Once you have done your research and gathered all of your information, it is time to outline your nonfiction book. The outline is very important because it gives structure to your book and helps you to organize all the information you gathered into chapters.
Creating a good outline helps you to overcome writer’s block and it makes writing your book very easy. Today, you will learn how to create a good outline that helps you to finish your book.
Two Methods to Outline Your Book
There are two different ways to outline your nonfiction book. One method is to use mind mapping to outline your book and the other method is to create a chapter by chapter outline. You can use either method or a combination of both. However, just make sure you use the method that you feel most comfortable with.
Outlining Method #1: Mind Mapping
One of the methods to create a book outline is to create a mind map. You can either draw a mind map on a sheet of paper or create one on your computer. A mind map is a diagram which visually presents a hierarchy of organized ideas and information. It usually starts with the central topic placed in the middle which connects to supporting ideas or subtopics.
You can create a mind map of each chapter in your book. First, write the title of the chapter, i.e. the central topic, in the middle of the page. Next, write down all the subtopics that support the central topic and draw lines to connect them. The subtopics can be further broken down and branched out into supporting ideas. Then type all of this information into a Word document on your computer and organize them into chapters.
The image below is an example of a mind map. This mind map was created using chapter 1 from my book Never Give Up: 20 Life-Changing Steps to Help You Get What You Really Want.
Outlining Method #2: Chapter by Chapter Outline
This is the outlining method that I prefer, rather than using the mind map method. I prefer this method because I find it is easier and faster to organize my thoughts and ideas into chapters. This method of outlining can also be used to come up with your table of contents.
Creating a chapter by chapter outline is very easy and all it takes are three steps.
Step 1: Decide what chapters you want to include in your book.
A book outline usually starts with the introduction, ends with the conclusion, and the chapters are in between. From all the information you gathered from your research, list all of the topics you want to cover and arrange them in the order you think is best.
If you need help with arranging chapters, you can look for a book on Amazon on the same topic and look through the table of contents to get an idea of how you could arrange the chapters in your book. You can start by listing the basic content at the beginning of your book and then work up to more advanced topics.
For example, when I was writing my book Never Give Up: 20 Life-Changing Steps to Help You Get What You Really Want, I had to brainstorm the chapters that I wanted to include in my book. I also had to decide on the number of chapters that my book would contain. I wanted each chapter to be short, easy to read and to focus on one theme.
So I decided that my book would contain 20 chapters and since this was going to be a motivation book, I chose to focus on the following themes: focusing on your goals and dreams, overcoming fear, believing in yourself, increasing your confidence, preparing for success, being positive, stepping out of your comfort zone, and never giving up.
Step 2: Create a table of contents.
After brainstorming the ideas you want to include as chapters in your book, the next step is to create a table of contents. Rearrange the topics in the most logical order.
For example, if you are teaching your readers how to use a type of software, then you should divide your chapters into steps. What is step one? What do you need to do in step two? Instead of writing step one and step two, you could write chapter 1 and chapter 2. Write down the main topic for each chapter.
I came up with the following topics for each chapter of my book:
- Enlarging your vision
- Deciding what you really want
- Retraining your brain
- Changing your attitude
- Overcoming fear
- Having confidence and believing in yourself
- Discovering your passion
- Preparing for your success
- Planning before you do
- Seizing the best opportunities
- Asking questions and questioning everything
- Getting out of your comfort zone
- Stepping forward daily
- Testing your limits
- Attracting the good things into your life
- Developing positive relationships
- Avoiding the negative
- Letting go of the past
- Unleashing your maximum wealth
- Never giving up
Step 3: Make notes for each chapter outline.
Now that you have created your table of contents, the final step is to make notes for each chapter outline. You can use bullet points which will help you to organize the content of each chapter.
Each chapter should consist of the following: an attention grabber (a short story, a question to the reader, or a shocking statement), what the chapter is about, supporting ideas, a story or example to support the topic of the chapter, a summary of the whole chapter, and a brief description of what’s coming up in the next chapter.
This is what your chapter outline should look like:
Chapter 1: Enlarging Your Vision
Attention grabber (shocking statement): Unfortunately, there are a lot of people who are dissatisfied with the way they are living their lives right now.
What the chapter is about: If you are not truly satisfied with the way your life is right now, if the future you envisioned has not met your expectations, then you need to enlarge your vision.
Supporting ideas: What is a vision? Why our vision may be limited. How do you enlarge your vision?
A story or example: Examples of dreaming big, changing your mindset, doing your best, and not being afraid of change.
Summary: A recap of what the chapter was about.
What’s in the next chapter: The next chapter is about deciding what you really want.
Everyone has their own preferred method of outlining a book. Some may find the mind mapping method easier for outlining their book and others may find it easier to outline chapter by chapter. It doesn’t matter what method you choose to outline, as long as you are able to complete your book.
The next blog post will be about writing your nonfiction book.
