INTRODUCTION

You’ve been planning to write your book for months. This one book could build huge momentum
for your business, platform, even for your life’s purpose. The problem? You just can’t push past
the procrastination and start writing!

Wouldn’t it be great if someone just laid out the basic steps to writing a book, so you could wrap
your head around what you need to do to just write it?

That’s exactly what this quick start guide will do for you.

I’m Morgan, book coach and managing editor of Paper Raven Books.

We are a team of top-notch publishing professionals, and we work with entrepreneurs and
platform builders who want to publish a book that levels up their business and platform. We help
you to tap into your powerful message and polish first drafts into beautiful books.

We are here to help you write boldly, so you can live boldly.

I’ve taken all of my best advice for authors who are writing books and condensed it into this
quick start guide. Follow these steps, and within a few months, you will have a finished book that
paves the way for your new, incredible life as an author.

Let’s start writing,

1
 THE FIRST DRAFT

- STEP 1 -
ESTABLISH GOOD WRITING HABITS

If you want to write your book faster and more easily, first put in place these basic but essential
writing habits:

Set a timer for 25 minutes.

Set a timer, and write with high-intensity focus for 25 minutes, then take a five-minute break,
before diving back into another 25-minute focus session. Using a timer has literally doubled my
productiv

Track your progress.

After every single writing session, write down the date, time, number of minutes you spent
writing, and word count. Whether it’s a digital spreadsheet or a hand-written journal, it should
look something like this:

Date Time Minutes Word Count

Aug 10 6:00-6:25am 25 879
Aug 11 5:45-6:10am 25 743
Aug 12 5:50-6:15am 25 865
Aug 13 5:30am-6:30am 60 1,475

Write three to five hours per week, every week.

It truly doesn’t matter whether you write for one 25-minute session every day or five hours on
one day (although you should still write in bursts of 25 minutes, with breaks in between), as long
as you’re making consistent progress every week.

2
 - Step 2 -
Free write for at least five days IN A ROW

Here’s how you free write:

1. Set a timer for 5, 10, 15, or 20 minutes.

2. Put your pen to the paper or hands to the keyboard, whichever you prefer, and set your
mind on the general topic.
3. Write as fast as reasonably possible—no pauses, no breaks, no breathers.
4. When the timer rings, stop writing.

Even if you have to type “umm” 10 times in a row or repeat the same word over and over until
your brain can catch up with your hands, you just keep writing. Don’t look back, don’t delete,
don’t correct spelling mistakes. Press on until the timer rings.

Free writing will feel uncomfortable at first, and you may wonder why I recommend it. But trust
me, try it for five days, and you will be astonished at the newfound clarity you have around
your book topic. If you’re concerned that you may not have enough material for a book, after
free writing for five days, you’ll be convinced you have several books in you. And that’s a great
feeling.

3
 - Step 3 -
Create a rough organization

Your book-writing journey will go so much more smoothly if you have a road map before you
start. A rough organization isn’t an outline, and it isn’t a mind map. It’s a long, detailed linear
brain dump that you can go back to later and rearrange.

Write out a list of every idea you want to cover in the book. Use sentences or fragments or
phrases. This may take up to an hour, working in 25-minute bursts, with five-minute breaks in
between, and your list may be three to six pages long at the end.

Reorder list and group ideas under headings, adding other ideas as you think of them. Then,
reorder the groups under chapter headings. Read through the list, one more time, to see if there
are any other ideas you’d like to add.

Here’s an example of how you might write a list in a long, linear brain dump, and the reorder the
ideas under chapter headings in rough organization. The topic is traveling with small children.

