How to Prepare to Write a Nonfiction Book

 Several months ago, I decided to take on a writing challenge for this year. This particular challenge was to write one ebook each month. Not only this, but to also self-publish it on Kindle Unlimited. A writing friend had successfully completed this challenge one year, and I wanted to give it a try too. This kind of challenge would require me to write an ebook fast – ideally within one week – so that I would be able to send it to the editor, get it edited/revised/ready, then go through the necessary steps to get it published and all by the end of the month! (A real challenge, indeed.) I figured I could write the first draft in one week, since I used to write ebooks in one week’s time when I was a ghostwriter for a client.

 

Once I figured out what books I would write for this challenge, I got busy making preparations. Today was my first day writing the January book and I got in a good word count for the day: 2300 words. I believe all of the planning and preparations I made helped me to get off to a strong start.

 

Here are the steps I took in planning:

 

Organizing the book

 

I put together a table of contents for this book as well as notes on what to write about for each section. I made sure I understood this book’s purpose and exactly what it must cover. I also took note of any questions that this book should answer.

 

Research

 

I’m big on doing research, and I especially do research for every book I write. Research is so important when you are writing a book, especially if it’s a nonfiction book. You can never do too much research! It was research that helped me to learn more about this book’s topic as well as get ideas for things to include in my own book. I used both the Internet as well as other ebooks and print books for my research. I follow a lot of news and magazine accounts on Twitter and sometimes I’ll come across an article published there that covers my topic.

 

Notes

 

Every good nonfiction writer takes notes for their work! These notes can be items to look up, books to check out, an idea to investigate further or even a quote to include. I took lots of notes for this ebook and they have proved very helpful when it was time to start writing.

 

Keeping the book in mind

 

When I’m doing laundry, I’m thinking about the book I’m writing. When I’m doing dishes, cooking a meal, walking the dog, doing a puzzle or even watching a movie, I still have a book I am writing or planning to write in the back of my mind. Writers are writing even when they’re not writing. We’re planning, exploring ideas, thinking about things in our books and what we’ll write about next. Keeping this book in mind helped me to prepare for writing it, because I started getting ideas for things to write about. It also had me itching to get started with the writing!

 

Scheduling the time to write

 

I can write at any time of the day – morning, noon or night – but I had to figure out when the BEST time to write would be. Since my timeframe was to write the book in one week, I had to ensure this writing time would be uninterrupted. So after some thought, I decided to schedule my time to work on this book in the early hours of the morning. I get up early just so I can have time to myself to pursue activities like exercise, meditation, reading and writing. I live in a house with only one PC, and because I need to use the PC for this book, and because EVERYBODY ELSE in the house uses the PC too (sometimes for several hours), I knew my best bet to get work done on the book would be to slate that writing time for the morning. Yes, I have a laptop with OpenOffice on it, but I’m still getting used to that laptop. I write faster on the PC. My fingers fly across the keyboard on the PC! But on the laptop, not so much. Perhaps that will change. Meanwhile, I use the PC for all of my “big” writing projects. Finding the right time to write without interruptions is so important if you want to achieve your writing goals. Such a task may not be easy, and it may take time, but it’s an important task to complete if you want to get any writing done.

 

So, those are the steps I took to help me prepare for the ebook I am currently writing. And even as I am writing this ebook, I am thinking about the next one I’ll be writing in February!

 

In the event you are planning to write a nonfiction book, consider following the tips mentioned in this post. Do what works for you and you’ll soon be hard at work on your next book. Writing a nonfiction book can be daunting, but if you plan ahead of time and use your notes as well as research to help you out, it may make the job a little easier to get through.

Getting Past the First Chapter Blues

Back in 2017, when I had a year-long mission of finishing work on a bunch of manuscripts, I ran into a problem late in the year. I attempted to start writing a book my co-author requested I write, even though I had her blessing to go ahead and finish what I was working on that took up all year to complete. (Sadly, that didn’t happen, as I got VERY sick and had to be hospitalized and THEN I couldn’t write!) But I felt like I was ready to start writing this book now. It wasn’t 2018 yet, but I felt that NOW was the time to start writing.

