Writing a Book: The Research Treasure Hunt

Writing a Book 1 Response »
Apr 222013

In school, doing research was usually a slog. Your teacher picked the topic. Almost all your research involved reading. And a lot of that reading was mind-numbing. It was like breaking rocks on a chain gang.

The research that adds value to your book is more like a treasure hunt where you run from one great discovery to another. It’s exciting and energizing. Here are some tips for doing it well.

Start with your very own personal brain. Try to wring out everything you know and want to know about your topic. Make lists of questions, key points, information sources, ideas, and people.

The research that will add value to your book will be the research that brings information or insight that’s not common knowledge yet. You get that from talking to people and from making connections between bits of information.

Use one source to point you to others. Use published information to point you to people and other published information. Use people to point you to published information and to other people. Here’s an example.

Do a search on Amazon for your topic. You’ll get a list of books, of course, but you’re on the trail to much more. Those books have authors and the authors know more about the topic than what’s in their books. Interview them.

When you talk to someone about your topic, always ask two questions. What should I read to learn more? Who else should I talk to?

Your book research is different from most of the research you did in school. It’s about something you’re interested in and the process is like a treasure hunt.

Posted by Wally on April 22, 2013 Tagged with: ,

Writing a book: The Great Learning Experience

Writing a Book 1 Response »
Apr 082013

Human beings love to learn. It’s a natural thing. Learning helps your brain grow and remain young.

That’s why and how writing a book should be a great experience. Sure, it will be a lot of work, but writing a book should be one of the great learning experiences of your life. It should be a joyful process that adds brain connections by the millions.

That’s why I love what I do. When I help someone write a book, as a ghostwriter or coach, it’s always a great learning journey. That’s how it should be for you if you want to write a book.

Pick a subject that you’re passionate about. Even if you’re already an expert, writing a book will help you learn new things, refine your concepts, and hone your explanations to a razor’s edge.

Posted by Wally on April 8, 2013 Tagged with:

Writing a Book: Picking a Writing Coach

Writing a Book 1 Response »
Apr 012013

A good writing coach can help you if you’re a business person who wants to write a better book.  Here are some suggestions to help you pick a good coach for you.

Check experience. Writing a book is different from just about everything else in the world. Book authors have that experience, so do some editors. The best choice is someone with experience on business books.

A coach should be able to help you sharpen your ideas and your book plan and also help improve your writing. Use testimonials or client references to assess whether the person you’re considering can do both.

Make your decision with both your head and your heart. The right coach for you will have the right experience, and he or she will also have a style you’re comfortable with. Don’t settle for less.

Posted by Wally on April 1, 2013 Tagged with: ,

Writing a Book: The Power of Purpose

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Mar 272013

This is a tale of two people I’ve spoken with recently. They’re very much alike. They’re about the same age. They’ve both had successful careers. They both write well. One is writing a book.

She’s my client. She wants to share the lessons she’s learned in her life and career with people coming after her. She knows her purpose and it propels her book writing forward.

The other person has many lessons to share, too. But he’s not sure which lessons he wants to share. He’s not sure if a book is the way to share them. He is sure that he doesn’t want to write a book just to check off “Write a book” on some bucket list.

Writing a great book is hard work, but it should be a growth experience, full of learning and satisfaction. Purpose is what makes that happen.

Posted by Wally on March 27, 2013 Tagged with:

Your Book: Three Ways to Write a Book

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Mar 202013

Most of my clients are like Rod or Susan or Stephen. They want to write a book that will have a significant impact on their business and their life. And they embrace the idea that writing a book can be one of the greatest learning and growing process there is. They’re willing to take a year or more to create a great book.

Not everyone has that goal or wants to take that long. If that’s you, there are two ways you can have a book in a much shorter time, with less cost in money and involvement.

If you want a book that will answer common questions, explain a process, or make some basic points, you can use a faster process. There won’t be any learning here, but you can go from concept to completion in a few months.

If you have blog posts, customer case studies, articles, or speeches, you can collect them into a book. You’ll have to do some editing and add some “connective tissue,” but you can complete the manuscript in a month or two.

Neither quick method will give you the kind of learning and growth that the slower process provides. But either one can give your business or career a boost.

Posted by Wally on March 20, 2013 Tagged with:

Do you have a book in you?

Writing a Book 1 Response »
Mar 042013

Do you have a book inside you? That’s where it will stay unless you take action to get it out. The way to get it out is to write it.

Thinking about the book is not writing it. You may feel good. It may be fun. But when you’re done, that book will still be inside.

