How to Get Started on Your Book

1. THINK about why you want to write (long-held ambition, desire to tell a story, have an issue to highlight?)
   
   
2. DECIDE what you are going to write. Think about format, length, and style (see our WRITING TIPS: Non-fiction checklist)
   
   
3. PLAN a rough chapter contents list. It doesn’t have to be exhaustive, but should
   
   
4. CONSIDER in the chapter plan how you will develop the story of your book (non-fiction books generally have a narrative)
   
   
5. SET aside time when you will write. It could be the mornings, the afternoons, the evenings, the night-time, or the early hours. Just do what works and when you feel you have the fewest distraction. It could be on the train to work, or after you have dropped off the kids at school, or when you come in from your afternoon walk, or after you’ve eaten your dinner – just do it when it works. And do it for at least two hours a week, at least twice a week, even if you don’t feel like it
   
   
6. DON’T think you have to write perfectly. That’s what revising is for…
   
   
7. START! Yes, sit down at a desk, or stand at a standing desk, on open your laptop on the train, or in the café, or in the park. And TYPE.

Copyright: Haythorp Books, 2023. Reproduction without permission is strictly prohibited