Three Decisions Smart Writers Make that Shape Every Great Book
#1 What promise am I making to my reader?
#2 Why am I writing this book?
#3 Am I committed to finishing this book?
I talk to a lot of writers who want to become published authors. They all ask, “Where do I begin?”
It’s not an easy question to answer. Sometimes, you need to start at the end. Other times, you need to get clear on how you’re going to get to the end. Your first job is to get clarity – of your message, your reason for writing the book, and exactly HOW you’ll write it.
In other words, is your book going to be a priority or an afterthought? That will determine how good it really is.
Today, I’m breaking it down into three questions you should ask yourself before you start writing.
This is where you begin. Everyone thinks the writing is the beginning. But I’m telling you outright that it’s not!
Writers who are serious about their work and their business- and writing a book is a business- ask and answer these questions, finish their book, and publish. Let’s discuss.
#One – what are you promising your readers?
A promise kept is as valuable as a lesson learned. Remember, you’re not trying to change the world. You’re offering a select group of readers a way to achieve something they might think they can’t.
Here are some questions to ask yourself: (substitute what you do for the word industry)
🤔 What will be different for my reader after reading this book?
📖 Will the reader gain a better understanding of this industry?
🧠 Will the reader be able to make better decisions about this industry?
🆕 Will the reader see an old problem in a new way?
🎤 How will your reader answer this question: “After reading this book, I will be able to…”
When your promise is solid, and you offer insight into these and other questions your readers are likely to have, you keep readers from losing concentration.
Every story is part of your promise. Each one gains you credibility. If a story or chapter doesn’t do that, you need to consider removing it.
Save it for some other book or for a talk you give.
Never promise more than you can deliver! Your editor will help you with this.
#2 – Why am I writing this book?
Yes, you know your business, and you have chosen the topic for your book. But do you know why you are writing the book?
What made you decide to write this book, this year?
I hear many writers say, “People need to hear a different perspective.” I love that. But why this book, now? Dive into that perspective to truly understand your why.
Perhaps you plan to use the book to grow your business. Or gain better, paid speaking engagements. Perhaps you plan to use the book to establish yourself as an expert and authority.
Whatever it is, remember, books live on long after we are gone. Your book will be a legacy to your name.
Part of that is understanding your audience. We’ve talked about this before. Yet, I still hear people say, “My book is for everyone.”
I know it is. I know everyone on the planet- man, woman, LGBTQ, tall, short, smart, studying to be smart – yes, all of them need your book. (eyeroll!) 🙄🙄🙄
But all those people aren’t going to see it, let alone buy it. Write your book for the select group of people who need it most. Let them decide to share it with the rest of the world.
If you can ask yourself why you’re writing the book, and you get beyond the ‘to help everyone’ idea, you’re ahead of so many new authors out there.
Books written to please everyone often fail because readers can’t see themselves in them. Generally, even in book clubs (which I talk about at the link here – do learn about them well ahead of your book launch), there is one reader reading the book. One person to whom you owe your allegiance.
Write to that person.
❓What do they want?
❓What keeps them up at night?
❓Why does it keep them up at night?
❓How do they express their frustration?
❓What kinds of questions are they asking on LinkedIn and elsewhere?
Here’s a way to think about this:
Consider the difference between these two ideas:
“My book is for anyone who wants to improve their business this year.”
And:
“My book will help experienced consultants who know they can do better but continue to struggle week after week to discover how to find their way and then take that path to success. My 3-step proven process will show them the way.”
If you can describe your book in one or two short sentences, as I did in the example above, you’re on your way to writing a better book. Some people call this your logline. Or your throughline. Either way, it’s your foundation. It’s why you’re writing the book.
#3 – Am I committed to finishing this book?
To me, this is huge. I might even say very huge, which people who know me will understand is not something I normally do. Use the adverb very. Either something is, or it isn’t. I so dislike people who qualify their statements with ‘very’.
However, today, it suits.
Writing a book isn’t an accidental achievement.
It’s hard work. And nobody really likes to hear that. They fall back on the idea that they’ll write when the muse inspires them.
That’s a plan for failure if I ever heard one.
Ask Katie Wrigley or David Schneer. These are two of Master Book Builders’ authors whose books were launched recently. Each of them discovered in the writing that it takes commitment.
When I put the question to Katie, whose book From Crutches to Half Marathon: A Cognomovement Journey from Childhood Trauma to Reclaimed Life was just released on Amazon, she responded:
“Writing my book was the biggest project I’ve done to date. It was a year of writing, followed by more than a year of editing to get it to where it needed to be for publication. Whole parts may get removed, other elements added; you’ll have a lot of feelings about it…and in the end, holding your book in your hands is well worth it. Go for it, you won’t be sorry.”
And here’s what David had to say about his book, Backbone: Surviving the Road Less Quantified – Toward a Deeper Understanding of Qualitative Research:
“Writing a book is not unlike having a child. You carry it a long while before anyone else can see it—and that carrying is grueling. It takes time, more than you think you have, stolen in early mornings and late nights. It takes concentration that shuts out the rest of the world. You write and rewrite, then rewrite again, proofread until the words blur, and start over when a whole section refuses to work. It is a giant undertaking, and an exhausting one. If you’re not up to that labor, you should think hard about whether to start at all.”
The truth hurts, I know. But I’m not fooling around here. I’m not here to play nice. If you don’t understand that consistency is what you need to write your book, you will likely fail.
Thirty minutes, three or four days a week, without fail, wins the prize. It gets the chapters done and the book written.
Once that’s done – you launch, and you become a published author.
If you’re thinking hard now about that book you’ve been planning to write but haven’t found the time for, maybe your next read should be this blog post: Your Book as a Business: Thinking Like an Authorpreneur. This article covers why your published book is more than a product you sell.
And that’s exactly why you should be asking and answering these three questions before you start writing.
Need a worksheet to help you get started? Email me with ‘worksheet’ in your subject line, and I’ll send you our PDF, which you can print out and work on today.
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