The other day, I had almost a 2 hour conversation with a thought leader I met. I shared with him how I was able to ghostwrite scores of books in the past few months for my clients. He was amazed by the things I shared with him and took them to practice. In less than 5 days he completed two books which he had been writing like forever.
There are certain books I’ve read that seem to flow with the mind like a bowl of spaghetti slips through the lips. You pick them up and it seems you are glued to the pages and don’t want to stop reading. Some that stand out for me are From College Dropout to Corporate sellout, Half of a Yellow Sun, How Laziness Saved my Life, How Stupidity saved my Life, and all the books ever written by John C. Maxwell. There are countless others too (Can you name some in the comment section?)
Now, how do you write content that flows freely from start to finish without veering off course like the book I mentioned earlier.
It starts here:
1. Get yourself immersed in content:
I’ve learned that “Out of the abundance the mouth speaks,” even so “Out of the abundance of content a writer writes endlessly.” As readily available as Google is, it can be the very distraction that prevents a writer from writing creatively, endlessly and confidently too. So, what do I do?
a. I engage my mind: the mind is like a universe of content. It’s much larger than Google. Right within your mind dwells experiences from the day you were born till now and with deja vu, you may even have the future right there. This is where I start from. If I’m to write an article for instance, say on Dealing with stress, I start by looking at experiences in my life where I’ve been stressed. With imagination, I can find the right words to describe how bad it was and what I did to get out of it. The experience I had becomes a framework for the kind of content I’d be writing out. Guess what? I could write 1000 words about this and Google search anything extra. I simply use my mind. This reminds me of the quote by the famous Napoleon Hill, he said, “More gold have been mined from the minds of men than have been taken from the earth.” Have you started to mine the valuable content within you? Even if you do not have that experience, you can remember something you’ve read somewhere, heard at a particular time, or perhaps something that happened to someone you know.
b. Read a lot of quotes: when I write books for people, I start by getting a title and subtitle (This happens when the client has no idea in mind or needs further clarity) and then I pick the keywords and read up several quotes from different people. If the title of the book had something like “Determination” in it, I would search for “Quotes on determination” on Google. I would read up on these quotes till I can see all the perspectives people have about that same idea. This begins to link up with other thoughts, ideas, and content I may have generated by engaging my mind.
c. Refer to your library: readers read 80% of the time and write 20% of the time (Don’t ask me where I got that from o… laughs). If you’re serious about your writing, then you must become serious about your reading. Have you read a book or bought a book in the past one month? I have a routine and regimen every morning. I read chapters from the Bible and different books depending on the areas I’m focusing on from my work. For few days now, I flipped out books from my library to feed my mind on a particular ghostwriting project I’m about finishing. I’ve been reading Awaken the Giant by Tony Robbins, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, Developing the Leader within you by John C. Maxwell. Reading more opens up your imagination for much more.
2. Write like you’re telling a story:
Stories always have a way they start and end. As a writer, you need to think deeply, more like an engineer cutting things into pieces and arranging them together.
a. Use mind-maps: take out plain sheets of paper and outline your thoughts in chapters, subtitles, arrange the stories you’d like to share in each section. Each part should have a general theme you’d like to discuss. Find out the quotes you’d like to include, stories, and other references to buttress what you have to share.
Writing will be a stress-less exercise when you are swimming in an ocean of content and ideas to write about.
Have you used any of these strategies before? Do you have challenges putting content together? (Please share in the comment section)
#Dontwriteabadbook
