Book Writing Assignment for a Non-fiction Author

Often the most powerful non-fiction works integrate the personal experiences of the author with a different approach to an existing topic. I gave this book writing assignment to my client to lay the foundation so she could do this.

My client knew what she wanted to write about, yet she was struggling with sorting the emotions of the life even that inspired her to become an author. She had written a short memoir of her experiences in a very difficult setting.

Taking things to the next level was the challenge. To make the investment worth it, she needed to turn her memoir into a compelling book that would sell.

As her writing coach and editor, I had already worked with her to research the market, so we already had a clear idea of what her book needed to focus upon. I developed a series of questions for her to work through. I knew this would help her focus her research strategies. It also helped her prioritize which portions of her memoir furthered her goals and which needed to be removed.

A Writing Coach’s Book Research & Writing Assignment

I want you to start by asking yourself the following series of questions about your subject which I believe from our correspondence is about <<topic>>.

For each question, I want you to write down as many thoughts that come to mind as possible. Don’t worry about their order or logic. Just focus on getting thoughts expressed. You may feel like organizing things afterwards, but for now put the organizer in another part of your brain.

Try to avoid one sentence answers. Give each question some thought. Then express your ideas as though you haven’t shared any thoughts on the other questions. Yes, there will be some overlap, yet at this point, that is a good thing. It will ensure a broad view of your topic.