Before You Take Off
Writing a book is similar to flying an airplane. It is overwhelming when you start, but when you fly high, it is exhilarating. However, there are many steps before you take off the ground in an airplane. You plan a flight path, make sure everything is working on the plane correctly, go through a checklist of items before you take off. There are five steps to write a book before your creation begins. It helps to do the steps in order, but unlike flying an airplane, you are not going to die if you work the steps in a different order.
Six years ago I began blogging, and I enjoyed sharing my voice with the world. However, at first, I did not have a rhyme or reason for my writing madness. I wrote what popped into my head, and placed it on paper, well, really the screen. Afterward, I edited to ensure the content flow was good, checked for grammar, prettied up the format of the blog post, and hit publish. As I was writing my first book, I realized I needed a more organized way to place my thoughts in a book. After beating my head against the wall and researching some different methods, I created one which made sense for me.
How Do You Write A Book?
I am not a rigid outline kind of person. I needed something to spark my creative juices. Even creative people need structure in place to create order from chaos.
As I work with clients, we go through the five steps, giving them clarity for the vision of their book. Using a writing plan gives you focus on writing each chapter until you have a completed book.
Five Steps To Start The Book Inside You:
1) What is your idea?
What do you want to teach or share with others?
Is it a story?
How to be successful in a certain industry?
As Stephen Covey said, “Begin with the end in mind?”
Questions Bring Clarity:
What do you want the outcome to be for your reader?
What do you expect them to learn?
What do you want them to feel when they read your work?
What do you want the to do after reading your book?
2) Research
What do other books, blog post, and podcast say about your topic?
Do you have a different point of view than most?
What do you want to do differently or better?
Is your topic something others will be willing to pay for assistance?
Are there enough people interested in your topic?
Maybe there is a flood of information on your topic. I encourage you to write about it. No one has lived your life and can share your story as you can. You may resonate with certain people more than others writing on the same topic.
3) Do you want to teach something?
You may not know as much as some others in your field, but you can strive to instruct what you know to those who are not as advanced as you.
Teach with excellence. Aim to give all you can to your readers.
4) Framework/Outline
Next is a crucial step in creating your book. Create a framework/outline for your book. Remember the pilot has to file a flight plan. He needs to know where he is going, and decide on the path he will use to arrive there.
A framework is another way of saying outline. Outlines can take various forms. As I mentioned earlier, I do not like rigid outlines. I prefer a series of questions to organize my thoughts. I use something called the Four-Step Writing Plan for all of my writing and professional talks.
You Want To Write A Book. Now, What?5 Steps To Start The Book Inside You!#The Write Coach. 
5) WRITE!
The step everyone wants to do first! Start with a free write to empty your mind of all the thought racing through your brain. Then use the Four-Step Writing Plan to organize your ideas into a pattern to help others.I encourage you to Write FIRST! Do not worry about creating your work R-I-G-H-T before you W-R-I-T-E.
Writing and editing are two different activities for the brain. When you edit and write at the same time, you hinder your progress and can create “writer's block.” You block your creativity by trying to make your words perfect as they flow from your brain.
A great writer knows how to write first, then clean up the beautiful mess into cohesive prose.
There is not a writer alive who wrote an eloquent first draft. What makes a great writer, is knowing how to go back and clean up the beautiful mess into cohesive, beautiful prose.
Don’t worry about what you’re writing or whether it’s good or even whether it makes sense.
Lauren Oliver
Utilizing the five steps above with the Four-step Writing Plan from The Write Academy propels your writing project to the finish line.
