048: How to Write a Book in Five Drafts [Podcast] http://ift.tt/1E3geP4 @jeffgoins #blogging

We all want to write a book. We’ve got an idea or maybe just a dream but we’re not sure where to go with it or what to do next. How do you know when it’s time to write a book and, more importantly, how do you write a book?

That’s a question I get asked on a regular basis so in this episode of The Portfolio Life my co-host Andy Traub and I break down the process into five drafts.

Listen to the podcast

To listen to the show, click the player below. (If you’re reading this via email, click here).

You can also listen at iTunes or on Stitcher.

The five-draft method

Writing a book takes five different drafts.

1. The Junk Draft

Essentially in the junk draft you’re throwing up on the page. It’s going to stink. It’s going to be ugly. Your goal here is to get black on white and come up with about 75 percent of your content on to the page.

2. The Structure Draft

By this point you’ve got content in a rough format that’s poorly organized. The question you have to ask yourself is “Is this actually an idea good enough to be worth publishing or do I have to scrap this and start over?”

At this point in writing The Art of Work I drastically changed the content to turn it into a book I think is worth reading.

3. The First Draft

Now you have an actual manuscript. You know the structure works but it’s not a well-edited work so you review the whole thing and make sure it makes sense.

4. The Surgery Draft

The Surgery Draft is exactly what it sounds like: cutting, slicing, and dicing content. You’re now ready to ask friends, editors, and members of your target audience into the process for their honest feedback. It hurts but you have to realize these early readers are trying to help you.

5. The Last Draft

Leonardo DaVinci said “Art is never finished; it is only abandoned.” This is where you abandon your book by letting it go, releasing it out into the world. You’ve spent a lot of time working on it, editing line-by-line, and making your book the best it can be but it will never be perfect. At some point you have to let go.

Let your book be great enough, be proud of it, and realize your next one will be that much better because of what you learned in writing this first one.

Resources

For more details on each of the drafts, check out the blog I wrote on the book-writing process.

This week if you buy The Art of Work at Barnes and Noble and email me your receipt, I’ll give you some pretty awesome bonuses.

What are you going to write your next book about? Share in the comments.

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