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© by Bonnie Budzowski, President of InCredible Messages, LP. 
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Turn the Book of Your Dreams into a Manageable Project

By Bonnie Budzowski
President, InCredible Messages, LP

Authors who have turned the book of their dreams into a reality enjoy increased credibility and higher fees, not to mention the personal satisfaction of seeing their names in print.  Yet a book project can seem overwhelming.  Many people think spending a week away in a remote spot will jumpstart their writing project.  For some, the week just doesn’t become available.  For others, the week comes and goes, and they return home with a headache and a messy folder or computer file.  If this has happened to you, chances are you began to write without creating in a good plan.

The first step is focus

 Start with a visit to a bookstore.  Think about your dream, your expertise, and your audience.  Then find the place in the bookstore where your book belongs.  For example, does your book belong in the business section, the self-help section or the inspirational section?  Does the audience belong to a specific gender or age group?  Walk to the appropriate stacks and look at the books that currently fill the shelves. Imagine yourself as a shopper in the store.  Look at what each book in your section offers that is unique.  Identify the unique factor in your own book.  Don’t be overwhelmed by the fact that other books exist in your category.  Simply find the unique factor in your own approach.  A great variety in readers means that a great variety of approaches to a topic can be successful.  You must, however, have something unique, even if it is your own quirky style.  Give your book a working title to match this approach.  When you have identified a clear audience and focus for your book, you’ll find that some material fits this focus and some does not.  A key part in a manageable book project is deciding what to discard.  You can always use the discarded material in another project.

Next, pull order out of chaos

 Now that your book has a focus, it’s time to make a mess!  On a whiteboard, a tablet or with a friend taking notes, let loose and identify all the things you want in your book.  Write it all down without worrying about the quality of your thoughts.  Include notes about concepts, stories, examples, and facts that make your points.  Spend two to four hours in this process, until you have exhausted your ideas.  Then set your work aside for another day. When you come back to your notes, come with an organized mind and your focus at the center of your thoughts.  Using colored pens or highlighters, identify the major themes that stand out.  Notice themes and subthemes.  Highlight items that belong in the book and cross out items that do not.  Be merciless about this. Sometimes order will be obvious in your material.  More often, you will have to struggle to identify what to keep and what to exclude.  The decisions involved can be hard work, but the work is essential to making your project manageable for you and successful from the reader’s point of view. Because you are close to the subject of your book, it can be difficult to let any material go.  Each tidbit might seem important, because that tidbit or experience was part of your personal journey and growth.  An objective party or experienced coach can be a big help here, because distance allows objectivity and perspective.  While you can accomplish this step on your own, some outside help can save you considerable time, angst, and confusion.  This step need not tie you up for long periods of time.  I can generally guide my clients through these decisions in one half-day session. You’ll know you are done with this step when you have decided upon and provided working names for between eight and fourteen chapters for your final project.

Create a template for each chapter

 In a unified book, each chapter follows a pattern.  Take a look at the non-fiction books on your shelf to discover some options. For example, many books begin each chapter with a relevant quote.  Others begin with a concrete example and follow that example with specific principles for the reader to follow.  Others begin with the principles and then give an example that demonstrates the principles in action.  Some writers like to have “call out boxes” in the text to highlight the important points.  Others like to summarize key points in a box at the end of each chapter.  Some authors end each chapter with suggested exercises for the reader. Choose a template that makes sense for your focus, your material and your style.  As you choose elements, remember that readers like to get material in smaller rather than larger chunks.  Readers like to scan headings and bulleted lists rather than read dense text.  Readers prefer to see how principles and concepts can be applied to their own situations. Once you have a solid plan for the book of your dreams, you no longer need a week away to make progress with writing.  In fact, when you have an extra hour or two between meetings, you know exactly what to write and where it fits in your book.  It’s time to make the book of your dreams a reality!  Are you ready to begin?

Permission is granted to reprint this article when the following contact information is included: © 2011 by Bonnie Budzowski, President of InCredible Messages, LP. For more free articles, go to www.IncredibleMessages.com or contact Bonnie at info@IncredibleMessages.com.

When it’s time to create “killer content” in a book or speech that establishes credibility and boosts your revenue, Bonnie Budzowski is the perfect resource.  An expert in communication, Bonnie specializes in coaching authors and speakers to organize & express thoughts in ways that capture attention, sell their ideas, and move people to action.  Bonnie helps her clients build content with less time and angst than they dream possible. 

Bonnie Budzowski is Founder of inCredible Messages, Past President of the National Speakers Association, Pittsburgh Chapter, and Past Managing Editor of Speaker Magazine.

If you’d like to sell your ideas, boost your influence, or advance your career through a book or presentation, call Bonnie at 412-828-1629, bonnie@inCredibleMessages.com or visit her website at www.inCredibleMessages.com. 

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