Social media, SEO, marketing and writingChapters Make Your Book
It may sound obvious, but try to keep one fact about writing books in mind at all times: Chapters make your book. This basic truth can help you finish any number of projects.
Chapters are the framework of your book. You can sustain your enthusiasm by realizing that you draw ever nearer to its completion with every new chapter you finish.
Don’t underestimate this truth. Many people who consider writing a book never do it. An important reason why they never do is that the thought of all the work involved scares them. It can be frightening to think of the work required for a book, regardless of the length.
So don’t let your book project leer at you with its length, scope, or amount of work needed to become a reality. Seeing all that work—in one massive dose—can depress even the most prolific of authors.
Your salvation lies in chapters. By breaking the total project down, you’re not overwhelmed by the sheer magnitude of it. You may not see how your book will end, or even see its middle part. Don’t worry about it. Just concentrate on doing one chapter at a time.
Give your attention to the chapter at hand. When you’re satisfied with it, move on to the next. Chapters have a marvelous way of adding up, just as pages do.
Focus on the bits and pieces of your project—the words, sentences, paragraphs, pages, and chapters. These will all work together to produce the beginning, middle, and end of your book.
Look at it this way. If you wrote just one page a day for the next year, you would have a book of 365 pages. Or you could do the same by writing two pages a day for six months. The work schedule you set and stick to is up to you.
Some authors develop various ways to keep making progress on their books. One, for example, plans his next chapter whenever he finds himself bogged down with a current one. This way, he doesn’t lose valuable time.
A lot of writers work hard on the advance planning of chapters. Such work pays off when they are ready to begin the actual writing of the book. After you complete chapter one, you already have a script for chapter two and know where you’re heading with the material. That’s the result of advance planning. It keeps your progress moving forward smoothly and continually.
Advance planning of chapters can be another source of enthusiasm. You’re eager to get into the next chapter because the plan for it is ready and waiting. The total effort results in increased confidence as your book comes to life.
