200 Words A Day archive.

Writing a Book Series - Part 9 Outline Chapters

Part 1 - Fear Solving

Part 2 - Positioning

Part 3 - Objectives

Part 4 - Audience

Part 5 - Idea

Part 6 - Cocktail party pitch and North Star check

Part 7 - My book description

Part 8 - Title

It is now time to create the outline of the book. The outline is the architecture of your book.

Step 1: Brainstorm the chapters of the book. 

What is a chapter? A chapter can be a step in the process or a single, cohesive idea.

You also need a parking lot. This is where you put your really good ideas that do not fit in this book. Save those for another book.

Frameworks for chapter brainstorming

Framework #1 Workshop presentation

Imagine you are giving a one-day or two-day workshop about the topic. How would you structure the presentation? 

Framework #2 Teach your book Imagine sitting 1-1 with a good friend who is very interested in the book topic. How would you go about teaching the material to that person?

Framework #3 What needs to be said? If the first two frameworks aren’t a good fit, just sit down and write the key ideas of the book and then start to organize them.

Brainstorming my chapters

  • Why is sleep important?
  • Circadian rhythm and timing
  • Evening routine
  • Sleep Stages 101
  • Morning routine
  • How light affects sleep
  • How eating and drinking affects sleep
  • How exercise affects sleep
  • Optimum sleep when traveling
  • Sleep tracking
  • Supplements for sleep
  • Solutions for common sleep issues

Parking lot: 

  • Sleep disorders
  • Lab work to assess health markers related to sleep

Part 10 - Table of Contents