Write your own book? Yes, write your own book. How do you start to write your own book?

It is said that most Americans have an idea for “The Great American Novel” inside of them. Some people find that it is easier to write about business while others have an affinity for fiction or fantasy. I have a friend that has written about Custer and another about Abraham Lincoln. While there are those that can sit right down and write fiction quite easily, there are others that struggle with writing. If you have the ideas, there are ways of getting them out so you can share them with family, friends, business acquaintances, or even sell the finished product online or in a bookstore. They are all possible.

My next few blogs are about getting going with writing for several types of writing.

What are you going to write about? How are you going to find the time to write it? When will it be done? Can I do this myself? Do I need a coach to help me? Do I have a strong beginning, middle and end?

These questions, and often more, need to be answered in order to get you going. Once you do, it is important to stay the course.There are those that have started writing but not gotten very far. Others spend days and weeks researching but can’t find a way to get the story started.

Let’s look at these questions and figure out what you can do to get started, get help or to finish your first project.

Over the next few weeks, I’ll be discussing the different aspects of writing your book. The first week will be about writing a business book.

What can I write about? Business subjects

For some, this could be a business book about the expertise they are known for. In the business arena, there are thousands of books. Many are written to help customers become acquainted with the author’s expertise, the questions that are asked by customers or to help customers see the options to solve problems.

Writing articles for a magazine, newspaper or for your own blog, is a great way to get chapters written on a consistent basis. Keep this in mind when you are writing and they will become chapters instead of just blogs or articles that can’t be used. Others can be updated or modified to make them work.

One of my friends wrote an article per month for years in one of the newspaper industry magazines about sales. One day he was asked about doing a book. He replied that he had been writing his book for the past several years. So he decided it was time to put it together and publish it. It has 78 chapters with most chapters being between two and four pages, and he only needed to update a few of the chapters. Most chapters were ready to go because he had planned on eventually compiling them in a book when he was writing the articles.

In business, this is a great way to get started. If you put the articles on your website, it will help your website, as well, with its SEO value.

Another person I know started writing blogs a few years ago when his business was struggling because of the economy. He wrote for his business and used this content to build his business. It worked very well (there is a link at the bottom of this blog to his webpage). When he decided to help others with content marketing, he started writing a blog that would eventually become a book that he now gives away to tell people how to blog to make a stronger business. I talked about the importance of blogging in my last blog.

This isn’t the only way or even always the right way to write a book though.

I have another friend who is a training and motivational speaker. He began thinking about the book several years ago. He finally had the details worked out to the point that he was ready to sit down and write it. It took him just 45 days to get it done. Several said it couldn’t be very good if it took him only 45 days to write it, but they were wrong. The key to this type of writing is to do the research and plan the execution well. His book has a great message, is well written and has increased his speaking and training opportunities significantly.

To start a business book, you can use any of these techniques. The process I, and even those that have used blogs or articles to base their book on, use is to start with an outline of what each chapter will be about. Once the outline is set, it is so much easier to write just a chapter at a time. It isn’t the whole book at once but just a few pages. This is also easier for those that need to do research. One smaller subject at a time is easier to do.

Some people still find it hard to write a book. They can’t keep on task in writing or there isn’t enough time to write in their busy schedule. There are two solutions for this: 1) using a ghost writer to do the hard part of putting your ideas on paper or 2) utilizing a writing coach to help you learn how to write the chapters and keep you on task.

A ghost writer learns all about the book you want to write. They can then create a document that will be your book exactly as you have planned it. They can do additional research and fill in gaps you may have. They can also take it all the way to a finished product.

A writing coach is a person that helps you stay on task, stick to deadlines and sometimes helps you brainstorm to help you get past a tough section or a writing block. They will push you to do better, and just as a coach does, they will instruct you so you will be better at writing.

Want more information about these? Send me an email and I’ll give you more info.

There are a few major things to understand about writing a business book:

Make sure to have it edited before you release it. It can really hurt your career if it has typos all over the place or it doesn’t make sense to the reader. You can write something and know exactly what you are trying to say, but if it is not carefully crafted, it may not be understood by the reader. If that is the case, no one will take you seriously.

Offering your book:

For more information on writing or promotion of your books, go to a special website at: http://bpmedia.com/authors. You will find a white paper about this subject and how to promote your book. There are also sources and programs that will help you in your quest to complete your book.

Next week:
What can I write about? Fiction