 

Unfortunately, I couldn’t get past the first chapter. I was stuck and could go no further. And, you know, I should have known that SOMETHING was wrong with my ability to write, because one other book I was writing had VERY lousy writing at the end. It just STUNK! That writing in the last few chapters was awful and not like the writing in the rest of the book (it was a novel, by the way). But I just didn’t realize something was up. I just shrugged it off and figured that maybe I wasn’t ready after all and moved on.

 

Then, during my recovery from my illness, I tried to write another book. Once again, I couldn’t get past the first chapter. I wrote Chapter One and that was it. I was blocked. I had NOTHING.

 

Then I tried again in November of this year. It was my NaNoWriMo book. I was determined that THIS time, it will happen. I WILL write Chapter Two and beyond!

 

But, unfortunately, that didn’t happen. I only wrote the first chapter and could write no more. I could only scribble bits and pieces of the second chapter but not actually WRITE it.

 

What. The. Heck??!!! Why was this happening? I was stumped. This had NEVER happened to me before, in my 20+ years as a writer, and I didn’t understand what was wrong. Why was I only able to write just one chapter and nothing else???

 

I tried to find out if this has happened to other writers too but came up with nothing. I was stumped. I even diagnosed myself with First-Chapteritis.

 

But then something awesome happened. Inspiration struck. I started writing a new book in my notebook. This was something that hit me out of nowhere.

 

I actually started writing this book in October of this year. I put it on hold in November, hoping that might help my attempts at NaNoWriMo (it didn’t), then resumed writing it in December.

 

And I finished writing this book on Christmas Eve. Not only did I write Chapter Two, but also Three, Four, Five, Six – all the way up to Chapter Thirty.

 

That’s right. I wrote 30 chapters after I struggled for so long to get past Chapter One. Now I finally had gotten past Chapter One. I wrote a WHOLE NEW BOOK!

 

This accomplishment is telling me one thing: It’s time to get back to finishing those OTHER books that only have one chapter, because now I CAN write a whole book again! This accomplishment is PROOF that I can. I CAN write and I CAN write a whole book.

 

I am excited about the prospect of getting back to work on the books next year. Thankfully, my new job has me working less hours than my old job (which I LOVE), and it is not as physically/mentally draining as my last job. I have been able to write even after I got off work. So I do believe I will be able to write on a workday, too. I believe that it can happen. In 2021, I am going to make it happen. I’m back, baby! I am back to writing books, and that’s exactly how it should be.

 

There is a quote I like: “Turn your setback into a comeback.” After struggling for months to write before I finally managed to write a whole book, I feel like that quote sums it up pretty good for me. I didn’t give up on wanting to write again. I didn’t give up on trying again. I kept trying and working at it until it finally happened. I didn’t stop writing; I was just dealing with a setback. Now it’s time for my comeback!

 

A Return to Writing Books -- with Limits

Is there really too much of a good thing? I think so. At least, it is, in my own experience. Sometimes, too much of a good thing can be good – for example, going above and beyond at work can make someone appear to have a strong work ethic or going the extra mile to help someone shows that person really cares. But sometimes, too much of a good thing can be a bad thing. In my own experiences, I would overindulge in drinking and it turned me into an alcoholic. I overindulged as a writer and it made me miss out on so much with my kids and my life. I loved too hard with people and it scared them away. I ate a diet too high in sugar and fat (again, because I overindulged in these foods), and it caused me to get sick. And because of the sickness, I am forced to make permanent changes to my diet.

So, yes, there ARE situations in which too much of a good thing is actually a bad thing.\ 

And I’m thinking that it’s time to rein that in. While I do believe in the whole “work hard, play hard” state of mind, I also feel that there is a time to overindulge, and a time when a person shouldn’t.

Which brings me to what I was doing yesterday. I was going over some old documents I had and started to wonder why I had stopped doing certain things. One answer was because I couldn’t figure out how to find time for them, and another was that I let ONE particular thing take up ALL of my time and not allow time for other things. For example, I used to be obsessed with writing books. It was my passion, but also my driving force. I wrote for several hours every day. This meant time away from my kids and time away from enjoying my life. That did eventually stop, but I would love to be writing again. Writing brought me so much joy. It made me happy. But the thing I was constantly worried about was getting obsessed with it again. Like it would take over my life all over again. And I certainly don’t want that to happen, especially now since I have a job where I work four days a week. I have also been enjoying doing things with my kids and just LIVING life in ways I had not before. I just didn’t want to be “chained to my computer” again.

