How do you currently gather your ideas? What? You don’t keep your ideas, your random thoughts and your dreams in one place! No wonder you have not finished your book.

Think about the way you learn. This could be the best indicator of how you could store your ideas, thoughts and dreams.

THE TOP 5 TECHNIQUES

For those who are still unsure here are some practical ways you may do this:

1.      Carry around your notebook and write your thoughts down anytime they pop into your head.

2.     Dictate notes to yourself.

3.     Email yourself ideas as they arise.

4.     Have a list on your phone or tablet that you add ideas on the go.

5.     Write your ideas on pieces of paper and store them in a drawer.

Now that you are centralising those precious moments you are building an amazing foundation for your book. Once you have been doing this for a few weeks, it is important to review what you have done. Yes, you need to measure your progress. If there is not a consequence, will you keep the focus to finish? The other benefit here is giving you the opportunity to see the connections between ideas you may have thought previously unrelated.

What? How do I put all my ideas in one place and look at them all at once?

This could mean printing out everything you have gathered so far. Putting them on the walls and tables and floors. You need to be able to see everything at the one time to enable you to find new connections and see how they interrelate. You never know, you could have an ‘A-ha’ moment and a new solution will immediately present itself or you will see the path that these ideas are leading along.

Use post-it notes, highlighter pens, draw lines, make marks. Dig deep. Unpack what you do so that anyone can understand it.

Dig deep. Unpack what you do so that anyone can understand it.

Can you see a pattern here?

Can you see steps starting to unfold?

Can you see your book starting to come together?

What idea keeps on popping up in the notes that you have gathered?

Start there. Build on that idea. Flesh it out.

Can you see your contents page?

How many chapters do you have?

If you cannot see a framework yet, that is ok. Do some more idea gathering. Try again in a few weeks.

The point is you have started.

THE CHECKLIST

Don’t let those great ideas go to waste. Dust off your ‘idea’ book, pull out those scraps of paper or print out all those emails.

Take another look – what are the connections, what can you do with this?

What problem are you solving for others, or for yourself?

Could this be the content you need to prepare and publish your book?

Still not sure if these techniques will work for you. Want more help. Please email me dyan@dyanburgess.com and ask me your burning questions about getting your book published this year.