Rough Organization Linear Brain Dump

Chapter: Gear Pack up 5 days of clothes

Collapsable water bottles For a baby, bring formula with you
Baby carriers but older kids can eat whatever is
Stroller attachments there.
Kid-sized backpacks Kid-sized backpacks
Collapsable water bottles
Chapter: Traveling with small children What about iPads?
For a baby, bring formula with you To hold as a lap child or not?
But older kids can eat whatever is there Baby carriers
To hold as a lap child or not? Stroller attachments
Chapter Packing for long trips
Pack up 5 days of clothes, plan to wash

Chapter: Entertainment
What about iPads?

The freeing thing about the linear brain dump, is that you can just list ideas as they come to
you. When you go back to re-order, you’ll find you have even more ideas. The process keeps
you feeling organized and encourages you to keep thinking of new ideas, without being
overwhelmed.

4
 - Step 4 -
Write the first draft

When you start writing the first draft, skip the introduction, and start writing with Chapter 1. Finish
off with the conclusion, then go back to write the introduction.

At a pace of 5,000 words per week, you should be able to write 20,000 words in four weeks,
which is a great length for an e-book.

Best practices while writing the first draft:

1. Write easy. Keep the tone conversational because that’s the easiest way to write a
lot quickly. Don’t worry about everything sounding perfect or using the same words
over and over. Save those concerns for the editing phase.

2. Do not edit as you write. Only look back at what you’ve written to get an idea of
where you left off. Don’t worry about grammar right now. Focus on writing.

3. Write expansively. If you’re trying to make a point or describe a concept, just keep
writing until you feel your explanation is absolutely complete. Even if you repeat your
self a bit, that’s fine. It’s better to write too much than not enough.

4. Do not use bullet points. Explain everything in full, complete sentences.

5. If you know you’ll need to research something, leave an asterisk and keep writing.
When you finish the first draft, you can set aside a week or so to do research. Finding
where you still need to add research will be easy because you’ll just do a global search
for those asterisks.

Write all the way through your first draft. Then, celebrate! A full first draft is a fantastic
accomplishment.

5
 - Step 5 -
Rearrange the structure

Rearranging the structure is the secret to creating a book that is compelling, flows well, and
keeps the reader engaged. The beauty of words, sentences, and paragraphs is that they can
be changed, deleted, and rearranged. When you rearrange the structure of your first draft, it
begins to take the shape of a true book.

First, read quickly through the entire first draft. Don’t stop to change anything just yet. While
reading, you’ll be taking notes. You can take notes by hand, with a notebook and pen (my
preferred method), or on a stack of notecards, or you can open up a new word processing
document, side-by-side with your first draft.

As you read, you’ll be creating an outline of the book as it currently exists. Write down the chapter
title, and as you read each paragraph, create a sub-point in the outline that summarizes the
paragraph in one sentence or phrase. With every paragraph that you read, write down a sub-
point underneath the main header.

When you’re finished, you should have an outline that accurately reflects the point that each
paragraph is making, in the order that the points are presented in the first draft. Now, you can
decide which paragraphs you’d like to delete, rearrange, or add to for clarification.

Maybe you’ll want to move one paragraph up because it fits more naturally with the three
paragraphs at the beginning of the section. Maybe you’ll want to delete a paragraph because
it repeats the point from a previous paragraph, or you may want to combine the two paragraphs.
Maybe you’ll notice a paragraph that makes a really important point but is very short, so you’ll
want to add content to clarify it or to add emphasis.

Make notes in the outline of how you’ll want to change the structure of the first draft. Now, you
have a plan for the first revision.

6
 - Step 6 -
First revision

Go back to page one. Now, you’re ready to read from start to finish, editing as you go. Keep
that outline from Step 5 next to you as you read, paragraph-by-paragraph so that you can
remember which paragraphs need adjusting, deleting, combining, or clarifying.

As you edit, check the following writing tendencies:

• Use the word count tool in your word processing software to check sentence lengths.
Most writers tend to write either long sentences (more than 40 words) or short sentences
(less than 10 words). You’ll need a good variety of sentence length to keep the pace of
the book enjoyable for the reader.

