Take time to create a
good outline however this will make the rest of the job easier – trust me!
There are many ways to
do this task, however use a method that works for you.
Non-fiction books tend
to have between 6-10 chapter. – (not really a rule)
Logical Table of Content
1.
Make a
list of all the subjects you would like to add to your book.
o
Question
yourself: “What I would like to find in a book topic like
this one?”
o
Just write
a list without much thinking then group related topics to create a subject material.
2.
You can identify
each subject as a chapter – now use a temporary word as
a reference or title to guide the intention of each chapter.
3.
Once you
have the list then arrange the chapters in a logic order. Your choice.
o
You can
use chronological order.
o
You can
use incremental process order.
o
You can use
event order.
4.
Now that all
chapters are arranged, revisit each chapter using the same strategy to generate
a list of subtopics. These subtopics should mirror the chapter’s intention in deeper details.
5.
While
writing the subtopics also identify the areas that will require research.
6.
Review the
whole outline looking for any gaps or possible unanswered question that the reader
may have.
7.
Your table
of content is ready then you can come back to amazon and look for at least 5
books with similar topic. Do you see anything that are probably missing?
8.
Read the amazon
reviews about those 5 books to get free feedback from the audience. This is an
easy way to learn about readers expectation, issues or suggestions.
9.
Once your
outline if complete then create a synopsis for each chapter to have a writing
guide that will aid in your research.
Mind Mapping Strategy
·
The
concept is to drop all ideas you can perceive about the topic you decided to
write about.
·
You can
use a white board, post it notes or even a software available in the market.
·
Use a variety
of color markets or sticky notepads to help you group or easily identify the
information. Write keywords to identify the material and rearrange them later
by topics and/or subtopics.
·
How it works
1.
Start by
adding your book’s topic in the center of
your media.
2.
Now brainstorm
a potential chapter or subject by adding a reference word and link it to the
main topic. Keep doing the same until you feel you are covering the core of
your topic. Between 6-10 chapter is enough.
3.
Using same
strategy start doing the same per each chapter to generate all the subtopics
per chapter.
4.
Arrange
all this information in logical order
5.
Follow all
same steps from previous method from step 4 to 9
Free Software for Mind Mapping – Be sure to learn to use
the software before start anything.
Combination Method
·
You can start
using Mind Mapping as a brainstorm strategy to generate you Logical Table of
content
MAKE THIS ONE OF YOU GOAL AS WRITER
Always produce a better book than whatever it
is in
the market place.
WHAT SELLS YOUR BOOK?
YOUR
COVER
|
YOUR
TITLE
|
YOUR
OUTLINE
|
YOUR
REPUTATION
|
