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5 Steps to Building an Amazing Non-Fiction Book Outline · The Daily Writer

• 0:13
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome to the weekend edition of the Daily Rider.
• 0:16
  SPEAKER_00: Each weekday we bring you a short lesson that helps you live out the four practices of a great writer: creativity, consistency, courage, and connection.
• 0:25
  SPEAKER_00: And here on the weekend edition, we take a deeper dive into those topics through conversations with writers and teaching that helps us apply what we're learning.
• 0:32
  SPEAKER_00: For more, you can visit us at dailyriderlife.com.
• 0:36
  SPEAKER_00: Well, today I want to explore a topic that a lot of people ask me about.
• 0:40
  SPEAKER_00: And it's also a topic that when you give it the attention it deserves, it will transform your book writing experience.
• 0:46
  SPEAKER_00: Now, when I mention the topic how to build an amazing nonfiction book outline, it may not sound like the most exciting topic.
• 0:53
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, it's not like you're going to a new movie or uh you're listening to this new album by your favorite artist.
• 0:58
  SPEAKER_00: You know, when you talk about book outlines, it doesn't really rise to the level of excitement that a lot of other things in life might.
• 1:05
  SPEAKER_00: However, if you're writing a nonfiction book, this is a critical and I think it's an exciting topic because your outline is the backbone of your book.
• 1:13
  SPEAKER_00: A great outline makes everything a lot easier.
• 1:16
  SPEAKER_00: So before we dive into five steps to building an amazing nonfiction book outline, let me dive into three important questions.
• 1:23
  SPEAKER_00: Number one, what is a book outline?
• 1:26
  SPEAKER_00: Now, just so we're all on the same page here, an outline is the scaffolding or the framework that is the backbone of your book.
• 1:33
  SPEAKER_00: And I prefer to think of an outline as the journey that the reader will take in order to solve a problem or address a pain point for them.
• 1:41
  SPEAKER_00: Second question, why use a book outline?
• 1:44
  SPEAKER_00: Well, an outline makes writing a lot easier because you can see where you're going.
• 1:48
  SPEAKER_00: And it also gives you the big picture of the whole book and it ensures that you're serving the reader in the best way possible.
• 1:54
  SPEAKER_00: In other words, it's a plan for excellence.
• 1:56
  SPEAKER_00: And then number three, when should you do your book outline?
• 2:01
  SPEAKER_00: Well, I think it's always better to do an outline at the beginning of the book writing process because that way you're going to use your writing time a lot more efficiently.
• 2:09
  SPEAKER_00: You don't have to guess where you're going.
• 2:11
  SPEAKER_00: And whenever you're in the weeds of writing, in other words, when you're kind of in the words of the chapters, it's really easy to get lost in the details.
• 2:19
  SPEAKER_00: And the outline is always going to bring you back to the big picture.
• 2:24
  SPEAKER_00: Now, I also want to address this question of what type of nonfiction book should you write?
• 2:29
  SPEAKER_00: Are all nonfiction books created equal?
• 2:32
  SPEAKER_00: Are they all the same?
• 2:33
  SPEAKER_00: Well, that's a good question because knowing what you're shooting for up front is going to be a huge help when you're developing your book outline.
• 2:42
  SPEAKER_00: And of course, not all books are the same.
• 2:45
  SPEAKER_00: So when you have your outline done up front, knowing what you're shooting for is going to really help you to develop the correct kind of book.
• 2:53
  SPEAKER_00: So, again, when you have this outline, you don't have to guess what type of book you're writing.
• 2:57
  SPEAKER_00: Now, there are all kinds of nonfiction books, obviously, um, and it would be a mistake to label all nonfiction into just kind of one big category.
• 3:05
  SPEAKER_00: So here's what I recommend to most people who are doing a nonfiction book.
• 3:10
  SPEAKER_00: And this is what I usually recommend to my ghostwriting clients as an overall goal to shoot for when we're putting together a nonfiction book.
• 3:18
  SPEAKER_00: I recommend a 150-page nonfiction book, which is approximately 40,000 to 45,000 words or so.
• 3:26
  SPEAKER_00: I think this is a great length for a nonfiction book.
• 3:30
  SPEAKER_00: It's long enough so that you can demonstrate your expertise in the book, but it's also short enough so that it doesn't intimidate the reader.
• 3:37
  SPEAKER_00: Now, unless you're see unless you're Stephen King or J.K.