I have been thinking about this for some time, and last night, I realized a way I could write again without it having too much control over my life. 

I LOVE schedules. When I became a mom, the importance of routines was drilled into my head, so I decided that maybe it would be a good idea to have a schedule. I have used a variety of schedules in the past as a parent (one of my drawers has pages of them) and they worked really well in navigating the chaos of raising my kids while at the same time, getting them to school on time, doctor appointments, practices, games, etc., etc. The schedule was not always perfectly followed, but it definitely gave us a guide on what to do when.

Recently, I had created a brand new schedule to reflect certain changes that I wanted to make in my life. This particular schedule does not take place on a work day (work days are unscheduled). It pretty much covers all the things that I want to do and try to get done on my days off from work. I only get 3 free days, and since there is JUST SO MUCH that I want to do in life, I figured one way to make it happen (or work on making it happen) was to put together a schedule. I recently had to revise that schedule, because I realized a couple of things were missing.

The thing I had to cut down time for in order to fit them in? My writing.

I originally assigned 4 hours of writing time, but then I realized that threw a lot of other things off balance. I was spending two hours on exercise/workouts and just one hour working on a project. I didn’t think it was fair to give more time to writing when there was still other things that I wanted to do that I hadn’t made time for.

But even as I cut down on the writing time, I had to check in with myself to make sure I was ok with that. I love to write, so it would naturally follow that I’d spend more time on writing than anything else, right? While that would make sense, that would mean treading dangerous ground for me, given my previous obsession with writing that meant losing control over my time. So I decided that I would have to be okay with limiting the writing time. It was actually the best course of action to take. I can no longer allow myself to overindulge and go crazy with things. It’s time to practice some restraint, and that especially goes with the writing.

Fortunately, I am able to do this. I don’t have a publisher bugging me to turn in my next manuscript (although since it’s been a while, I think my publisher would welcome a new submission!). I don’t have an army of adoring fans demanding I get my next book out there. And there is absolutely NOTHING at stake to get my next book published RIGHT NOW. Nothing! I am under no obligation to keep writing, keep writing and keep writing or to submit one book and another book and another book. I don’t HAVE to be as obsessed with the writing like I used to be, because there are no people demanding more.

There are, however, people demanding my time – my kids, my boss. But that’s a more manageable thing and not something causing stress. And, hey! I signed up for the job! It’s kind of expected for me to be there!

But as far as the writing is concerned, no. Nobody is tearing down my door wanting to know why in the world I am relaxing on the couch watching Law & Order instead of writing my next book. Or complaining about my Facebook post where I talked about exploring somewhere and wanting to know why I chose to spend hours in the outdoors instead of hours at the desk.

And you know what? That is pretty damn awesome. It means I have CONTROL over my time. My time is my own to use. It’s mine to decide what to do with it. And if I only spend an hour working on one of my books, then that’s the way it is. If I take months or even years to write, edit, revise and submit a book, so be it.

And the best part is, it means I CAN write again. I don’t have to be chained to my desk, at the mercy of my muse like I was in the past. I can continue to have a job, do all those things that I want to do with my life, spend time with my kids AND make time to write. All those books that I wrote in the past don’t have to languish on my hard drive, collecting proverbial dust. They can eventually be turned into real books. And that’s going to happen now, because now I have figured out how to fit my writing time into this new life I am living (almost sober for 3 years! WOOT!!). I am currently recovering from surgery and slowly getting my strength back, but once I am fully recovered, I will be back on my schedule and back to work. I will also be back to writing.

The writing WILL happen again. In fact, it already HAS happened again; I have already been working on books and writing other things. And I just wrote this blog post. I just gotta make sure that, from this point forward, the writing won’t be the ONLY thing happening. Life is about change, sure, and I’ll probably have a new schedule this time next year, but I know in my heart that writing is the one constant in my life. Writing is definitely a part of me and something that I want to continue to do. I don’t feel complete without the writing. It’s the one thing I will carry with me no matter what life brings, and the one thing I have learned I can manage more wisely.

