Writing a book is hard. It’s easier with a proven process.
Today I finished my first “concept draft” for the introduction of Great Founders Write. It only took me an hour to write, but 4 weeks of research and planning.
I’m following a writing plan adopted from The Scribe Method.
Here’s my slightly-altered version:
Positioning.
What are my goals for this book? Who is it for? What will they learn? This step took me about a week. I identified about 10 real people (all founders) whom I was writing for. It’s been immensely helpful having recognizable faces in the audience.
Research and Outlines.
There’s a battle raging inside every writer: The need to write vs. the desire to do just a bit more research.
I’ve been stuck in a research loop for a couple of weeks now. I don’t feel ready to write — there is ALWAYS more to learn. But I knew if didn’t get started, I would stall out.
What came to my rescue? The humble outline.
I’m using two different types of outlines. The first is the table of contents outline, which has a 1-2 sentence thesis of each chapter. The second is a chapter outline. This is a more in-depth outline that includes a hook, stories, research, key lessons/takeaways, and segue into the next chapter.
Today I created a chapter outline of the introduction. This helped me pull the trigger and write the first draft.
Draft.
My research and outlining is far from done, but I didn’t want to get stuck. I decided to use my introduction outline and start writing.
The first draft is called a “concept draft” (The Scribe Method calls it a vomit draft, which makes me queasy). The goal is to write fast and capture all of your ideas. No overthinking, no editing, just writing.
This is the best way to beat writer’s block: Move so fast that it can’t stop you.
Trust me, this is an UGLY first draft. That’s why no one is allowed to read it but me. It’s a psychological security blanket that allows me to write without fear of judgement.
Judgement comes in the second draft. After finishing my concept draft, I’ll likely re-write the entire thing, this time keeping my reader in mind. This will be the first draft that sees the light of day. I can’t think about it too much without wanting to hid in a cave.
Edit.
There are no good writers. Only good editors. Even after 2 drafts, my book is going to be trash. That’s where the magic of editing comes in.
There are at least 4 rounds of editing: Substance (reviewing content), line-by-line (Is it clear? Is it necessary?), Read-aloud (Does this sound right?), and finally, the copy edit (grammar, spelling, and usage).
Finalize manuscript.
With the content complete, it’s time to add the little details that make a book more than a series of blog posts. This includes finalizing the book title, writing a description and author bio, and writing a forward (optional).
This is also the stage where I’ll send my book out to entrepreneurs in my network for a first read. My hope is to collect testimonials to give my book marketing a boost.
Design.
While I finalize the manuscript, I will hire a designer to format and create the book cover.
Publish.
Publishing a book used to be extremely difficult. You had to find (and pay) a book agent, write a book proposal, and pitch publishers until someone picked you up. You got a small advance, then were left to your own devices. Traditional publishers do little for you besides, literally, publish your book.
Now publishing may be the easiest step of the process. I’ll be using Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing to create e-book and paperback editions. It will take about a 4 days to setup my account, load my manuscript, and distribute my book around the world. Pretty cool.
This entire process will take me 8-9 months. There’s a lot of work to do, but it’s much easier with a plan in place.
Want to try out this writing process for yourself? Here’s my Book Writing Process doc. Feel free to make a copy.
And if you have any questions about my process so far, don’t hesitate to reach out.