Ahhhh…

“Should”

The word that killed a thousand dreams and launched a million failed projects.

Typically, when personal development folks start going on about “should” they talk about how you’re “shoulding all over yourself” i.e. you’re beating yourself up about the things you should do, should have done, should be doing, should not have done, should not be doing.

(Take a moment to ponder the grammar in that sentence and freak out about verb tense. I’ll wait.)

And while I’m definitely NOT a personal development guru or self-help expert, I mostly understand what they’re saying:

That SHOULD kills your momentum and dreams. Do it (or don’t) but stop shoulding yourself.

Greaaaaat.

Now let’s talk about how “should” functions in MY world.

It goes like this:

You’re having a great time, chatting with a new friend or acquaintance. You’re telling a story about something that has happened in your life – good or bad – and they’re hanging on every word.

Your verbal storytelling skills are spot-on. You’ve probably told this story so many times before, you know just how to deliver the emotional punch lines, where to speed up, where to slow down. How to change your voice inflection, how to gauge your listener – and make adjustments to your voice, story, and pace to KEEP them hooked.

And then…

And then…

And then…

You get it:

“That was GREAT! You should write a book.”

{Insert dramatic sigh and pregnant pause here.}

Telling a great story to a live audience does NOT mean you should write a book. Or that THIS story should be in the book, the basis of a book, or belongs anywhere except where you’ve already delivered it – live, verbal, and to your listener. Keep Reading!

Have you ever thought about how long a chapter in your non-fiction book should be? I mean really thought about it?

Most people do think about how long the overall book will be (thinking in word count not pages!) but few think about how long a chapter should be.

And while you CAN use a blog post as the basis of a chapter, there are some different guidelines!

1. Chapters don’t all have to be the same length!

Sure, in a “perfect” world, every chapter would be exactly 2.5 pages long. The book would have a beautiful symmetry and every word would be powerful.

And welcome to the REAL world!

Some chapters will be longer because you have more to share about that topic. Some chapters will be shorter because you can be succinct and clear in fewer words.

Get over it.

A chapter should be exactly as long as it needs to be to get your point across clearly – and no longer!

Just like these colored pencils of different lengths – they can each still do their job even THOUGH some are much longer (or shorter) than the rest.

2. {DON’T} Just make a blog post into a chapter

Don’t get me wrong, a blog post is the great FOUNDATION for a chapter but it seldom can become a chapter in and of itself. Here’s why:

• A blog post has its own introduction, ending, and Call to Action. It’s a discreet piece of writing which means it rarely lends itself to transitioning into and out of other chapters!
• Many blog posts give a light overview of a topic – whereas a book chapter would go much deeper into the subject matter.
• Most blog posts DON’T have much storytelling. It’s very much “5 Ways to Write Your Author Bio” – which is FINE for a how-to article but won’t give the reader anything to hook into emotionally. And we both know that storytelling is THE key to getting someone to remember what you’re teaching them!

Keep Reading!