• 3:40
  SPEAKER_00: Rowling, I think less is always more when it comes to book length.
• 3:44
  SPEAKER_00: Cut the stuff that you can cut because you don't want the reader to get bored and you don't want to just be dumping unnecessary information on them unless you're unless unless you're a textbook publisher, uh, which most of the time constantly dumps unnecessary stuff into their textbooks and then creates a follow-up edition two years later and forces students to buy it.
• 4:06
  SPEAKER_00: Not that I'm bitter about that as a former college professor or anything, but let's move on, shall we?
• 4:12
  SPEAKER_00: So for your book outline, I recommend, again, that you have about 150 pages or so, you know, give or take.
• 4:18
  SPEAKER_00: And I recommend breaking those up into 10 to 15 chapters, and each of those chapters is divided up into three to four main sections.
• 4:25
  SPEAKER_00: And what this does is it keeps the chapters at a manageable length of 2,500 to 3,500 words or so.
• 4:32
  SPEAKER_00: And each of those chapters is going to be divided into five to seven segments of 500 to 750 words or so.
• 4:40
  SPEAKER_00: Now, the reason I break all this down this way is because when you look at a book this way, in terms of the big sections of the outline, you know, three to four main sections, then you have a few chapters in each of those sections, and each of those chapters is broken down into a few parts.
• 4:57
  SPEAKER_00: When you get your head around it this way, it's easier to write in smaller chunks, and it's easier to approach the book because you don't feel intimidated about it.
• 5:06
  SPEAKER_00: It's intimidating to think about writing, you know, 45,000 words, but it's not so intimidating to think of writing 500 words or 750 words.
• 5:16
  SPEAKER_00: If you can write 500 words and you can do that 50 or 60 times, you have a full-length book right there.
• 5:21
  SPEAKER_00: So if you're a blogger and you've written 500 words before, and I know that you have, you can absolutely do a book if you plan it out correctly.
• 5:29
  SPEAKER_00: Now let's walk through the five steps to building an amazing nonfiction book outline.
• 5:35
  SPEAKER_00: But let me preface it with this.
• 5:37
  SPEAKER_00: These steps below are primarily for authors who are starting from scratch.
• 5:42
  SPEAKER_00: So if you already have material from your blog, from a podcast, from workshops or presentations, you can easily start with that material.
• 5:51
  SPEAKER_00: However, you still want to make sure and go through these following steps to ensure that you are creating a solid book outline that makes sense rather than a book that's just kind of a collection of random material that you've sort of loosely thrown together.
• 6:03
  SPEAKER_00: I think that is really, really, really important.
• 6:06
  SPEAKER_00: Do not be sloppy with the book outline.
• 6:08
  SPEAKER_00: Don't just dump stuff into a book and hope for the best.
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  SPEAKER_00: You want to plan this very intentionally.
• 6:13
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, after all, you're going to a lot of time and probably expense to put a book together.
• 6:17
  SPEAKER_00: So make sure it's serving you well and make sure it's serving readers well.
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  SPEAKER_00: So let's dive in here.
• 6:21
  SPEAKER_00: Five steps to building an amazing book outline.
• 6:24
  SPEAKER_00: Step number one is determine who your ideal reader is and the problem that you're trying to solve for them.
• 6:30
  SPEAKER_00: Now, this is a huge step all by itself, but the bottom line is that you've got to be clear about your topic, your ideal reader, and the change that you want to help that reader achieve as a result of reading your book.
• 6:43
  SPEAKER_00: Remember, a book is a lot more than just a dumping ground for a bunch of information.
• 6:47
  SPEAKER_00: You're taking the reader from point A to point B, and point B represents a place where they're happier, they're healthier, more successful, more abundant, or whatever change you're trying to help the reader achieve.
• 6:59
  SPEAKER_00: So that's why it's critical to be clear on who your target reader is and what problem you're trying to solve for them.
• 7:05
  SPEAKER_00: Do not pass go, do not collect$200 if you don't know the answer to that question.
• 7:10
  SPEAKER_00: Because if you tried to create a book outline and a structure and you don't know who the reader is and what problem you're trying to solve, you're just going to waste a whole bunch of time.
• 7:18
  SPEAKER_00: So make sure you get really clear on that up front.
• 7:22
  SPEAKER_00: I could probably do a whole podcast episode on that, and maybe I will.
• 7:25
  SPEAKER_00: Step number two to building an amazing book outline is figure out why your reader has not already achieved those results.
