The Book Professor’s? Complete Guide to Writing Your Nonfiction Book

A lot of us suddenly have a surprising amount of free time on our hands. If you want to start your manuscript today, here’s my process, start to finish.

It’s Time to Stop Stalling

If you’re like most aspiring writers, you’ve probably considered writing a book for some time now. Like someone who stands at the edge of a pool, waiting for the perfect moment to dive in, you might only need a little encouragement. A little push.

Well, this is it. Especially if you’re stuck at home right now due to COVID-19, I want to encourage you. Use these difficult days to fulfill a dream or propel your career forward. Write your book.

Do you still need someone to convince you? Do you think, “Who am I to write a book?” Or, “It’s way too hard?”

Consider the story behind some of the books my authors produced.

Success Stories for Inspiration

For example, Executive Coach Mike Kitko had several false starts before he engaged the process I’m about to share. But after he followed it from beginning to end, he released an excellent book he can sell at every one of his speaking gigs. (It even helped him create two revenue-producing courses!)

Beth Standlee is a gifted writer and speaker, but she struggled to organize her “creative chaos” into a book. This process gave her the tools to do so. With this structure in place, she was able to publish her book even while she navigated one of the most challenging periods in her personal life.

Terry Lammers is a businessman who knows the secrets of buying and selling companies. But he never considered himself a writer. This process helped him produce the book, You Don’t Know What You Don’t Know. It found a place on the Forbes list, “Best Books for Entrepreneurs and Business Owners.”

And we haven’t even talked about the Overcomers! Writers like Rich Daniels, Lindsey Jacobs, and Nancy Nelson learned to tell complex, rich stories that grew out of heartbreaking times. It took courage to say what they had to say, but in the end, the process they followed helped them release beautiful books that offer hope and help to others.

You can do it, too. This article will get you started. But you can get even more complete detail from my book, Stop Stalling and Start Writing. Download a copy (or order the paper version) here.

Ready? Get set.

Write!

1. Purpose Statement

If you want to complete your book as soon as possible, you may be tempted to start at chapter one. But a little pre-writing goes a long way. It keeps you from writing three or four chapters only to discover you’ve “lost the plot.”

Start with a purpose statement, which allows you to make choices that will drive your book forward. It follows this formula:

“The purpose of this book is to action for audience to result.”

Let’s break that down.

Action

First, what do you want your book to do for people? The answer to this question is vital because people don’t buy books; they buy solutions.

Audience

Then, define your audience. It’s okay to be specific. The better you define your audience now, the more targeted your writing can be. It will also give you a way to market your book when you’ve completed it.

Result

Finally, what will your audience take away from this book? That’s the “result.” It’s the change your audience will experience when they’ve read it.

This strategy works for any nonfiction book. All of my writers have focused their writing through this formula.

But just because it’s simple doesn’t mean you can rush through it. Take some time. Freewriting will get you a long way. (Try writing with your non-dominant hand as well.)

If you want to learn more and see some examples of purpose statements for a wide range of nonfiction books, read this article.

ASSIGNMENT: Write your purpose statement.

2. BookMAPs?

We’ve talked about BookMAPs extensively on the blog, and I encourage you to read this article in addition to the one you’re reading now. This part of the process gives you the structure you need to write quickly and effectively, virtually eliminating writer’s block.

You’ll start with BookMAP 1, your personal story. Here’s the formula:

• What it used to be like
• What happened
• What it’s like now

If you’re writing a memoir, you’ll base your entire book around these three points. For most writers, however, BookMAP 1 will inform your introduction and give you many of the anecdotes you’ll need to fill out the rest of your book.

As you consider each of these three points, spend time writing down what life was like during each of these three periods:

• Personally
• Professionally
• Physically
• Spiritually
• Financially
• Mentally
• Relationally

Write all of this out and collect it in a single document.

ASSIGNMENT: Create BookMAP 1.

Next, you’ll work on BookMAP 2, which are problem/solution sets. Your book is about how you solved one big problem. Still, you’ll break that larger problem down into about several individual problems that each had a solution you discovered.

Each of those solutions has a list of features, which are the attributes and aspects your solution provides. Second, each of those features has a list of benefits. These benefits are “what you got out of that solution.”

For most business books and how-to books, these problem/solution sets will define your chapters. Collect your problems, solutions, features, and benefits into one document.

ASSIGNMENT: Create BookMAP 2.

3. Write without Ruts

With your BookMAPs in place, you know what you’re going to write. Now you just have to do it.

I recommend writers set aside time to write their book. Whether you can work every day or once a week, make sure you reserve this time for yourself. Then, do whatever you have to do to concentrate and write.

Also, don’t double back and fix what you’ve written. It’s too early to determine what you’re going to keep and what you’re going to throw it. All of that is just a distraction. This first draft will not be perfect, but it does have to be complete.

Write the book and be prepared to fix it later.

ASSIGNMENT: Write your first draft, one chapter at a time, from beginning to end.

4. Rewrite: Polish and Perfect

Now, go back through your book and see what you need to do to make every line work and every word sing. It takes some time, so don’t rush the process. But as you edit, ask yourself:

• Does this address my audience?
• Does this help my audience take action that will produce their desired result?

If it doesn’t, no matter how much you love it, cut it. Your first draft was for you. You had to get it all on paper. But this draft if for your audience. This draft will make a difference in people’s lives.

Also, this is when you’ll need to engage a professional book editor. No matter how proper your grammar is, your book will need a second set of eyes. And if you’re not a very strong writer, editors can help you keep your voice but fix your mistakes.

ASSIGNMENT: Go back to the beginning and work through your book line by line.

Is that really all there is to it?

Yes and no. If you read straight through this post, it probably took you about five minutes. And it only takes a handful of hours to read my book on this subject.

But writing a book takes a long time. I estimate forty-eight weeks.

And there’s more to a book than just writing it. At some point, it won’t make sense to work through this process all alone. I do a lot of big-picture editing for writers, helping them when they get lost and don’t know what’s next. When we finish, I bring in another editor to go through the book line by line and make sure we haven’t missed anything.

The cover and layout are essential to the reader’s experience, too. There’s a tangible difference between a professionally-designed book and a printed-out Word document. When you have someone do it correctly and beautifully, it will earn you an extra degree of credibility.

But nearly anyone who has lived through a problem (and figured out how to solve it) can write a book. If you’re not ready to work through the process with me, that’s okay. Use this opportunity to get started.

But if you’re ready to go all-in, get someone who can walk you through this process, and work with a coach who can cheer you on, I’d love to work with you. Contact me here.