By Gail Tagarro / 26 January 2022 / 4 minutes of reading
This post is a case study with a recent client who needed help organising and structuring her writing. Let’s call this client Lesley. She had queries about whether she was going about it the right way and was seeking guidance.
Lesley is writing a series of short stories on ancestral themes which she intends to collate into a book. Some of the stories are about her own ancestors, while others are more general stories on ancestry.
At the same time, Lesley is creating a template that she will sell to people wishing to record their own family history.
She is also able to collate a family’s history on behalf of clients who would like this service.
Before our session, Lesley emailed me some of the stories she’d written, along with the template she intends to provide.
Confusion!
In a coaching session, I always first listen to what the writer is aiming to achieve and what their particular concerns or struggles are.
Often, they find it difficult to express this because it is not clear in their own mind. So, when they finish explaining to me, I start to ask questions. This helps me to clarify in my own mind what their aims are and in the process, helps them gain clarity as well.
What we discovered after five or ten minutes of questions and answers was that Lesley had created a ‘one size fits all’ document. What should have been the template to provide to potential clients contained:
an introductory section promoting her service. This section gave them two options—to fill out the template themselves, or to request her to complete it on their behalf
the actual template.
It was too early to provide the template, as the recipient of the document wasn’t yet a client. They hadn’t even yet made the decision to buy the service, let alone choose one of the options. Lesley was giving away her IP!
Confusion resolved!
Marketing Document
By pointing this out to Lesley, she was able to see that she needed to create two separate documents. She had to pull out the ‘about me and my service’ information from the template, as it clearly did not belong there. She could then use this information to create a marketing document promoting her service, which she would send in response to client enquiries, or make available on her website for downloading.
Template
We then discussed the structure of the template for providing to those clients wanting to complete their ancestry information themselves.
I suggested the first section needed to be a one-pager on ‘how to use this template’, i.e., clear instructions on how to fill out the various sections.
The second section would be an introduction about the client’s ancestors, with Lesley deciding on some relevant general headings.
Lesley already had the following three sections planned. I won’t include these (it is her IP).
On the last page of the document, Lesley can still include a condensed version of her ‘about me’ information if she wishes, along with her contact details.
Takeaways for Other Writers
While the case study above is specific in terms of genre and style, as well as containing the commercial element of a saleable template, many of the principles apply to any book.
Purpose
Before you start writing, have the purpose of your book clear in your mind. As we’ve seen from this case study, Lesley had initially combined two distinct purposes in one document … and was unwittingly giving away her IP.
Audience
Ensure that you have your audience clear in your mind. In the example above, the audience of the marketing document is the potential client, while the audience of the template is the actual client.
Structure
It is essential that you spend time structuring your book before you start writing the content. There are writers who prefer to ‘free write’, and that’s fine. However, of the dozens of coaching clients I’ve worked with to date, all without exception have found that mapping out their high-level structure first, and working with the book template I provide, is highly beneficial in getting them started on the right track.
Free Resource
Here’s a free resource to help you get your book started and organised. You can download Scaffolding for Scribes at this link: https://bookwritingcoach.com.au/
Still Need Help Structuring Your Writing?
One-off
Lesley had very specific queries she needed answering and was seeking explicit guidance, so a one-off coaching session was perfect for her. If you too have specific concerns or questions and would like one-off coaching to address them, book a 'Clarify & Unravel Your Writing' session of 1.5 hours here.
Programs
If you are yet to start writing your book, or you’ve started but have come to a grinding halt, take a look at our book programs.
Book Writing Programs
Like to work on your own? Then you’ll find a self-led program to suit you.
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