You want to begin writing your book, but where do you begin? Where do you start? You know you need an outline, but you’re probably wondering how to even write that!
Getting started with an outline can help you understand where to go in your book. Think of it as a road map or blueprint to giving your book structure and direction. An outline helps you see the whole picture instead of bits and pieces and can even help you decipher what needs to be added and what needs to be taken out.
But how do you actually outline? There many ways to outline, but today, I am going to show you four different ways to outline that can help you begin planning and writing your book like a champ.
Snowflake Outline
The snowflake outline is a very popular outline and it makes sense, it’s also pretty easy. To begin building your snowflake outline, start with writing the summary of your entire book in one sentence.
Example: “Entrepreneurs will know how to write their book in less time during their week and getting it out faster while running and growing their business at the same time!”
Think of this sentence as your 10 second spill when someone asks you, “What’s your book about?” It’s the overarching theme and the simple idea of your book.
Next, you’re going to expand that into five paragraphs going through what you’re book is about in greater detail. Next, you write a longer version – say a few paragraphs, detailing your book even further.
The idea is to expand your ideas and these paragraphs until you have a few pages worth of an “outline” with everything you want to include in your book. This will be your guide for starting and ending your business book.
Pure Summary Outline
Pure Summary outline is just that – a pure summary of your book. What you want to do is start off with writing what your book is going to be about, what ideas and terms your readers will be taking in and placing action on, and how to get from where they are to where they want to be.
You can write in “groups”, where you group your thoughts together and write a pure summary about that. For example, when I wrote my book, Write Your Book in No Time, I could have grouped my three step strategies separately and wrote about each strategy as a “summary”. That would have told me what I wanted to cover and expand on when I actually wrote my book.
Skeletal Outline
This is probably the most used and recognized outline out there. I have used it and I know many others who use it. It’s basically the bullet point outline, where you bullet point your ideas into short sentences to convey the idea.
Below is an example of how I re-wrote my book, Write Your Book in No Time, that is relaunching in the summer of 2017. This is how I outline and you can do it too if you’re a basic person who knows what you want to say with a few short words.
The Map Outline
The Map outline is where you map out your ideas from beginning to end by using a map to guide you. Do you remember my downloadable mind map? Well, you can take that same download and use that as an outline by making the big circle the theme of your book and each circle afterward is an idea or concept your reader needs to grasp in order to move forward in their business, mindset, etc.
If you want to begin writing your business book, then I want to invite you to enroll in my new digital workshop called The Author’s Blueprint where you’ll learn exactly how to write your book in 90 days! Inside of The Author’s Blueprint, you will not only learn how to outline, but you’re going to learn exactly how to:
- Write your book when you’re incredibly busy
- Write in The Zone for maximum results and impact
- What to add in your chapters to communicate your ideas and concepts authentically and confidently
- Create a rock solid title your book
- Learn how to edit your book without hiring an editor
The Author’s Blueprint is a 2.5 hour recorded workshop that takes you through everything you need to know to write your book within 90 days! Have the blueprint to begin writing and finish without hassle, stress, or overwhelm!
When you enroll in The Author’s Blueprint, you’ll get:
- A downloadable video of the workshop (2.5 hours worth of intense learning)
- A 29-page Workbook that comes with resources, exercises and more to ensure you walk away with everything you need to know to begin writing your book tomorrow!
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