Why can’t I finish my book… because you didn’t start from a stable foundation and therefore made the writing process unnecessarily difficult on yourself.
“It takes as much energy to wish as it does to plan.”
Eleanor Roosevelt
As a way of getting clarity on their book before writing it, some authors craft their book proposal first. I see the logic here. A book proposal makes you answer key questions about what your book is really about, who your target audience is, a synopsis of what will be covered, and a table of contents to help you structure your book.
If a book proposal is the tool that you’ve chosen to help you outline your book idea before you start writing – awesome, go for it.
A book proposal as a book development tool is fine, unless you need a tool that does even more of all those things I just listed – and with greater precision. In that case, you might want to use a tool designed specifically for the job at hand.
If the job calls for needle nose pliers, you won’t get the same results with hedge clippers.
One of my inventions as a book writing coach is a Book Blueprint, which is custom designed to help you develop and write your book. You’ll get pinpoint clarity on what your book is (really) about, how to structure it, a plan of action to write it, and accountability to ensure you follow through on that plan. And as a bonus, much of the copy in your Book Blueprint can later be carried over into a book proposal, for those of you planning to traditionally publish.
A Book Blueprint has 5 sections: Vision, Architecture, Table of Contents, Chapter Writing Plan, and Project Timetable.
Vision: The vision answers what I call the journalist questions – who, what, when, where, why, how.
Architecture: Determine the best structure and style to execute on your book idea.
Table of Contents: Next, you’ll expand your architecture into individual chapters.
Chapter Writing Plan: The largest and most detailed section of your Blueprint, breaks out and sequences how your chapters will flow.
Project Timetable: This is your logistical north star – chapters, target word counts, due dates. It lays out your actual writing schedule so you can hold yourself accountable to finishing your book. It helps you lock in your writing habit so “Why can’t I finish my book?” becomes – “The foundation is built, I have everything I need to finish my book!”
Check it out for yourself, get my Book Blueprint “DIY” Guide for free by clicking here, and at checkout use coupon code INKFRIENDS to make it free.
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