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       Have you
been thinking of writing an e-book someday? But someday never comes? Maybe the
thought of writing 50 or 100 or even 200 pages seems overwhelming. But as the
saying goes, “a journey of a thousand miles begins with one step.”
       So you ask, what is the one step I need to know in
order to begin my e-book? Actually there are many ways you can begin to write
an e-book or book. The different ways vary with each writer. So in order to
help YOU get started, I’ll offer some of the ways others have done it and you
can choose the one that resonates with you. If you get stuck, know that as a
ghostwriter, teacher, and writing coach, I am always available to help you if
you get stuck anywhere along the journey.

1. TITLE–coming up with a title may
be easy if a burst of inspiration hits you at 3:00 am. Or you may be struggling
with it and need to do some creative brainstorming. I know when I have the
title (or at least a comfortable working title), I’m more inspired to get going
with the rest of the book. Think of a title that will capture the attention of
your audience, that will set you apart from others, and that will offer a
promise or benefit to the reader.
2. SYNOPSIS–if you want to get your
thoughts clear about what you intend to write about, consider writing a brief synopsis
to determine the focus and direction of your e-book. Not only will this
information ultimately assist your reader, it will help you get on track at the
start. You can always change the path later, but it’s a great place to begin.
3. OUTLINE?now that you know what
you will be writing about,  start an
outline as ideas for the organization of your book come to mind. Fill in more
details as you think of them. Make sure you tackle all the questions your
reader has that you have the answers to.
4. TABLE OF CONTENTS–as your
outline becomes more concrete, you are ready to prepare your chapter headings.
This creates a fill-in-the-blanks template for you.
5. SCATTERED NOTES–I have files and
documents with ideas for books, and every time I have a new idea or see
something somewhere that catches my attention, I pop it in the appropriate file
or document. You may have been inspired over lunch and jotted notes on a
napkin. Or perhaps, like me, you get great ideas while stuck in traffic.
Collect your notes and start organizing them.
6. EXISTING CONTENT?have you given a
teleclass, class, seminar or written articles or blogs? You will have all this
content that can be re-purposed for your e-book.
7. RESEARCH–you may feel you need
to read a few books, visit the bookstore or library, or research your idea on
the Internet. You should see what the competition is doing. At some point,
though, you have to decide you have enough information to just start writing. I
have sometimes used research as a convenient form of procrastination. “I
just need to check one more fact, one more book, one more website, and then
I’ll be ready to write!” Does this sound like you?
8. JUMP RIGHT IN: BEGINNING, MIDDLE OR
END–start anywhere, just start! There’s no rule that states you have to
start writing your book at the beginning. You have your table of contents, you
have your data, just plug it in where it belongs.
9. POLISH?you have your ideas in each
chapter, now just clean it up, do a few edits, run it through spell-check , and
you have an e-book written. Congratulations!

 

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Tags: audience, benefit, brainstorming, burst, chapter headings, coach, different ways, e book, inspiration, journey of a thousand miles, table of contents

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