That makes sense. We all have a story to tell – and really, more than one story. Which can make it super hard to narrow the focus of a book, and make it a manageable project.

Writing a book is no small feat, and it doesn’t happen overnight. Narrowing the focus of your book is the first step in making it possible to complete the manuscript. Remember that writing one page each day leads to a pretty hefty book in a year’s time, which makes the project seem doable – if you have a clear focus of what you’re writing about.

But how to narrow your focus? Consider these tips for focusing on a book project you can’t wait to dive into.

1. Free-write all that you could write about.

You may have great ideas for a lot of books, but how do you get them written and into the world with everything else you have going on?

Just because you have ideas doesn’t mean they will all make it into book form. 

Sit in a place where you won’t be distracted and write (by hand!) freely about the topics you’d like to write about. Set a timer for 10 minutes. Write without judgment and without reviewing what comes out. Just write.

• What could you write about?
• What stories do you have to tell?
• What incidents have you endured?
• What obstacles have you overcome?
• What lessons can you share with others?
• What inspiration can you offer?

Be as specific as you can and see where the brainstorming takes you. Right now, you’re just cultivating ideas and capturing possibilities.

2. Review your notes and highlight finite options.

After the brain dump, use a highlighter to identify topics that are specific enough to tackle in one book. Periods of time or individual incidents.

You likely generated enough ideas for more than one book! Now that they’re on paper, you can always go back to them for the next book. That frees you from trying to cram everything into one manuscript.

The more narrowly you focus your topic, the more detailed you can get, and the more time you can spend on particular events that move the narrative along. You can pay attention to dialogue, establishing setting, building depth in your characters. All of these components make a book come alive.

3. Choose one focus.

Consider which topic you want to tackle in THIS book. On a new sheet of paper, write this topic at the top and jot down specific events, a timeline, or key turning points.

In the margins of each event, day, or point, write 3-5 specifics: 

• Where were you? 
• Who was there? 
• What was the weather like? 
• What emotions did you feel? 
• What is important to move the story along?

These details will be pivotal for your writing. When you have a starting point, it serves as a prompt to generate compelling writing. The more specific a scene can be, the more universally relatable it becomes.

4. Create an outline of chapters.

When I write a book, I outline the topics for each chapter, then write one chapter a time. When you narrow down your book’s overarching topic, you can narrow it even further by outlining chapters and writing in steps. That makes the project incredibly manageable.

Think about what has to happen from beginning to end of your story to take the reader on a journey. 

• Where do they start? 
• Where do you want them to end up? 
• What outcomes or revelations should they have by the end of the journey? 
• What pivotal points will help get them there?

As you outline your chapters, consider examples, anecdotes, or case studies to include throughout the book. Small stories to illustrate a larger point help connect the author to the audience at every step of the journey.

5. Set weekly goals.

Now that you have a road map for writing, build a structure toward success! Set weekly goals for when you will write, where you will do your writing, and how much you want to churn out in a week’s time.

Perhaps you start with time of day and location. If you can, choose a writing place away from where you do your normal work. It should be a space that sparks creativity and that, in time, when you sit down there, your creative juices will just start flowing!

It can help to adorn your writing space with little items that encourage creativity. Perhaps you light a candle to signify the start of your writing time. Or, when you achieve the number of pages you set out to write that week, you buy yourself a bouquet of flowers to display on the desk next to your laptop.

Designate a set goal for your writing. A chapter by the end of the week, or 10 new pages, or whatever feels reasonable. 

Remember, a page a day leads to a book in a year. One page is approximately 300 words – that’s not hard to do. And, most writers, once they get going, produce more than a page. 

You can do this!!

Lynne Golodner is the author of 8 books, with her ninth due out in February 2021. A former journalist, she is the host of the Make Meaning Podcast (www.makemeaning.org), a book coach, and a marketing/PR professional (www.yourppl.com). Lynne lives in Huntington Woods, Mich., with her husband and four teenagers.

