In the list of common fears there is death, public speaking, heights, spiders, Dick Cheney, and the dark. I’m certain "the blank page" is right up there, especially for writers. Sure, there are people who can just write their book with great focus, ease, and aplomb. But for the rest of us, fear not! There really are some tricks for getting your non-fiction book on paper.
To Tell the Truth is an 18-week mini-series exploring the practical side of non-fiction writing and publishing. The series outline is located here, and previous episodes may be found here. To Tell the Truth is published Monday evenings and is crossed posted at MélangePress.
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I am a planner. I scribble outlines about all the things I am going to write. Somewhere in various files, I have seven (seven!) books planned out with detailed outlines of the topics I should write about – many levels of detail go down to include every point, example, reference. But when I face the blank first page of my book, I might as well be trying to explain the popularity of Paris Hilton to a schnauzer.
A friend of mine is a great talker. She can give day-long seminars on her subject matter, filled with great references, examples, facts, and useful tips. But when she faces the blank first page of her book, she might as well be attempting to scale the Sears Tower with a roll of dental floss.
And then there is the incessant journal keeper in my life. He not only buys gorgeous, leather-bound journals, he actually fills them up. He is writing all the time, but his writing is freeform, disjointed, tangential, and often far too personal for anyone to read. When he faces the blank first page of his book, he might as well be teaching a pig to sing.
Another journal keeper in my life has no problem writing, as long as she has a topic to write about. But she writes in fits and starts – one day she’s written twenty pages without blinking an eye. And it’s three weeks before another word gets on paper. When she faces the blank first page of her book, she MIGHT write half of it in one sitting, but getting her to finish it is like BP trying to stop the oil leak with toilet paper and spit.
So how do you face the blank first page of your book and actually get a solid first draft down in editable form?
Outline Method
If you’re like me (and maybe if I take my own advice, I’d have a book too), keep on outlining. Start high-level – the main topics. Then do a pass and give a bit of detail for each main topic. Then do another pass and outline the points you’d make on those details. Then another pass, including the examples you’d use. Take another pass and add in terms you might define, references you might quote. Another pass should include links or descriptions to the images you will use.
By outlining the outline, you will soon have an incredible amount of detail to work with. The page won’t be empty... that’s for sure. And the next step will be to turn each point of your outline into a sentence or two. EVERY POINT. Even the images – think of them as captions if you must. If your outline is as detailed as it could be, you pretty much have the book written anyway. Just make it all grammatical and stuff.
But note... you still don’t have a book. Just a first draft.
Lecture Method
Whether or not you are conducting seminars, lectures, or workshops, think of your book like a series of lectures. Make your lesson plan – even turn it into a PowerPoint presentation, if it helps. Then deliver the lectures to a recording device. If you need to talk to someone, bribe your significant other (lobster dinners go a long way to buying a loved one’s attention... just sayin’). But definitely record it. Then transcribe it.
But note... you still don’t have a book. Just a first draft.
Harvest Method
If you journal or blog, you have a ton of material already. And chances are some of it might actually support your book. Your task is to harvest. It will require you to organize a bit (I know, horror of horrors for you free-flowing types), but it won’t be difficult if you think of it as a ‘jaunt into the past’. I recommend killing a tree for your organizing: print out or photocopy the pages that might possibly have something you want to use. Then grab highlighters and scissors, and start finding the bits that work. Cut them out. Lay them on the floor (or table, if you have a cat) in rough categories. Once you’re through it, begin to sort each pile into smaller piles. Soon you’ll have all of your bits harvested and organized and ready to type into one manuscript.
But note... you still don’t have a book. Just a first draft. (You knew I was going to say that, didn’t you?)
Book in a Month Method
Many of you are familiar with the National Novel Writing Month project – it’s focused on fiction writers, and it encourages you to write no less than ten pages every day for 30 days during the month of November. At the end, you have a 300-or-so page first draft. But there is no reason why you can’t do it for non-fiction, and no reason why you can’t do it at any time.
It does, however, take some preparation. Before you set off on your book in a month, plan out your topics. Even if your book will only contain, say, eight chapters, continue to divide the chapters into manageable subtopics until you have thirty of reasonably equal weight. Also consider whether you really have enough to say in ten pages on each – it’s reasonable for non-fiction books to be much slimmer volumes – so set a reasonable length based on your book’s topic. Then on day one, start with one of the topics. The beauty of non-fiction writing this way is that you don’t have to write them in order – you may have a passion for a topic in your sixth chapter one day – so go for it.
But note... (come on, sing it with me now)... you still don’t have a book. Just a first draft.
There is one more method, if none of these feel good to you.
Ghost Writers in the Sky
Ghost writers – or at the very least, collaborators – can make your life a lot easier. They will take your ideas and turn them into a manuscript. But turning a book over to another writer does not mean you won’t be working on the book too. The ghost writer will interview you several times, ask for your research, work with you on outlines, and in some cases still require you to write some pieces of the book. I am collaborating on a book now – I’ll be the "with" in his byline – and the author wants case studies included. Since he is the one who’s worked with the clients in question, he is contacting them, securing permissions, and writing up the cases. The biggest advantage, of course, is that your ghost writer/co-author probably knows more about putting words on paper than you do and is often less afraid of the blank first page. (Yes, it’s true – I can write other people’s stuff a lot more easily than I can my own. My seven books lie moldering in the grave, but I am collaborating on two books right now and have written countless technical manuals. Go figure.)
But note....even when the ghost writer has done her thing, you still don’t have a book. You have a first draft.
"Okay, okay, we get it. We have a draft. Now what?"
Now comes the first part of the editing process – which is making sure your book follows the basic conventions of the genre you’re writing in. From there we’ll head into style and format and formal editing, but starting next week, we will begin looking at the various non-fiction genres. Each one has its own peccadilloes, and I think they’re worth examining in some detail. So...next week is Procedurals, or "how to how to."
Cheers!