Wishing you could write a book, but unsure of where to start? Or overcomplicating the matter? Or unsure of how to organize your thoughts?
My drawing teacher recently told me, “You can look at my drawing and it’s beautiful. What people don’t know is that I’ve sketched it a hundred times underneath all the shading and color. It’s beautiful because I didn’t settle for the first place I laid my pencil.”
Writing a book is like sketching a piece of fruit—you’ll be doing it a hundred times, refining and adding details and adjusting and rearranging until you have something beautiful.
We can start very, very broadly, putting just a skeleton in place.
When my drawing teacher was teaching us to draw a wine bottle, he made a huge squarish oval on the paper! When I started this book, I created a word document with chapter headings. Even professionals start with the basics. The only difference between an amateur and a professional is that the latter knows how to go from basics to details without giving up.
My book Story Symmetry takes you through how to go from basics to details step-by-step for a novel. You can even use these storytelling concepts for a nonfiction or memoir book, especially if those books are heavy in story.
Think of your book like a fun art project—what is the first thing that comes to mind? The more fun you can make your organization process, the better!
Here are some ways that I’ve seen people organize their notes for a book:
#1 - Bulleted Outline
Get your ideas into a bulleted outline in Word, Google Docs, or your word processor of choice. This is my personal favorite way to get my content in order for my book.
#2 - Notecards
Write each separate idea, conversation, snippet, plot point, character point, or world-building piece onto separate notecards. This way, you can move the pieces around, lay them out on your floor or table, post them on the wall, reorder them, add and delete cards, and otherwise view them however you’d like without committing to a certain order.
#3 - Mindmap
Put your first idea in the center of a piece of blank paper. Put a circle around it and start mapping related ideas from the first circle using lines connecting to circles. For each circle, add related ideas by drawing a line and writing that idea in another circle. Keep going, using tape and blank sheets of paper to create a huge mindmap. You don’t have to keep your ideas organized that way, but it’ll definitely allow you to systematically go down many different rabbit holes.
#4 - Braindump
Open a word processor (or grab some paper) and braindump everything you know about your topic onto the page until you feel completely empty. You could do this every morning for a week to see what you’re working with.
#5 - Conversation
Get on the phone with a friend and spend an hour trying to talk to her about your book. Record the session. Listen back and take notes, or get it transcribed. Sometimes getting that real-time feedback and/or hearing and answering someone else’s questions can help you refine your idea. Sometimes you just need to talk it out!
#6 - Sticky Notes
Get a journal, notebook, or huge piece of cardboard and use sticky notes to sort out your ideas. See the list under “Notecards” for ideas about what to put on your stickies. Lay them out and move them around as you like, or get a multi-colored pad and color code your ideas.
#7 - The Companion Workbook
If you want to keep things simple, you can grab the Novel Writing Prep Companion Workbook. It has multiple sheets for characters, plots, world-building, and more so you can map out your book in detail.
Your Own Idea or Combination
As you can see, the opportunities are endless when looking for a medium with which to get your ideas about your book out of your head. What inspires you or sounds exciting? Come up with your art project idea and get to it!
How can you infuse creativity into planning and structuring your book? What do you need to maintain your engagement?
Thank you for this. I saved your upcoming Kickstarter campaign so it will notify me when it goes live. It is so wonderful how many indie writers and also some amazing mainstream writers are sharing their knowledge to support the field. As an unpublished writer who is working on overcoming hurdles, folks such as yourself are truly cherished, as is the knowledge you share. Again, my gratitude to you and all who travel the same roads. 🙏😊❤️