Here are some ways to flesh out the chapters of the manuscript you intend to write. Remember that? The one you keep putting off? Oh, I know – you’ll write it “someday.” Well, I can assure you (and, trust me, I know from experience) that some “day” turns into some “month.” Months turn into years and years into decades. And decades add up.
Pretty soon you are talking about your entire life.
It reminds me of the poem written by Herbert Kaufman call Victory. It goes like this:
VICTORY
You are the man who used to boast
That you’d achieve the uppermost,
Some day.
You merely wished a show,
To demonstrate how much you know
And prove the distance you can go …
Another year we’ve just passed through
What new ideas came to you?
How many big things did you do?
Time…left twelve fresh months in your care
How many of them did you share
With opportunity and dare
Again where you so often missed?
We do not find you on the list of Makers Good
Explain the fact!
Ah no, ‘twas not the chance you lacked!
As usual – you failed to act!
Having said that, here is the Secret Formula to writing a book. You could probably finish it in fewer than seven days if you wanted to (and now might be the time of year to do it, since people often shift gears a little, especially between Christmas and New Year’s). Exactly seven days separate the two holidays, in case you didn’t notice. What will you be doing that week?
But there is a single scientific way to tackle More Discounts buy levitra issues of loss of libido among females. What is the mechanism of crestor ? Crestor hinders the route for methodizing cholesterol in the liver, as most cholesterol is made in body cheap viagra soft rather than food intake. An cialis india aperture within the device between your upper portion and also the lower part facilitates the actual passage associated with air with regard to mouth inhaling and exhaling and draws in the language forward. Benefits of using our online drugstore: * viagra shop usa Order from a fully licensed pharmacy worldwide;* * Access to popular brand name and generic drugs and save money while taking quality medicine. If you think seven DAYS is too ambitious, perhaps because you are overwhelmingly busy, then you might want to set the goal for seven WEEKS. There is no way in the world it should take any longer than seven MONTHS to complete a manuscript (unless, of course you are working with a co-author, which I would caution you against, unless it is a real good fit and you complement each other nicely). Nevertheless, try to keep it within one of these timeframes.
Anyway, once you have set a deadline for yourself (which I can’t encourage you strongly enough to do), here are the next steps:
- Come up with the book title (if you haven’t already). Make it catchy and easy to remember. One that people can recommend to their friends and colleagues. They shouldn’t have to “google” it, otherwise look it up or even write it down. I’m sure you can come up with a good title if you think about it.
- Decide how many chapters it will be. At least 10 is probably a good rule of thumb (although Marie Kondo’s best-selling book The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up only has five chapters, so go figure). Twelve or more is good for a business book. If it is a novel, the number becomes less important.
- Come up with chapter titles. Make them catchy, too. Perhaps you can find a quote that correlates to the chapter title. If so, I suggest you have one for each chapter. Put it in italics at the outset of the chapter.
- Define what is meant by each chapter title. Why is that the name of the chapter? Is it an expression that means something to you? Or, did it come from somewhere (or someone) else? What is its origin?
- Come up with a story to go along with the narrative of the chapter. The story should illustrate the point you are making.
- Come up with a way to wrap up the chapter. Something that drives your point home.
- Smooth it out by writing, reading what you wrote and then rewriting. You know what reads well. Make sure your work does.
That’s pretty much it! Each chapter should have an opening, body and conclusion. Use the PEP (Point, Example, Point) formula in each chapter.
Once you have a solid rough draft of your manuscript, you can send it off to an editor. Good editors can do amazing things with manuscripts.
Don’t obsess over it by trying to achieve perfection. It won’t happen. Keep moving forward with it. Don’t let it become stale or stagnant.
If you need help, give me (or someone else) a holler.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Frank Felsburg is a ghostwriter of books, blog posts, elevator pitches, web content and white papers. He can be reached at 484.278.4674, frank@SpokenAndWrittenWords.com or @fjfelsburg.