• 7:33
  SPEAKER_00: Now, in the book, you're going to use a simple sales technique where you're addressing reader objections, which I also call false beliefs.
• 7:41
  SPEAKER_00: But first, you've got to understand what those objections and false beliefs are.
• 7:45
  SPEAKER_00: And the false beliefs that somebody has are, they typically fall into three categories.
• 7:51
  SPEAKER_00: Number one is false beliefs about themselves.
• 7:53
  SPEAKER_00: Number two is false beliefs about the topic.
• 7:55
  SPEAKER_00: And number three is false beliefs about their environment.
• 7:59
  SPEAKER_00: Now, false beliefs about themselves fall into categories such as like when people say, I can't do this, or I've tried that before and it didn't work.
• 8:07
  SPEAKER_00: False beliefs about the topic would be things like this topic isn't relevant to me, or your program didn't work, or I tried a program and it didn't work, or, you know, I've, for example, if you're doing a book about weight loss, it would be, you know, I've tried every program out there and it didn't work for me.
• 8:22
  SPEAKER_00: So I don't think weight loss programs really work.
• 8:24
  SPEAKER_00: So they have certain beliefs about the topic that you're going to have to overcome in your book.
• 8:29
  SPEAKER_00: And number three, false beliefs about their environment.
• 8:32
  SPEAKER_00: And that may be beliefs like my family doesn't support me, I'll be the odd one out in my social group if I'm trying to make these changes in my life, and so forth.
• 8:40
  SPEAKER_00: So you're going to have to make a list of what you think those false beliefs are and then address those in the book.
• 8:46
  SPEAKER_00: Now, again, we could talk about that for a long, long time.
• 8:49
  SPEAKER_00: And whenever I work with my clients, we go into vast detail.
• 8:53
  SPEAKER_00: We do a super deep dive into what their readers' false beliefs are.
• 8:58
  SPEAKER_00: Um, we're not going to take the time to do that right now because obviously I don't know what your book topic is about, but you need to sit down and really think through those because it'll help you come up with content for the book.
• 9:07
  SPEAKER_00: Now, here are a few other ways that you can discover people's pain points related to your topic.
• 9:12
  SPEAKER_00: And again, we're just on point number two here on creating a book outline, which is figuring out why your reader hasn't achieved the results that they want.
• 9:20
  SPEAKER_00: And here are some ways that you can figure that out, aside from listing out their false beliefs.
• 9:24
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, one way is that you can do keyword research to learn what people are searching for related to your topic.
• 9:30
  SPEAKER_00: Just Google why don't people lose weight or why don't people like to get healthy.
• 9:36
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, in my case, I would Google something like why don't people write books, or what keeps people from writing books, because that's my topic.
• 9:43
  SPEAKER_00: Um, you can also use a tool called brainstorm it, which is available at tools.sight.com.
• 9:52
  SPEAKER_00: And that was recommended to me by my good friend Jennifer Harshman.
• 9:55
  SPEAKER_00: She uses that tool all the time.
• 9:56
  SPEAKER_00: That is a paid tool, I believe, but it's something that she uses with her clients when she does keyword research and SEO research and and uh book outlines and things like that.
• 10:05
  SPEAKER_00: Something else that you can do, which I really love doing, is you can spend a lot of time talking to people in your target audience to make sure that you understand their pain, their struggles, their frustrations, and their obstacles related to your topic.
• 10:17
  SPEAKER_00: Don't assume that you already know all the reasons they're not achieving the results that they want related to your topic.
• 10:23
  SPEAKER_00: I think social media is a great way to do this.
• 10:26
  SPEAKER_00: You can just post a question on Facebook, let's say, and just go, hey guys, I'm just doing some research for a book.
• 10:32
  SPEAKER_00: What are some of the reasons that you don't then list out whatever your topic is?
• 10:36
  SPEAKER_00: I do this all the time with writing, and I get some really great feedback from people.
• 10:40
  SPEAKER_00: And then finally, something that you can do is just Google your topic.
• 10:44
  SPEAKER_00: I think I may have already said this a second ago, but you can use Google to ask questions related to your topic.
• 10:50
  SPEAKER_00: And Google is going to produce even more relevant stuff than you probably ever thought possible because, like, literally the world is at your fingertips.
• 10:59
  SPEAKER_00: So I would encourage you to use all these resources, but don't go down like some super deep rabbit hole where you're doing research for five years and you never get around to writing your book.
