Finding book topics to write about vs flogging a dead horse

Last night I had an incredibly great time at the PSASA. Unfortunately it meant that I missed a day writing at 750 Words. Given that I was on a 67 day streak this is quite a big dip for me.

When you choose a book topic don't pick a dead horse

Robin Pullen suggested that I take my talk, refine it as a workshop and then sell it. Both physically and online as a webinar. But to tell a speaker that when you start thinking speaking you stop thinking writing is almost impossible.

I don?t want to say I told you so but I know I missed 750 Words yesterday because my focus was not on writing but on speaking about writing. But, with that being said, let me bring some value to the conversation.

Last night I ran through my BLOCK & CRAM method in just over an hour which means that I touched too lightly on a number of things. Just for my own notes I think that it would be prudent to not down what I said, or what I meant to say of what I write down is not what I said (See, there we are back to the difference between speaking and writing).

One thing I mentioned is a method of determining a loose structure for the manuscript you are going to write. What you do is to take ten books on the same or similar topics to the book that you want to write. Look at the table of contents and list every topic in all ten books, and then weigh and arrange the topics according to your expertise and interests.

Two other methods to add to and to expand on this list of topics is The List and Mind Mapping.

Both these need to be done by hand, on paper and with a timer. I suggest ten minutes, repeated until you have exhausted the subject.

The List

For The List you take a notepad and write on the top of the page:

?What I know about (my subject I?m going to write about) is:?

And then in ten minutes time list as many facts, truths, laws, conventions, delusions and confusions you know about your topic. After ten minutes set the timer again and go again. If you run out of steam, draw a line, write the above intro again and then carry on.

First, you will both be surprised by how little and how much you know about your topic. And second, some things will really grip you as you write them down. Star these because they will be very useful in determining the focus of your book.

Mind Mapping

On the surface Mind Mapping seems similar to The List but it turns a different field.

Take a blank piece of paper and write your topic in the middle. Draw lines away from the middle and then free associate what the topic makes you think about.

Say for instance that you plan to write on Personal Money Management. You might then draw a line which says Personal Values. From there you can then go to Family, Pets, the Cost of Veterinary Services and eventually ending up with Gold Fish vs Labrador.

Again this will give you a rich field of information to explore your subject area. But it will also give you an angle, possibly stories or analogies, that will help you treat your topic in a very unique way. I would imagine that a Money book with a Dog focus will be very unique in a field where almost everybody else starts and ends with Compound Interest.

Now remember, if you use all three methods you will have more topics than you can possibly deal with in just one book. You have to take your list and cull out anything that bores you. If you think something has been done to death then don?t keep it on your list. You are going to need all the spark you can get to get your own writing done and you do not want to be flogging a dead horse.

Are there any other methods you think you might use either to construct a list of topics, or to cut it down to the few you really want to write on?

About Gerhi Feuren

As a writer Gerhi Feuren is unknown to millions of people across China and large parts of Russia, Alaska and Turtle Island. Gerhi Feuren is the author of the short story collection Snap etc...

Tagged as: list, mind mapping, PSASA, speaking, topics, workshop, Write a book

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