I wrote my first nonfiction book under contract, quite
unexpectedly. The size of the project, for someone accustomed to
writing articles, was unnerving. I found it difficult to imagine
how I would fill up the three hundred pages I had promised and
even more difficult to think how I could organize all that.
Don’t try to create a perfect outline all in one step. Break the
project into smaller steps. You will probably return to many of
the steps repeatedly before you have a perfect outline. First,
make sure you know exactly what your book is about. If the topic
is too vague (the Civil War), break it down into something more
focused. Write it at the top of your paper” “This is a
homeschooling book for parents who feel unequal to the task.”
Notice that this sentence gives the general
topic—homeschooling—and specifies an audience—scared parents.
This focuses the book, since it now has to include elements you
don’t include in traditional homeschooling books. This was the
topic of my first book. Here are some other o