• 11:08
  SPEAKER_00: Just, you know, spend a couple of hours trying to figure out what some pain points are, bake those into your outline, and you should be good to go.
• 11:15
  SPEAKER_00: So step number one is determine who your ideal reader is and the problem you're trying to solve for them.
• 11:20
  SPEAKER_00: Step two is figure out why your reader hasn't already achieved those results.
• 11:24
  SPEAKER_00: And then step number three in building a book outline is use those reader pain points and questions and organize those into three to four major sections of three to four chapters each.
• 11:35
  SPEAKER_00: Now, I recommend taking some time to write each pain point or question on an index card and then group those according to the topic.
• 11:43
  SPEAKER_00: So, for example, if you have 28 potential pain points or frustrations or problems that your ideal reader has related to your topic, just group those into different categories, and that's gonna get you a long way toward developing your book outline.
• 11:58
  SPEAKER_00: Now, I will tell you that this step in the process, in the book outlining process, is where a lot of people get hung up because they don't feel like they're organized enough to tackle this.
• 12:07
  SPEAKER_00: But keep in mind this doesn't have to be perfect.
• 12:09
  SPEAKER_00: Go as far as you can with this step, and then you're gonna refine it in the next couple of steps.
• 12:14
  SPEAKER_00: Remember, you're taking your reader on a journey and think about what is the most logical way to order those topics or chapters so it makes the most sense to the reader.
• 12:25
  SPEAKER_00: A way that I oftentimes structure nonfiction books is I think of them like this.
• 12:30
  SPEAKER_00: Now, I don't do this all the time, but I do this frequently and frequently enough to where I think this is a a good basic approach to a nonfiction book, which is part one of the book deals with the foundational information about the topic.
• 12:46
  SPEAKER_00: So you're gonna talk about what is the topic, why the topic matters, why it's important, and so forth.
• 12:52
  SPEAKER_00: In parts two and three of the book, now again, each part is gonna include several chapters.
• 12:56
  SPEAKER_00: So parts two and three of the book are going to do a deeper dive into the material and they're going to apply it to different situations.
• 13:04
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, for example, if you're doing a book on a certain topic, you might think, how does this apply to parents?
• 13:08
  SPEAKER_00: How does it apply to a family environment?
• 13:12
  SPEAKER_00: How does it apply to a social situation?
• 13:15
  SPEAKER_00: How does it apply to a work environment or whatever it may be?
• 13:19
  SPEAKER_00: And then part four of the book, oftentimes, in that part, you're going to deal with special circumstances, or you're going to include other material that doesn't really fit elsewhere in the book, but it's still relevant and important.
• 13:31
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe you're talking about special considerations or case studies or special situations and so forth.
• 13:37
  SPEAKER_00: Now, one thing you can also do when you're organizing this material into sections or chapters is that you can use mind mapping to help you organize and brainstorm content.
• 13:49
  SPEAKER_00: So use whatever tools that you enjoy using.
• 13:52
  SPEAKER_00: I don't personally use mind mapping a lot because I, for whatever reason, I just think in more of a linear kind of a fashion.
• 13:59
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but use whatever tools that you think are helpful to you to use.
• 14:04
  SPEAKER_00: So don't get hung up on the tool or the method.
• 14:07
  SPEAKER_00: Just try to organize these questions and ideas and thoughts from your reader pain points into the most logical sequence possible for your book outline.
• 14:16
  SPEAKER_00: Then uh step number four in building your outline is that you want to look at similar books in your genre to ensure that you have not left anything out.
• 14:25
  SPEAKER_00: Now, this doesn't mean that you're copying what other people are doing.
• 14:29
  SPEAKER_00: Rather, what you're doing here is that you're ensuring that you're covering the basis of your topic.
• 14:34
  SPEAKER_00: So look at other books in your field or in your niche, and that's gonna help you see where your perspective can be unique.
• 14:40
  SPEAKER_00: And probably you're gonna get some ideas for your book outline or your book structure to include as well.
• 14:46
  SPEAKER_00: So if, you know, if there are five really important books that are already published that are on your topic, and each of those books mentions something, but you don't mention it, you probably want to make sure it mentioned that or include it in some way in your book.
• 14:59
  SPEAKER_00: It doesn't mean you're copying, again, you don't want to copy, but you do want to take note of what other people are talking about because if other authors are talking about that aspect of your topic, that probably means that's something that readers are concerned about, and you need to pay attention to that.
