How to Write a Book

I had an experience in 2002 at 5:00 am in which I heard an audible voice (that I knew was an angel) tell me to “get up and write.”

I got up and over the next two weeks in the early hours before work I wrote an outline for the book that became Prophecy, Dreams, and Visions: Revealing God’s Love through Divine Encounters.

After writing the outline, I spent the next two years feeling guilty about avoiding writing the rest of the manuscript. I had a lot of good “reasons”:

• I am not a writer
• I don’t have time
• What if people don’t like it?
• What if I fail in front of the entire world?
• … etc., etc.

My problem? I was trying to write it perfectly, so I would spend hours rewriting, then I would get discouraged.

Then one day I experienced a major breakthrough and got my initial manuscript finished in three weeks.

Here’s how I did it.

For me, finding the time to write was the toughest part.

I was busy traveling and speaking at conferences and when I was home I was too tired. I had to come to the point where I realized that avoiding writing was actually more painful than writing the book itself.

Procrastination is a killer. I sat down and created a list of pros and cons for writing my book. The pros outweighed the cons by far. I would get my message out to tens of thousands of people—maybe millions, I would get additional revenue, it would help change people. So I had to find a way to get myself to follow through.

I tried going to writing retreats, but the quiet atmosphere and the blinking cursor on my computer screen reinforced my perception that I was not able to write a book.

Then I tried going to the library, but I felt so uncomfortable. Just looking at all the books on the shelves discouraged me.

“Why does the world need one more book?” I thought.

So I decided to break free of the pain and find something more fun and spontaneous.

I found it! I really liked going to Starbucks—I feel creative and it is often full of other creative people, so I wrote every day at Starbucks for three weeks. I also got some new music for my iPod and got to know other people who were writing at Starbucks too.

It turned out to be a great discovery: Find a way to make a painful task enjoyable.

Some easy writing tips I learned the hard way:

• I gave up the idea that I would write it perfectly the first time. I began by simply writing as if I were talking to a close friend telling them my story. I did not worry about grammar and structure – you have an editor help fix all that later.
• I started by writing a summary of what I wanted my book to be about, who the target audience was, and a page or so that was just a bunch of thoughts about what I wanted to say. This helped me to clarify who I was speaking to and what I was trying to communicate.
• I created a simple outline to start. Then I began to write freely under each outline heading. At first I was discouraged because of the size of the document. I wondered how it would ever become a book. Trust the process; it will fill up as you go.
• The outline began to develop into chapter headings later. I went back through and made corrections and wrote more. After every completion I went back through and kept adding more and more, and let it evolve organically. It was amazing that each pass-through seemed to trigger new ideas.
• I rearranged things quite a bit in the process and kept track of what I wanted to add and what I wanted removed. As the chapters developed I created 3–4 bullet points at the top of each chapter that kept me on the point that I wanted to get across.

Because my book was non-fiction, I went through it again and added stories and research—and I kept adding to it.  The more I reviewed and revised it, the more it developed into what I was trying to say.

The key was not dwelling on it too long. I kept moving.

There are a lot of great writing tools, training and support available through the internet. I joined a writer’s forum online and got encouragement from others, and I took time to help and encourage others in return.

I also found that, for me, using a program like The Journal helped me to track all my research, quotes, permissions, and ideas. The key to breaking through is to get started and find fun ways to get yourself to follow through. 

Blessings,

Doug

Doug Addison is the founder and President of InLight Connection. Doug is a prophetic speaker, author and coach. He is known for his Daily Prophetic Words, Spirit Connection webcast, podcast, and blog. He and his wife Linda live in Los Angeles, California where he is impacting the arts, entertainment and media industries.