Last week I told you how to decide how many words you’ll need to write to get your first draft complete on your schedule. But it’s all very well saying you’ll write a certain number of words every day or every week, but what words will they be? If you just sit down at your computer and spill it all out, will it make sense?

Well it might. Or it might not. The difference is in how well you know your material and how well you plan.

Let’s say you are a landscape gardener, and you are going to write a book that helps gardeners in different climates plan what they will plant and when, and how to keep their gardens in bloom year round. (I don’t know anything about gardening, by the way, so that’s just a random thought! One of the things I love about helping authors is that I get to learn about many new subjects I knew nothing about before.)

The first thing you’ll need to do is decide how you’re going to arrange the material. What is a logical order for the book? Maybe you want to start by addressing the fact that not all plants will grow in all climates, and elaborate on which ones grow well where. You might decide to talk about different categories of plants and how they grow, etc. Once you’ve done that, make a table of contents.

(I’ve talked about this in previous episodes, so check those out on my blog if you need to listen again). Now you’re ready to start writing.

Now this is your area of expertise, so presumably once you know what each chapter is about, you should be able to simply write it as if you were telling someone in a conversation.

Another way that does work for some people, although probably fewer, is to just start with what you know well. Maybe you write a chapter on soil qualities first, even though it won’t be the first chapter. Write them all like this and then sort out the structure into a first draft at the end.

Whatever way you do it, before you sit down to write, know what the content is for that chapter or section, and write as if you were simply telling someone over a cup of coffee.

Now rinse and repeat till your draft is done!