On the group call for my online coaching group today, one of the members talked about how much research material she had and how overwhelming it was to have to go through it all.
I realized that she was letting the research set her agenda.
Research is supposed to help you. It's there when you need it.
I suggested that first she write an outline of the book she's working on. It's non-fiction, with elements of how-to, so a good strategy is to write down all the questions that people who want to know about your subject typically ask.
Also write down the questions they don't ask, but should.
For instance, when I meet very new screenwriters they always ask about how to prevent their material from being stolen. So I tell them what precautions they can take.
What they really SHOULD be asking is how can they get anybody to look at their material in the first place. So I tell them that, too.
Don't worry initially about the order of these questions. Just write them down as fast as you can, as many as you can.
Repeat this over a few days--not writing the same questions, but adding new ones.
Then group them together. If it's a book about raising house plants (which hers isnt') you might have sections about each of the major types of plants, and one about the care and feeding of different kinds of plants, and another about the benefits of having live plants in your home, etc. (I realized, of course, as I was writing this just now that I know nothing about plants, but you get the idea.)
Then figure out in what order these topics--which may make either good sections or good chapters--make the most sense. Usually there's some logic inherent in the subject that will suggest an order.
Then take each group and figure out the logical order in which to answer the questions in it. Often at this stage some more will occur to you and you can add those.
Guess what? You have created the basic structure of the book. You can start writing. When you come to a point that you need to research then you can go and look it up.
Doesn't it feel good to be the boss?
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