The diamond is your friend
As more and more people are using Joel’s BookProgram to quickly write their non-fiction books, new questions arise every day. A recurring one: How can I approach the structuring phase for my book? For some, just knowing about the Title->Chapters->Subchapters is enough. They cluster, then outline.
But others need more help. Here’s a suggestion:
- Think of the “shape” of your book as a simple diamond. The question that your book answers is at the top point; the support for the answer is in the wide part in the middle; and the answer is the bottom point.
- Think of each chapter in the same way–and then, each subchapter.
- Start with the question. Add the questions that need to be answered to answer the bigger question. Then conclude with the answer. Do this at each level.
The diamond: Your structure’s friend.
[...] you design your book, don’t forget the “diamond.” Have a clear question that the book will answer for the reader, and make sure you keep that [...]