• 15:13
  SPEAKER_00: Then finally, once you have this uh a draft of your book outlined, get feedback from a few people who represent your ideal reader.
• 15:20
  SPEAKER_00: And this is a key step because probably they're gonna identify some things that you missed.
• 15:25
  SPEAKER_00: I'm doing this right now as we speak.
• 15:28
  SPEAKER_00: I have part of a draft of my book, The Daily Writer, which publishes next October, so about a year from now.
• 15:34
  SPEAKER_00: And I am just now starting to send that out to people to get some feedback.
• 15:38
  SPEAKER_00: So, and these are all people who are I my ideal reader.
• 15:41
  SPEAKER_00: These are not people who don't love writing, these are all writers.
• 15:45
  SPEAKER_00: So I'm getting some feedback from them about what do you like, what do you not like, what's missing, what's not working in this book, what's working well.
• 15:52
  SPEAKER_00: And I think that's important because they're going to identify things that probably you have missed.
• 15:57
  SPEAKER_00: You are so close to your topic that it's hard for you to see, it's hard for you to have an objective viewpoint on it because you're so close to it.
• 16:05
  SPEAKER_00: So, something else that I recommend here is remember the people that you talk to in step two.
• 16:12
  SPEAKER_00: These are people maybe you connected with on social media and you were asking them about your topic, or just friends in your life or colleagues that you talk to around your topic.
• 16:21
  SPEAKER_00: Go back to those people and you can tell them, hey, I've developed an outline on this topic.
• 16:26
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, what do you think about this?
• 16:27
  SPEAKER_00: Give me your feedback.
• 16:28
  SPEAKER_00: And that way you can ask them to review your outline.
• 16:31
  SPEAKER_00: And you can also, it's kind of like some pre-marketing for your book.
• 16:34
  SPEAKER_00: You can get other people invested in the success of your book, and that really can be a valuable thing.
• 16:39
  SPEAKER_00: So, those are five steps as well as some other thoughts related to building an amazing book outline.
• 16:44
  SPEAKER_00: I hope this is helpful for you.
• 16:45
  SPEAKER_00: I don't want you to feel intimidated by this process of building a book outline.
• 16:49
  SPEAKER_00: This is the part where it seems like a lot of authors really, really struggle with this, particularly if you perceive that you're not an organized person.
• 16:58
  SPEAKER_00: But just dive in, start talking to people, organize those questions and those pain points into big chunks, which are gonna turn into chapters, and then get some feedback on it.
• 17:08
  SPEAKER_00: That's that's the way that books are built, my friends.
• 17:10
  SPEAKER_00: It really is.
• 17:11
  SPEAKER_00: It's the way that I build books.
• 17:12
  SPEAKER_00: And you're probably not gonna get it perfect right off the bat.
• 17:15
  SPEAKER_00: And if you do, then tell me how you did that because I would love I would love to learn from you.
• 17:20
  SPEAKER_00: But just go do it.
• 17:21
  SPEAKER_00: And the the more that you get into the book, you're gonna refine your outline, you're gonna refine the content.
• 17:26
  SPEAKER_00: And that's okay, that's part of the creative process.
• 17:28
  SPEAKER_00: But I just want to encourage you to dive in, take action, and start building that book.
• 17:35
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks so much for listening to today's episode.
• 17:37
  SPEAKER_00: If you've been listening to this show for any length of time, you know that one of the four practices of a great writer is creativity.
• 17:44
  SPEAKER_00: And in order to stay creative, you've got to have great input.
• 17:48
  SPEAKER_00: And that's where writing prompts come in.
• 17:50
  SPEAKER_00: A writing prompt is a sentence or two that helps you break through creative blocks, brainstorm new ideas, and get back into a state of flow.
• 17:58
  SPEAKER_00: Writing prompts are an awesome creative tool for journaling, storytelling, creative writing, stress relief, social media posts, and so much more.
• 18:07
  SPEAKER_00: But the great news is that you don't have to create these yourself.
• 18:10
  SPEAKER_00: We've put together an amazing package of 365 daily writing prompts.
• 18:15
  SPEAKER_00: So every day for the next year, you can have a shot of inspiration delivered straight to your inbox.
• 18:20
  SPEAKER_00: You can check it out at dailywriterlife.com slash writing prompt.
• 18:26
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks, and I'll see you tomorrow.