What about that First Draft?

Sometimes it’s the most obvious things the trip us up.

This is especially true when you’re about to start writing your first business book. At one level it’s simple. Just create a new word document, give it a title, save it and start.

Yes, it’s as simple as that. BUT. Think about it.

You’re about to embark on your book project, spend a considerable amount of time working on it and creating a document that will become your book.

This is not just some other word doc. It’s going to be a significant document in your life. So, you need to treat it with respect and care.

Having written and published over 400 books and worked with many writers I’ve got a whole book of writing disasters. My worst one/best lesson was 30 years ago, when I was working on an early version of a desktop with a floppy disc!. I spent the whole day writing and about 3 p.m. there was a power surge. Who knew what that was in 1989?

I lost a whole days’ work. I had to leave my apartment and go for a walk . . . I then went back and spent another 5 hours re-typing it in. I learnt one lesson. SAVE all work.

Here is a list of the 12 things you must do when you set up your Word document to start writing.

1. Create a document title that you can amend easily and still keep track of versions.
2. Set your computer to 5 minute automatic save. Yes, this can be a bit irritating but it’s better than losing your words.
3. Set your document for pagination
4. Learn how to use the footnote function
5. Learn how to use the comment function
6. Be absolutely diligent about footnoting every reference
7. Learn how to add in a ‘footer’ and put the copyright symbol, your name and date in it;
8. Backup your computer every three days
9. Save your manuscript document on a USB . . . perhaps several, once a week
10. Embed a watermark into your document
11. Don’t send your manuscript to anyone unless they have signed an NDA (Non-disclosure agreement).
12. NEVER send your manuscript to ANYONE as a word document. Always send it as a PDF.

If you need some help with any of this contact us at The Book Adviser ([email protected])