Two Questions to Shine a Light on Your Message
Posted by Lynne Klippel on April 22, 2009
In my work teaching new authors how to write a successful non-fiction book, I have noticed that many people struggle when they try to take all the wisdom and knowledge they have gained in their lives and try to capture it in book form.
Many of them are stuck while they are formulating the outline of their books. All the information can seem overwhelming. It is hard to know where to begin.
Is this happening for you too?
Do you have a mountain of great material to share but feel unsure about how to present it to your readers in a sequence that makes sense?
This exercise will help you gain clarity and put some order into the chaos of your mind.
Take a blank piece of paper and ask yourself these two questions:
- What do I want to teach my readers?
Just do a bullet point list here. Aim for 5-7 specific things- shifts in thinking, skills, or new processes. - If I were teaching these 5-7 things to a friend, in which order would I present them to make sure my friend to grasps the material easily?
Once you have the answers to these two questions, you have the beginnings of your table of contents.
On a very high level, writing a non-fiction book more about teaching skills that anything else. When you view your information from that mindset, you will discover the best way to present it to your readers quickly and clearly.