How To Start Writing a Book in 3 Simple Steps

Writing a book can feel daunting. We see this complex project in front of us, and we feel paralyzed with fear and doubts. We don’t know where and how to start. Is there any road map for writing a book, a simple guide to get us started and navigate us through the process?

The most important step before we even put pen to paper is to adjust our mindset. If fear and doubts are holding us back and making us procrastinate, then we need to take action by planning our work. 

Here are three simple steps to start writing our book and overcome the feelings of fear and blockage.

1. Breaking the bigger goal of writing a book into small goals. 

This is a step that will reduce a lot of the tension and anxiety we face. We can set small goals that are clear, achievable, measurable, and trackable. Here are a few examples of such goals: 

• Define the audience of the book and their pain points and needs.
• Write a book overview.
• Define how the book will affect the readers and help them in their particular struggles.
• Collect all our notes and existing content relevant to the book.
• Write a chapter outline.
• Write the chapters.
• Prepare a book proposal if this is a nonfiction book.
• Revise the manuscript.
• Find beta readers.
• And the list goes on. 

2. Breaking the smaller goals into single activities. 

You can see that many of these goals are still big and like mini projects. This means we continue to break them into even smaller goals and single activities. Here are several examples of how to break down goals into activities: 

Goal: Prepare a book proposal.

• Educate ourselves about writing a book proposal: COMPEL Pro has wonderful resources on this topic. 
• Break down the proposal into its parts (for example, overview, audience, benefit statements, marketing, competitive titles, potential endorsers, and so on).
• Plan to write one or two parts of the proposal each week.

Goal: Write chapters. 

• Set a daily, weekly, or monthly word count. 
• Write Chapter 1.
• Write Chapter 2, and so on.

Goal: Revise the manuscript. 

• First revision: checking grammar, consistency, quotes, and style. 
• Second revision: editing chapters if needed.
• Third revision: hiring an editor. 

3. Setting deadlines and tracking our progress. 

Once we have listed our goals and single activities, we can place all of them into an Excel sheet and set deadlines for each activity. We can update the list weekly and track our progress. This enables us to celebrate milestones and boost our motivation. 

Writing a book takes time. Scheduling enough time for each activity is essential for our progress and the book’s quality. Each writer needs a different amount of time to accomplish the goal of writing a book, and this is OK. So many factors influence our writing, and we need to take them into account. 

Finally, take a deep breath and relax. Every long journey starts with a single step. There are two things we can always remember when we get weary and overwhelmed and face obstacles in achieving our writing goals. 

The first truth is that we are not alone on this journey. We have the best Guide, the most wonderful Counselor and Helper. He will supply everything we need to fulfill our creative callings. 

Next, let’s be kind to ourselves, giving ourselves grace to walk this unknown road, learn, and grow.

Blessings,
Hadassah Treu

Do you plan to write a book? Have you tried any of these steps? Share your thoughts and experiences in the comments.