Sometimes, the best thing to do is step away

This week, I have been working on trying to fix up an essay in my deaf parenting book. This particular essay received harsh criticism from a beta reader (well, "harsh" as in "she never sent back any feedback on it after I sent an essay that had the same mistakes she'd complained about in another essay"). Even though I don't dispute what the essay says, I do see how it is saying what I want it to say in the wrong way. One thing I have learned during this lovely torture of revising the essays is that some of them are just "preachy." I might as well be standing on a soapbox spouting all of this stuff!

No, that's not the kind of book I want it to be. I don't want it to be some "manifesto" or "mission statement for deaf parents." It's an essay collection. I wanted it to tell stories, in the form of essays, which will convey the messages and insights which I am trying to get across to readers. If it's preachy, they won't read it. But if it's entertaining, and kind of like a story, then that might attract more attention.

Of course, it's not easy trying to write about experiences that took place 6-7 years ago with complete accuracy. I have been literally racking my brain trying to remember things, just so I could relate what I learned during the early years of being a deaf parent in a way that is more true-to-life. I have to keep asking myself, what exactly happened at that point in time that made me reach this conclusion in the essay? What was I trying to say? What was I doing? What was I thinking?

Fortunately, I used to be a heavy journal writer, so looking back on old journals has helped. Still, a lot of my journals were destroyed after I moved out of California (thank you, neighbors who refused to allow us access to our personal belongings in the garage!), but some things are still fresh in my mind. Also, old e-mails help, and I was able to review all of these things to help me revise the essays. (Yes, I do save old e-mails! LOL I even have old chats saved, too, but don't really read them.)

But ONE ESSAY was giving me big trouble. I tried and tried to revise it, but to no avail. I just didn't get it "right."

Even with one revision I did this morning, I hated it. I hated what I was writing. I just KNEW it was not how the essay should be. I kept writing it, anyway, because I knew I had to get this "junk" out of my head first. Before I could do anything else with this essay.

But halfway through the essay, I had to stop working on it. After all, nothing will get accomplished if I ended up starving to death!

So I got up from the desk and went to the kitchen to get something to eat. I'd only had coffee, which usually helps me to get through writing something decent in the mornings. But this time, coffee failed me. Maybe actual food would help. I grabbed a box of cereal, got a bowl out of the cabinet, watched as the cereal poured into the bowl...then it struck me. It literally came to me like a bolt of lightning. I knew EXACTLY how the essay should be! I knew EXACTLY how I should write it. Eureka! I've got it!

I hurriedly went through my meal, opened a new document on the computer, and my fingers started flying over the keys as the words came pouring out. I didn't care for typos. I didn't care about "that darn Shift key" sticking again. I just typed. And typed and typed.

Gee, this is getting long, I thought, noting I was now on page 3. But I couldn't stop now. There were more words to type! More things to say!

When I finished typing what I HOPED would be the final revision of that essay, a wave of satisfaction went through me. THIS is how the essay should be, I thought. It was perfect, similar to the way I wrote the others. (Like creative nonfiction. Emphasis on..."creative.") I didn't care if I did not get the exact words I said correct; how the heck could I remember exactly what I said 7 years ago?? It wasn't possible. Still, I did use quotes that got across what I was asking about. I give myself permission to misquote myself. (Ha!) The quotes were still good and the essay got across everything I wanted it to say, which is what the original version tried to say. Of course, it needs editing and probably some tightening. But at least the foundation was in place. I got it right this time, on my fourth try.

And all it took to survive that week-long revision nightmare was just stopping the writing and stepping away from it for a while.

"It's fiction!"

I have been struggling with certain issues with writing this new MG series. I've mentioned before how I was worried it might incite a negative response from the parents of kids reading these books. Something along the lines of "you shouldn't be filling my kid's head with ghost stories!" or "these children are too young to be reading about kids and ghosts!" But then I remember that these books are NOT meant to be some kind of "guide" or reference for children interested in ghosts.

In fact, they are JUST STORIES. Complete works of FICTION.Yes, I know writers and actors tend to get this very response from people. Who can forget what Timothy Busfield went through after his character made an insensitive remark to his wife in thirtysomething?? It's a nice thought that we can say "it's fiction" or "it's fantasy" and not have to deal with people ready to boycott a show or ban a book. But that's not going to take away the possibility people will still get upset.

