complicated and overwhelming to organize and write. Most often, the initial manuscript pages end up sitting incomplete and abandoned in a computer file. 

If this struggle feels familiar, here’s a way to help you focus on what your book actually needs.

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Gathering Stories Like a Thanksgiving Table

Picture a Thanksgiving table—a beautiful blend of colorful dishes, familiar recipes, appetizing aromas. Each dish adds to the beauty of the table and offers a variety of ways to enjoy the meal.

Writing a book creates a similar experience. As the writer, you bring a variety of stories, examples, dialogue, explanations, and memories to your book. That richness creates a wonderful feast for your reader to enjoy.

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Want to Share Your Story? You’re Ready

A client recently told her neighbor she was working on her second book. The neighbor looked at her in awe and said, “How long have you been a writer?”

That question stuck with me. I could see the neighbor thinking that writing a book required special training. That it wasn’t something as simple as sharing stories to encourage others—something the neighbor probably does every day.

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How To Start Writing Your Book Just By Talking

If you’ve been wanting to write a book, but you don’t know where to start, you can get started just by talking. Writing a book doesn’t mean you always have to be writing. Sometimes it’s easier to get thoughts onto a page by saying them out loud.

No writer’s block. No staring at a blank screen. No flashbacks of high school English class. Just talking.

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Write Your Book Your Way

The first question most non-fiction, self-publishing writers ask me is, “What’s the best way for me to start writing my book?”

My answer? The best way is your way. You have to find what works for you. What will bring your words to life for your readers? You’re the only one who will know what works best for you, and it may take a little exploration to figure it out.

No matter which way you choose, there is one very important guideline: Put your heart on paper first, in whatever way you can. All the rest is editing. You figure out the best way to get the words out of your heart and onto the written page (that’s writing). Then you shape the material from there (that’s editing). That takes off a lot of pressure. You don’t need to have everything figured out just to write.

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