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Pssst… You’re starting your book in the wrong place!

111516-pathWhy is it that you’re convinced that you have to start at the beginning?

Seriously…

Repeat after me:

I do not have to write my book’s introduction FIRST.

In fact, it’s pretty much an all-around bad idea. When you’re just starting your book, you don’t really know exactly what will be in it. You don’t know how you’re going to walk your reader through your ideas and stories. You just don’t know.

So you wander around trying to craft this amazing introduction – and you don’t really know what you’re introducing!

You do not have to write your book's introduction FIRST. Click To Tweet

No wonder you’re frustrated.


Now imagine this:

  • You’ve honed your idea
  • You’ve crafted an outline
  • Start writing in the chapter that you’re most excited to write about

111516-clearlyseeStart with THAT chapter. The one you can clearly see. Write that one. When it’s done, then write the next chapter that sings to you. Then the next.

Before you know it, the book is written. And then you can write the book’s introduction. You know what you’re introducing because (wait for it) you’ve captured all your ideas on paper!

You don’t have to write your book’s introduction first. You really don’t – everything will still turn out okay!

Even if you do write your book linearly – progressing from Chapter One to Chapter Two to Chapter Three until you’ve written all your chapters, you still want to write that introduction last. That way, you’re minimizing the likelihood of being pedantic, overbearing, redundant, and out-right BORING.

BTW: what most of my authors actually discover is… they don’t even NEED an “introduction”. Chapter One ends up holding that space – and doing a better job than a stuff intro ever could.

The moral of the story:

START WRITING.

Right now. Start from where you can clearly see and put fingers to keys and words on paper.

Kim Galloway
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