Research is not writing the book. You need to do research for your book, but not at the beginning. That’s because you won’t know what you don’t know until you start writing.

Outlining is not writing, either. Outlining may help you organize your thoughts, but outlines leave too many gaps and leave out too many important details.

Only writing is writing. The best way to start writing your book is to start writing it. Start writing the whole book, not just notes. That’s called the zero draft, the one before the first draft.

Bottom Line

You’ll write a better book faster if you start with a zero draft. That way you’ll learn what you don’t know and what needs to be explained better. That way you’ll have the material to make your first draft the first draft of a great book.

Posted by Wally on March 4, 2013 Tagged with: ,

5 Reasons Why People don’t Finish that Book

Writing a Book No Responses »
Feb 202013

Lots of people “have a book in them.” But most of them will never finish that book. Here are five reasons why.

They don’t think they can so they never try. Here’s the truth. If you can read a book, you can probably write one.

They decide to do it “someday,” but someday keeps receding and they never start. You can’t finish a book if you never start it. Simple, eh?

They mistake research for writing. Research is not writing. Only writing is writing.

They mistake planning and outlining for writing. See above.

They get discouraged and quit. Make no mistake, writing a book is hard work and it usually takes more than a year. But if you want to write a book, you have to write the whole book. There’s no partial credit.

Posted by Wally on February 20, 2013 Tagged with:

Writing a Book: Deeper Reasons to Write

Writing a Book 1 Response »
Feb 182013

One of the first questions I ask in an Options Review Session is: “Why do you want to write a book?” There’s no right answer to that one.

I’ve had clients who’ve written a book to increase their fees and professional prestige. Another client wanted to dig deep into a topic and thought that writing a book would be a great way to accomplish that. Not every client starts there, though.

Most start with some version of “I have to” or “I’ve always wanted to.” You’ll do better if you sharpen those answers.

“I have to” can really mean “my competitors all have a book” or “if I want to get to the next level in my career, I have to have a book.” When you have answers like that, we can structure your book plan so it stands out from your competition or so that you can use it as the basis for increased fees. Your deeper reason helps you decide what kind of book to write and how and where to promote it.

“I’ve always wanted to” can lead to lots of deeper answers. My most memorable case was the fellow who wanted to write a book because his mother had always told him he could. We planned the book so that it would be something she would enjoy reading.

A deeper answer to “Why do you want to write a book?” can help you create a book that helps you accomplish your goals. It can help you make wise decisions about what goes into the book and how and where you promote it.

Posted by Wally on February 18, 2013 Tagged with:

Writing Tip: You can’t rewrite if you don’t write

Writing a Book No Responses »
Feb 062013

For most business books, the best first step is to get it all out. Dump everything into your word processor. Dictate your book and have it transcribed. That will give you a zero draft, the one before the first draft. Once you’ve got it all out, you’ll know a couple of things.

You’ll know what you’ve got. It’s too easy to fool yourself about what you know and how well you say things. Use this zero draft as a reality check.

You’ll also discover what you don’t have. A zero draft will highlight the gaps in your material so you can plan additional research.

Bottom Line

Great writing is rewriting and you can’t rewrite what you haven’t written yet.

Posted by Wally on February 6, 2013 Tagged with: , ,

Getting It Right

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Jan 302013

We’re on the homestretch now. I’m doing the final read-through and edit of a client’s book. This will be the sixth major revision. Here’s what got us to this point, and what comes next.

The first step was to get the basics right. That took a while, but we got the big pieces in the right order.

Then we worked hard on the details. We paid attention to the accuracy of quotes and to the way we described the examples we used. We took a close look at the historical examples we wanted to use and discovered that one classic story was not what it seemed.

We made some changes as we went. As a result, the first full draft had several inconsistencies. We started re-writing. Five drafts later, I’m doing the almost-final edit.

I’m reading the full manuscript of about 200 pages aloud for the sixth time. We’re on pace for about 1500 changes to the manuscript in this round of revisions. That’s normal.

What could there be after all those other revisions? Nothing huge, though there have been some descriptions that needed a thorough tune-up. Most of the changes are either grammar or punctuation corrections.

I called this the “almost-final” edit because that’s what it is. It’s the last time I’ll touch the manuscript in any significant way, but the author will send it out to a professional editor when we’re done with it.

What will happen then? That editor will find a whole lot of things to fix. That’s how the world works.

Posted by Wally on January 30, 2013 Tagged with: ,
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