An Article on Articles How to Write a Book by Starting Small

I recently led a series of intro calls for a book-writing program I'm leading at CoachVille.

Most people who showed up on the calls had been thinking about writing their book for a year or so. Not a surprise.

I was surprised, however, to discover how many people on the calls had started thinking about writing their book five or six years ago ... but still hadn't done it. Wow.

So ... what's getting in the way?

Could be just about anything. Creative block. Fear. Lack of knowledge, or information. Procrastination. No support. Time management (or lack thereof!). Other priorities. Lack of confidence. Maybe all of these...

In thinking about it, one word kept coming up for me: overwhelm.

For almost anyone setting out to write a book ... or create an information product ... the sheer size of the task can be very overwhelming.

And when overwhelm hits, we generally can't get started.

One suggestion that often works? Tackle a smaller project that feels comfortable, and do-able.

Less can be more

Instead of writing a book ... or workbook, or e-book, or teleclass series ... how about writing just one article

You could start by choosing an article topic that you're already very familiar with.

For example, what's your book going to be about? What's the general topic, or your particular slant on that subject?

Once you've decided on the general direction you'll be heading, look for an article format that's comfortable for you - and will work well with your topic.

Article formats that work

Back to my book-writing program for a moment.

Let's say that I'm thinking about writing a 'how-to' book for first-time authors that would support my program at CoachVille.

Yep, that would be a big project.

But instead of 'facing' the whole book, I could start with one article.

Here are several different formats I might consider for my article (along with some ideas for titles that came to mind):