• Look out for habits of starting your sentences with the same phrase, over and over.
Maybe you tend to begin with “Although” or “In other words” or “I believe.” Either delete
or replace to mix up how you start sentences.

• Find the paragraphs where you over-explain and the paragraphs where you under-
explain. Spend some time cutting or elaborating, where you think it’s best.

• Create a running list of words that you tend to repeat. You can perform a global search
for those words and swap out some of them with synonyms.

• Replace acronyms as often as possible. Even very common acronyms, like DIY, will grate
on your reader’s patience. Do the reader a favor and either write out the acronym or
find another way to talk about the concept or organization.

WHAT COMES AFTER THE FIRST DRAFT?

I knew you would be curious. ;) Now, that you have a first draft, let’s talk about the steps you’d
need to polish it up and publish.

7
 - Step 7 -
Send to a developmental editor

Now your revised draft is ready for your developmental editor, who will help you streamline the
broad structure of your book.

- Step 8 -
Second revision

When you receive the revised draft back from your editor, carefully look through all of the
suggestions. If you’re working with a good editor, she will certainly have given you a lot of
changes to consider. Take 24 hours to mentally and emotionally process all the changes. Begin
at the beginning of the draft again, and incorporate your editor’s comments.

- Step 9 -
Send to a copyeditor

Now that your book has a compelling structure, your revised draft is ready for your copyeditor,
who will zoom into your sentences and help to make sure your writing style is consistent and that
your sentences are tight and grammatically correct.

- Step 10 -
Send to your beta readers

Ask three to five friends or colleagues to read your manuscript and provide feedback. Make sure
to give them hard deadlines and several specific questions to answer about the manuscript.

For example:
“I’ll send you the manuscript on the 8th, and if you could have it back to me by the
22nd, that would be fantastic. As you’re reading, could you make notes of anything
that you would add to the book? Or any questions that I left unanswered?”

8
 - Step 11 -
Third revision

Once you receive the beta readers’ feedback, begin at the beginning of the draft again, and
incorporate their comments.

- Step 12 -
Proofread

Hire a proofreader to catch all the tiny typos, capitalization errors, and inconsistencies that are
still hiding in the text. (I promise, they’re there!)

- Step 13 -
Read out loud

Do not skip this step! Reading the manuscript out loud is one of the most vital, yet overlooked,
steps of the entire editing process. There is no better way to catch simple errors and typos than
to read the entire manuscript out loud. It may take you five hours, but it’s the best way to spend
five hours editing your book.

- Step 14 -
You have finished your book!

Take a day to celebrate! What a huge accomplishment to finish a book. This book will bring
amazing opportunities to you, and you should spend at least a full day basking in the possibilities
that this book will open up for your life.

- Step 15 -
Publish your book

This is the fun part. You’re getting a cover design, formatting the pages, and uploading your
book to Amazon Kindle, Amazon CreateSpace, and IngramSpark. And your book will be
available for anyone to read, anywhere! Welcome to your life as a published author.

9
 ISN’T THERE AN EASIER WAY?

If these steps feel overwhelming, you could go down the one-step, easy route to write your
book. Work with me and the Paper Raven Books Team to write, edit, and publish your book.
You could write this book on your own, hoping that procrastination and the usual excuses don’t
stall your progress, or you could commit to having this book finished and ready to publish within
the next few months. Imagine what a published book could do for your business, your platform,
your life.

How can you work with Morgan and the Paper Raven Books team?

Work one-on-one, with Morgan, to Write Your First Draft, Quick & Easy:
http://paperravenbooks.com/firstdraft

Work with our professional publishing team to shape your first draft into a published book:
http://paperravenbooks.com/publishing

Join Morgan’s group book-writing course, to learn how to write and self-publish your book, at
your own pace and with the encouragement of other writers:
http://startwritingyourbooktoday.com

We would be honored to work with you on your book. I truly believe that your words—your
book—can change the world.

Let’s start writing,