"Organic" Writing

As I’ve often told my nonfiction writing classes, a book outline is organic. It continues to grow and develop well after you’ve put plans to paper. Which is what happened to me yesterday.

Thanks to a TV interviewer on Sunday morning cable, my next book, now in the scribbled notes stage, has a new, tighter focus. It’s a direction about which I feel far more passionate than the original book concept, and I’m ever so grateful for the eye opener. Of course, I now have to go back to pre-outline brainstorming. Not back to square 1 – just close to it.

And that’s exhilarating! A lot of my old notes will go into the revised version – some with a slightly different slant. But the fresh passion I feel for the topic is tapping into a whole reservoir of mental notes from the past.

Organic is good. As my book grows and becomes more beneficial to the readers (and fun to write), I get more excited about writing it. And that energy is the absolute most effective incentive for sitting down to the keyboard and working!
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Book Writing Tip #1: Only write a book about a topic that stirs your passion. If you aren’t especially interested, your readers won’t be either.

Book Writing Tip #2: If your book-in-progress starts growing in a new and improved direction, go with the flow – even if it means starting on the basic outline all over again. It’s usually well worth that effort.