Using An Outline To Start Your Book- Writing Tips

So many people ask me about writing a book, starting a blog or just writing period. The best advice I can give anyone who doesn't know where to start is use an outline. An outline is a breakdown of what you want to include in your writing broken down into parts.

An example would be if you want to write a book about cars, your outline should be broken down by chapter. For example:

Chapter 1

- Types of cars

* list cars in alphabetical order

- Cost of cars

* break down the cost of the cars

- Maintenance on cars

* top 5 most expensive cars

- Value depreciation

* top 5 cars that depreciate fastest

If you do this for each chapter then writing your book will be easy because you already know what you want to talk about. If you want to write a book about your life you can try this:

Chapter 1

- Place I was born and how life was

* break down siblings and family relationships

- Big moment in my life

* what made me feel the way I did

- What made me want to write a book about my life

* major issues

* major accomplishments

For some people they just need to get started and everything comes flowing out, while for others they need to have everything mapped out so they can figure out when to write what and not leave anything out. Either way an outline helps you stay on track. For example, if your first chapter is longer than you expected with details you can move something to chapter 2 or add another chapter all together, without eliminating something or forgetting to include it.

You can also have a complete book outline to start. I have made one for you to view and use. Some people don't know what to include in a book because they've never written one. This outline tells you about what is needed from beginning to end of the book.

In a book you need the title page, media page, a prologue, acknowledgements and more. This outline will help you build your own outline for your book.

Here is a video with more details about this outline.

Blog

If you decide you want to write a blog and don't know where to start the same concept applies but with a different process. If you're trying to decide on a topic try this:

Blog Topics

- Travel

- Food

- Love & Relationships

- Personal Growth

- Fashion

- Beauty

Then you take those topics and write something under them to see what you could write about. For example:

-Travel

* local places

* vacation spots

* budget friendly travel options

* Places in Paris to see

If you choose a topic you can't expand on quickly then think of another topic. The reason I say that is because if you can write something easier than others you will stay focused on it. Write about things you're interested in and not what you think others want to read. If it takes you two hours to write a blog post about food and ten minutes to write about beauty, you know which one is better for you.

For any writing job coming up with what you are writing about or including is a big part. Use these writing tips to build your writing platform, book or blog. My blog tells me what I will write about. Each week I write about two of the four topics then switch to the other two the following week. I already know when I sit down what my writing channel is, I just have to think of the topic. Once I have my topic then I am able to outline my top 2 or 3 informative writing tips and include them in my blog. For example:

My blog subject is personal growth. My personal growth blog deals with how to become a better you so my blog has to be about something to better you. Therefore, I write down three things; how to get more sleep, how to build a better relationship with friends, how to say goodbye to negative people. The first idea that pops in my mind is calling my friend to check up on her more during covid. Therefore, I choose the title "5 Steps To Build A Better Relationship With Friends". The reason I chose to do 5 steps is because I already have one and people want something short and sweet to browse and understand your blog.

This simple step allows me to write and complete most of my blog post in 20 minutes. That includes picking the photos and scheduling it to post. I do each blog post the week prior so I am not overwhelmed with time. I try to have each blog post "live" by 9:15am every Tuesday and Thursday. When you keep a format people can predict when they will see your blog and stay up to date with it.

Let me know if these tips have helped you with your writing career, book, or blog. My goal is to provide information so others can do what they love and have dreamed of. Happy Writing!

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