Writing Your Book: Finding Purpose

The hardest part about writing any book is the beginning. 

Trust me.

Yes, the ending needs to have impact, but unless the beginning is solid, no one will ever get to the end.

Your first chapter is the chance to make a good first impression on your reader, similar to how you’d want to put your best foot forward on a first date. When you think about the pressure to hook a reader within the first chapter, nay the first paragraph, it can be daunting. Your audience’s attention span is extremely scattered, and they want to know that your book is going to deliver the goods.  

How do you do that? How do you grab your readers instantaneously? How do you bait the proverbial hook, so the bites keep coming? You follow the advice of every 90s family sitcom… 

“Be yourself.”

In book form, we do that by stating the purpose of our book right off the bat. No reader wants to go in blind and only get a hint of what your book is about until they hit Chapter 4. We aren’t writing Agatha Christie novels. There’s no need to build mystique about who you are and what you know. Having said that, if your book is a mystery, or focused on some mysterious aspect of your personal story, you still need to establish that as the genre upfront. You are telling your reader that something is going to be discovered or gained on this journey you’re about to take them through. 

In order for them to know your purpose… you have to know it too.

A WRITER’S GREATEST ENEMY

I’ve had the chance to speak with many would-be authors throughout the years, and I always ask, “What keeps you from writing?”

There are myriad answers to this question, but most writers point to the same symptom. It isn’t that they can’t string together a sentence, or writer’s block, or even grappling with grammatical gremlins. No, the biggest roadblock to a writer’s success is…themselves. 

Specifically, lack of belief in themselves. They simply don’t think they can do it.

None of us are immune to the effects of imposter syndrome. It’s easy to look around at others that appear more attractive, successful, knowledgeable, whatever, and get discouraged. Someone else has already found success telling the story of how they started their business from nothing. Who would want to hear mine?

In my experience, there is so much room at the table to share what you’ve learned, and it just keeps getting bigger. All you have to do is grab your own plate and pull up a chair. 

Your story is unique. 

It deserves to be told.

FIND YOUR FOCUS

No one knows what you know better than you do. 

That might sound redundant but think about it. No one has the same experience as you. No one has lived the same life. There are similarities across the board, sure, but it’s guaranteed no one has walked away with the exact same life lessons that you did. All this is to say that your perspective is unique and important. Chances are someone needs to hear your story in order to take the next steps in their own life.

What you need to do is figure out why you want to write the book in the first place. This will help you define your purpose for writing. As you do it, try to be as specific as possible. 

You can’t get your book going unless you know what your book is really about. Yes, business books are amazingly important, but what is your business focus? What are you really good at? What knowledge can you give that no one else can?

Let’s get ideas flowing a little bit. Start by thinking about the broadest purpose possible:

I want to write a book about business

Great. Sort of. Not really. Actually, it’s bad.

The issue with that statement is it’s all about you, the author. You basically said you want to write a book about business for yourself. If you’re writing it, you probably have all the requisite knowledge, so do you really need it? Your purpose should include who you are writing it for. This will help you as you continue to outline and decide which concepts or stories make the final cut. Here’s something that will help: take the word “I” out of your purpose statement. Focus on your audience instead and see how it changes.

Next, the ‘I want to write a book about business’ statement is extremely vague. ‘Business’ is one hell of an umbrella term.

Think about how you can make the previous focus statement better. How would you change it? How would it impact your writing? Would it impact your title? 

Let’s take a second to find some alternatives to the simple “I want to write a book on business” example by asking a few pointed questions.

“I want to write a book about business.”

“What business?”

“The business of insurance.”

“Which type of insurance?”

“Health insurance.”

“What do you want people to learn about health insurance?”

“That it can save your life.”

“Why are you the person to tell this story?”

“Because right after I got a health insurance policy in my mid-twenties I was diagnosed with cancer. Without that policy, my young family would have lost everything, and my care would likely not have been as good. I feel that my health insurance saved my life.”

“So, your focus is to change people’s perception about health insurance by sharing your personal story?”

“Yes!”

Have this conversation with yourself while trying to figure out what your true focus is. You’ll be surprised by what you learn about your own motivations, and they may be far deeper than you realized. And yes, the previous page’s example is a real conversation we had with a client about why they got into the health insurance industry. You can imagine how his business improved once he started sharing his motivations for his career choice.

HOOKED

Think about the last book that you read. And we’re not necessarily talking about nonfiction, self-improvement, or business acumen books either. We’re talking about ANY book. 

Ask yourself why you picked it up. It could have been a recommendation from someone you trust, or the results of an internet search, or maybe you just liked the cover. There are a million reasons to start reading something. But the real question you need to ask yourself is… why did you keep reading it?

There’s absolutely an art-form to hooking readers and getting them to turn page after page without putting the book down. And yes, it takes practice. But here’s a tip for your first book:

Stick to your purpose.

Tangents can be fun at parties, but when it comes to books, they’re far less effective. Can you imagine if someone wrote about a bad first date they had for 1,000 words and it never connected to the point of their book? 

Show your reader that you know what you’re talking about. If you’re an interior designer, tell the story about how you helped a client de-clutter and redecorate their 800 sq ft apartment in Los Angeles, and how by the end it felt like it had grown by 200 sq ft. If you’re a consultant, explain how you worked with a company that had 10 employees and how you helped them grow to 100 employees, adding satellite offices across the country.

Regale your readers!

Bring them into your world through your story. THAT is how you keep them hooked.

So, you’ve got your purpose, and you have loads of fantastic stories that beautifully illustrate said purpose.

Now what? 

It’s time to start writing your book.

If you start with this foundational stage, you’re setting yourself up for success. This is the exact process I use when prepping a book. It doesn’t matter if it’s fiction or nonfiction, having an outline will keep you on track.

Now, get writing!