How to Write Your Book in 10 Days or Less
One of the problems I hear at every seminar I give is how difficult people find it to get their books WRITTEN. I have a solution for you. Follow these steps and you’ll be cranking out 4-6 books a year … if you so choose! First, go out and buy 300 3X5 index cards. Write down every single idea or concept you have about your topic. Don’t’ worry about writing the same idea twice, just start cranking out the cards.
When you’re done, sit down on your living room floor. Sort all of the cards into piles that naturally go together. For our example here, let’s say you end up with 13 piles of cards. Let’s assume you have 20 cards in each of the 13 piles. Look through each of the piles and put the cards into the “correct” order. Put the card that would naturally go first up front and then sort through them so you have them in a sequence that will make sense to your eventual reader. When you’ve done that with each of your 13 piles of cards, now come up with a TITLE for the pile as a whole. What should you call THAT stack of cards? Don’t obsess over this one, you can always change it later.
Create two more additional piles of cards. One will be your introduction and the other one will be your conclusion. Write down as many items that you can think of that should be included in each of those piles. When finished, put THEM into a logical order as well.
Your outline for your book is now DONE.
Next, find the cheapest, nastiest hotel/motel in your area. Reserve a room for 10 days. Bring a selection of drinks and snacks with you. Also make sure you have the numbers for three or four restaurants that will deliver to this “wonderful” establishment. The average nonfiction book runs around 50,000 words. That means that you have to write a MINIMUM of 5,000 words each day. NO EXCUSES.
Open up an MS Word file and call it “MY BOOK”. Word has a function that allows you to calculate the number of words in the document. This way you’ll know when you can either go to sleep or turn on the TV in your room. It’s preferable to go at LEAST 2,000 words before you give yourself anything to eat each day.
Now take each one of your index cards and put it in front of you. Crank out a comprehensive article about each card. Don’t leave anything out. Write about the topic of that card until you’re done. Naturally, some of your articles about the cards will be longer than others. No worries! KEEP WRITING!!!
Don’t feel that you have to write the articles in any particular order. Go with what you feel. Write what you want to write about on that particular day. But remember, NO EATING A MEAL until you’ve done at least 2,000 words. This system also proves to be a great weight loss exercise for some people.
In 10 days, if you follow this system, your book will be done. Will it need some editing? Probably. Will it be done for the MOST part? Absolutely. Without any distractions around you, and an environment that is LESS than pleasant, you’ll be able to force yourself to GET IT DONE!
Additional writer's resources: jlcustomcreations.com