I know J.K. Rowling faced this very problem with her Harry Potter books, AFTER they came out. Funny thing is, my situations with writing these books have even been compared with J.K. Rowling, even though MY books aren't even published yet! (Yes, they CAN be considered fantasy instead of suspense or mystery. I'm going to go with that!) And in my case, my books aren't even published yet and I'm worrying over the same thing happening to me NOW. While I am writing Book One. In no way do I expect to be "the next J.K. Rowling" or have "the next Harry Potter." Even though I DO want to say "my books are FANTASY, people!" and hide under the covers. But this kind of thing can happen to EVERY WRITER, EVERY ACTOR. And everyone else trying to spin a good yarn COMPLETELY made of fiction! As in, "NOT TRUE."

The very claim that "it's fiction!" is what is helping me to deal with this inner turmoil and write my stories, anyway. Why am I writing them, anyway? I am writing them for the readers. I KNOW that there will always be readers who understand that a story is only a story. That it's not real. That it's all make-believe. And I really think that kids are smart enough to understand that it's all make-believe, too. Most kids are smarter than we give them credit for. They know that a story is just something made-up. They read these stories for the sheer purpose of escaping into that fantasy world. Of playing pretend. It's an experience so many children know so well, and one which so many of them enjoy. For this reason, the writing of these books will continue.

Just like riding a bicycle

I've been working on Book One of the series and I've realized something: Going back to writing something you haven't written in a loooong time isn't as hard as it seems. In fact, it's just like riding a bicycle!

I'm not new to writing these kinds of stories, for this kind of audience. In fact, I wrote stories just like this when I was a teenager. One of my friends LOVED reading all of them, constantly encouraging me to get them published. Well, I HAD thought of getting them published but never...did anything with them.

I also put together a collection of spooky short stories for the the younger readers. I still have it, somewhere.

The point is, I'm not struggling to write these stories. I just write them and it's coming out quite easily. Something which I am grateful for, given that I'm ALSO writing another book at the same time! One that really isn't aimed at the younger readers, but that shouldn't stop them from TRYING to read it! :)

One thing: Just because writing for middle grade readers is coming easily for me, that doesn't mean I shouldn't brush up on how to write for them. After all, it's been YEARS since I've done it. So I need a refresher on how to do it. For this reason, I've been reading EVERYTHING I can get my hands on that has to do with writing for middle grade readers. Some good articles I've uncovered in my search:

Writing the Middle-Grade Novel by Kristi Holl
http://www.right-writing.com/middle-grade.html

You Can Write a Middle Grade Novel http://www.squidoo.com/middlegradenovels

The Difference Between Middle Grade & Young Adult
http://www.write4kids.com/feature6.html

Middle Grade Novel Guidelines
http://writingfiction.suite101.com/article.cfm/middle_grade_novel_guidelines

Also here's some blog posts of interest:

http://editorialanonymous.blogspot.com/2007/10/ya-and-middle-grade-and-never-tween.html

http://saralewisholmes.blogspot.com/2007/09/stuck-in-middle-with-you.html

http://www.wow-womenonwriting.com/2008/02/writing-for-kidschallenging-and.html

Interesting stuff. I'm also going to see what books are out there on writing for the MG readers.

I only hope this ease of writing the stories continues. And if not? I'll keep writing them, anyway! And I'm not stopping until I finish Book Twelve!!

Pausing the Pauses

Martha Jette and I have been hard at work on the "Haunted Houses" book. For this reason, I've had to put a hold on fixing up my Parenting Pauses book (the essay collection on deaf parenting). It's all good, though. Maybe this time not working on it will help me find a publisher for it!

The "Haunted Houses" book is really coming along well. I'm keeping my fingers crossed I'll be able to score interviews with Patrick Burns, Hans Holzer and the guys from TAPS. (Or, at least, one of them.)

I'll be getting back to work on the Pauses book once this project gets wrapped up.

And let me just add that the "Totally Scared" part of the book's title is VERY appropriate. Some of the stories in this book make the hair on the back of my neck stand up. EEEEK!!!