How to Write An Ebook And Conquer Procrastination Too

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How to Write An Ebook And Conquer Procrastination Too

Friday, April 20th, 2007 Subscribe To Our Feed

How do you write an ebook, if all you’ve written is articles? An ebook can loom like a huge unscalable mountain. You find all sorts of things to do when you should be writing: mowing the lawn, taking the kids to the mall, doing research.

Research is a wonderful way to procrastinate, because you can tell yourself you’re working on the project - you can’t possibly start without knowing all about your topic, can you? But deep down, you realize that you ARE procrastinating.

You write an ebook the same way you write anything else - a word at a time

Here’s a process for writing an ebook:

* Develop a theme/ slant/ central focus. The central focus is VITAL. This is the promise you make to the reader - how to pay off a mortgage in five years, or how to lose 40 pounds in 28 days, or achieve a natural face lift without surgery;

* Write ten working titles. A working title is a title which encapsulates your theme. “How To Pay off A Mortgage In Five Years”, for example. Force yourself to come up with ten, because this title is the seed from which your ebook will grow;

* Write an outline (we’ll get to how you write an outline for an ebook even if you hate outlines in a moment);

* Write a chapter a day as if you were writing an article a day;

* Revise;

* Write the final draft;

* Final formatting, then save the ebook as a PDF file;

* Done!

The Ebook Secret: Your Outline Helps You To Get It Done

There are two kinds of writers: those who outline, and those who don’t. I used to be a writer who didn’t outline. However, I soon realized that the only way I could function and meet my deadlines was to outline each project. Then I received an amazing insight: my writing improved when I outlined.

An outline is just a list. You need to outline your ebook, because ebooks can and do change as you work on them. Without an outline, you’ll find yourself struggling to complete the project, because it morphs as you work on it.

Just write a simple list of the chapters of your ebook. Look on each chapter as an article. You can write an article a day, even if you only have a couple of hours in which to write.

Chunk Each Chapter As You Write It

If the ebook still looks intimidating, chunk each chapter as you write it - that is, write it a paragraph at a time. Write 50 words each time you turn on your computer. This is doable for anyone. And you’ll find that if you take this ultra-slow route, by the time you’ve completed 500 words, you’ll speed up. The words will start to flow, and you’ll complete the ebook quickly.

So there you have it - you CAN write an ebook, and conquer procrastination too.

Read all my secrets to writing ebooks in “Write and Sell an eBook: Every Writer’s Quick-Action Guide To Writing Ebooks”.

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