<ol>
<li>Decide what the book is about. Write the argument of your book in a sentence, then turn that into a paragraph, then into a one-page outline. Then write a table of contents to help guide your writing. Break each chapter into a few sections.</li>
<li>Set a daily word count goal. John Grisham began writing when he was really busy as a lawyer and new dad. He got up an hour or two early and wrote one page a day until he had a novel. A page is about 300 words.</li>
<li>Set a time to work on your book every day. Consistency makes creativity easier.</li>
<li>Write in the same special place every time that is different from where you do other activities.</li>
</ol>

Writing a book: Getting started

<ul>
<li>Commit to shipping. No matter what, finish the book, then release it to the world.</li>
<li>Embrace failure. Writing a book will be hard, and you will have failures. Be okay with that and give yourself grace.</li>
<li>Write another book. Most authors are embarrassed by their first book. But without a first book, you will never learn the lessons. Put your work out, fail early, and try again. It is the only way to get better.</li>
</ul>

Writing a book: Finishing

<ol>
<li>Set a total word count. 40,000 - 60,000 words = standard nonfiction/novella book. A long nonfiction book/standard-length novel contains 60,000 - 80,000 words, and a very long nonfiction/long novel contains 80,000 - 100,000 words.</li>
<li>Give yourself weekly deadlines. Make it a word count and celebrate the progress you've made.</li>
<li>Get early feedback. Have a few trusted advisers such as friends, editors, or family that will help you discern what's worth writing.</li>
</ol>

Writing a book: Doing the work

The hardest part of a writer's job is sitting down to do the work. Writing happens in three phases.
<ol>
<li>Beginning: You have to decide what you're going to write and how you're going to write it.</li>
<li>Staying motivated: You will face self-doubt and overwhelm. Planning ahead will ensure you won't quit when the obstacles come.</li>
<li>Finishing: Nobody cares if you almost wrote a book. They want to read what you actually finished.</li>
</ol>

What it takes to write a book

Your book could have helped people, brought beauty or wisdom into the world, if only your book came to be. Or worse, you wrote a book, but nobody cared about it.
Producing a work that sells is not just about writing what you think will work. It's about finding an idea that will excite you and your audience. You have to write a book that is worthy of being sold. To maximize your chance of finishing your book, you need a proven plan.

Most people never finish their books

<ol>
<li>Write and publish one chapter at a time, using Amazon Kindle Singles, Wattpad, or sharing with your email list subscribers.</li>
<li>Start small. Write a shorter book of poems or stories.</li>
<li>Start a blog to get feedback early. Eventually publish all the posts in a hardcopy book.</li>
<li>Keep an inspiration list to keep fresh ideas flowing. Read regularly, and use a system to organize and find the content you've curated.</li>
<li>Keep a journal, then rewrite the entries in a more polished book format, but use some scans of the journal pages as illustrations in the book.</li>
<li>Deliver constantly. Don't wait for inspiration. Inspiration is a byproduct of hard work.</li>
<li>Take frequent breaks.</li>
<li>Remove distractions.</li>
<li>Write where others are writing, like a coffee shop or library.</li>
<li>Don't edit as you go. Write without judgment first, then edit later.</li>
</ol>

Writing tips

Publishing a book is the easy part. The hard part is the actual writing. Here are 10 simple tips for how to write a book.

What it takes to write a book

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