One of the more important steps on your journey to writing a
book is writing a book outline. This is also one of the most overlooked steps,
as nobody likes to do the prep work, but everyone loves to write. Taking the
time to write a book outline, however, can mean the difference between writing
a high quality book and writing a book that winds up in the bargain bin at the
local Barnes and Noble.
The book outline is important for several reasons. First and
foremost, writing a book outline will keep your writing process focused and
organized, so that your book doesn’t become one of those rambling tomes that
bore the hell out of everyone. Second, writing a book outline will allow you to
see the forest through the trees. Often, taking a step back and reviewing your
book outline will allow you to get back on track when you find yourself stuck
on a particular part of the book.
There are a couple of ways you can write your book outline.
The first is familiar to nearly everyone, as it is the outlining process taught
in every grade school in the country. You know the one, Roman Numeral I,
capital letter A, B, etc… This is a very simplistic book outlining method, but
it is also very powerful because it is easy to understand.
The second, more modern approach to writing a book outline
is called mind-mapping. In this process, you write the central idea of your
book in a circle in the middle of the page. You then write the central idea of
each chapter on a branch extending out from that circle. Then, you write
sub-branches with major points to include in each chapter. Repeat the process
for each chapter on a separate page, with your chapter central idea as the middle
circle. This approach to writing a book outline has the advantage of being a
more visual process than the simple outline.
Whichever method you choose for writing a book outline, just
make sure that you do indeed write one. You will find that with a bit of
thought organization using a book outline, your writing process will go much
faster and be much higher quality. Before you know it, your book will be done,
and you will thank yourself for taking the time to write a book outline.
Allen Bohart is a part time writer and full time writing enthusiast. For more writing tips and information visit Writing A Book.
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