Once you have the Vision and Purpose for your book you’re in a position to write a working table of contents.
There are two key concepts here, ‘working’ and list.
Be assured you’re not creating a final table of contents – that will only come as you actually write the book. This is just a list.
Create a list
In fact, that’s the way I start and I make the same suggestion to my coaching clients who are writing a book. Open a new file and simply start writing down a list of everything you think you want to include in your book. (You can also do this with pencil and paper if you like, in fact if you use 3×5 cards you can literally shuffle them easily.) [click to continue…]
At first glance it may seem that Vision and Purpose are the same thing. Here’s the difference when it comes to getting your book written:
A Vision is like the largest, most open view of your book.
The Purpose is the laser-like focus you need to get the book written well for your readers.
While it’s possible your book idea arrived whole and complete, it’s far more likely that your idea is actually much larger than can be contained in a single volume.
Your goal is to hone that idea for exactly the readers who want and need what you have to say.
How a purpose statement helps
The purpose statement, when properly written, grounds your book in the reality of its message. It helps you define your readers and will also help later with the marketing of the book. [click to continue…]