If you look back on the past few months, have you accomplished or taken steps to accomplish all that you had hoped at the start of the New Year?
There’s still time to jump in and make great strides, even in a considerable undertaking such as writing the first draft of your book.
If you’re stuck and aren’t sure where to start, here’s how to make the most of the next few months and do just that.
1. Map it out
If you’re visual and like seeing things clearly in front of you, a mind map is a flexible tool that can be as low or high-tech as you want it to be.
A good mind map can serve as the first draft of your outline:
- It helps organize your thoughts – working title, chapter titles, main topics and questions to answer.
- It gets you closer to identifying your thesis or main argument if you don’t already have one.
- It’s one of the easiest formats you can re-organize without making a mess because everything you’ve written up to this point is right under your nose.
Besides, you can do it anywhere: while commuting (I mind mapped this post on the train), over your lunch break, or while waiting in line.
As you modify your mind map, the process will spark new ideas or concepts, and that’s the beauty of it. It allows you to extend any branch with more information, questions and thoughts. You’ll see the whole of your book and its parts gradually come to life.
Just be careful not to substitute this for actual writing. Sooner or later, you have to transfer these thoughts onto paper or a screen.
2. Record and transcribe
Have you ever discarded some notes or given up on deciphering them because they were illegible? I’ve done it too many times to recount and it was always with a sense that I might later regret it.
I’ve since stopped the madness and I now record ideas on my phone. (Yes, this means I often sleep next to it, but who doesn’t nowadays?) It beats the grief of waking up to hand scratches resembling what I must have written in my sleep.
If your handwriting is slowing you down, why not speak your book chapters over several sessions and transcribe them later?
- If you don’t have a stand-alone recorder, Evernote offers a simple voice recording feature that allows a device equipped with a speech-to-text feature to convert your dictations into text and you can later clean them up and use them as your starting point.
- Other similar apps such as high-end Dragon NaturallySpeaking or more affordable Speechnotes record and transcribe your story and you simply send it to your Mac or PC for revisions.
- Not into apps? Try Facebook or Periscope’s audio recording features.
- If you don’t mind talking to yourself, you could record your book as if it were a podcast. You’re the subject matter expert, right? Why not interview yourself, dividing each topic into a separate podcast and downloading them for transcription.
As you ask and answer your own questions, you’ll uncover subtopics, themes you hadn’t considered, or opportunities to interview other experts who can strengthen your thesis or add more discussion to your book. These new subtopics you can weave in and flesh out as you revise.
Lastly, these recorded sessions can later serve as fodder if you decide to launch a public podcast to help build your audience.
3. Hire your weakness
What if you’re running out of time and just can’t see yourself committing to all the work involved in writing a book? Consider hiring a ghostwriter.
Many authors find themselves collaborating with another writer because it saves them a significant amount of time and ensures the book is well written.
As the author, you don’t write a single word. Well, maybe the book dedication. Meanwhile, your dedicated ghost will do the heavy lifting while you get the credit.
Sweet deal? I think so.
If you’re already a decent writer but you lack clarity, it might be time to consult a book coach who can:
- Bounce ideas around and help you stay on track.
- Offer one-stop shop services such as editing or query letter and proposal preparation.
- Guide you through the different book publishing and marketing options so you can make choices that are right for you.
To finish that first draft quickly you must commit to it. There’s just no shortcut to writing a book. It means kicking resistance to the curb. And discarding the notion of the perfect first draft because there will be plenty of revisions later.
For now, you just have to start.