I’m writing a book. I’ve got the page numbers done.Steven Wright
Is that the way you feel when you start to write? As if all inspiration has fled your brain and you are reduced to numbering pieces of paper? Try answering the following questions:
· Why do I want to write a book?
· What was my biggest motivator when I started my business?
· What topics did my last five coaching clients bring up?
· What topics have I taught teleclasses on?
· What topic(s) do I address with all of my clients?
· What issue has been nagging me lately that I would like to learn more about?
Choose a topic.
Get a piece of paper and start writing down everything you can think of about the topic. Don’t worry about writing in complete sentences. At this point just write enough to remember what the point is.
Try writing a series of questions about the topic. Go back and answer as many of your questions as you can. Make note of the questions you can’t answer. Decide if the answer is critical to a presentation on your topic. If it is, mark it for more research.
Set your notes aside overnight and come back to them the next day. Decide on the order you want to answer the questions you wrote and start writing or dictating. If you get caught up in editing as you go, it may be better for you to dictate first and edit later. You can use a digital recorder, or talk into the phone recording your call on a service such as freeconferencecall.com. Once you have an audio file, you can listen to it and type it yourself or send it to your virtual assistant or contact someone thru fiverr.com or odesk.com to transcribe it for you.
Once you have the core content of your product – be it a book or a home study – you’re ready to look at the format you want to present it in – print, audio, video, a combination of two or all three – and any other pieces you might want to include.
Go back to the first question – why did you want to write a book in the first place? What a great feeling it will be when you’ve finished your book, given your favorite keynote speech, and have people lined up to get autographed copies of your book.
You, too, can have a book full of more than just page numbers. With a little planning and a little help it can be yours.