The post #5onFri: Five Tips for Narrowing Your Focus appeared first on DIY MFA.

Take a moment from beating yourself up to read/look at the tools and tips below, offered to help you make drawing a part of your writing life (without all the remorse that accompanies your failed expectations for the coming year).

You need three things to draw: paper, pen and ink. Or just two, if you use a pencil.

Step One: Find Paper

So, paper. You might already carry a notebook that you use for writing with you at all times. If so, try drawing in it too. I write and draw in the same book, because having my thoughts in more than one place scatters them. So, the first place to start drawing would be in your daily writing notebook with your favorite writing tool.

If this stresses you out, because it feels like your writing space is being compromised, then get another notebook (or a different pen…more on this later). Call your book a notebook, sketchbook, daybook, journal, sketchpad, doodle space, whatever you want to call it, so long as the name doesn’t create a barrier to you drawing in it.

It’s best if your drawing pages are handy at all times and not too precious. I recommend a book with blank pages, though Lynda Barry uses lined paper, and lots of architects and mathematicians like gridded paper, so blankness is not mandatory. What’s essential is for it to feel lovely in your hands, but not be so costly you fret that drawing badly in it would be an offence to its value.

If you have a book that you’re afraid to draw in, because you might “ruin” it, replace it. Go to an art store and fondle lots of sketchbooks. Feel the paper. I usually rub it between my fingers to gauge the thickness and texture of the paper. I like my paper a little thick and slightly rough (call it toothy, if you want to sound artsy). Also, ink smears on glossy paper and the shiny reflective surface bothers my eyes, so I never use paper with any sheen to it. Hold the sketchbook, imagine drawing in it in public. Size matters. If it’s too big, the blank pages will feel daunting and will attract insects on sunny days. If it’s too small, you’ll fill it up quickly and lose it in your purse/bag.

My current sketchbook is the Bee Paper Company Super Deluxe Mixed Media. It’s 6 x 9 inches, spiral bound, with 60 sheets of paper. I switched last year from 65-pound to 93-pound paper, because the thicker paper takes watercolor better and I wanted to watercolor more. Years ago, I used perfect bound sketchbooks, to honor my work with fanciness, but gave those up because spiral bound sketchbooks open easier and I don’t have to make an effort to keep the book open while I draw (My arm strength is not impressive. I can’t even do one chin-up).

Books with exposed stitch spines are also great, because they open flat and don’t have a metal spiral to snag on things in your purse or bag. The books I’ve found with exposed spines have a Coptic stitch, an ancient glueless technique once used to stitch together papyrus in Egypt. While I love cool old-school tech, I haven’t found an affordable Coptic stitch book with paper I like enough to switch, but I am considering DIYing one to see if I can start making my own sketchbooks from paper I make from yard clippings. Maybe that can be my resolution next year. Ha ha, no.

A super important feature of your sketchbook is that it must fit in your purse/bag, so you can draw/write whenever you want. I test the fit in the store before buying the book. Word of caution: always do this in front of a store clerk so they don’t suspect you of shoplifting.

What’s most important is that you love drawing in your sketchbook. Let the book become an extension of you, not an intimidating version of you, just an anyday you. A you that lets you make crappy drawings all over its pages without ever judging you. That you.

Step Two: Find a Drawing Tool

So, a few words about pens, ink and pencils. Experiment. Find people whose drawings you love and try to learn what tools they use. For drawing and writing, I prefer fountain pens. They aren’t disposable, feel awesome, and there’s a huge variety of ink that works with them. For a while fountain pens faded out of what I would call the useful realm. I quit using them for about a decade, because they cost a bucket of money and didn’t work well in the dry desert air of Arizona where I live. They became over-decorated baubles for collectors. Drawing with them would’ve been like trying to sketch with a Gertrude McFuzz tail feather. Thankfully, a fountain pen renaissance is upon us and you can find amazing pens for reasonable prices. There are so many awesome choices for fountain pens and ink, that I can’t even begin to cover all the options.

If you want to explore fountain pens, I recommend you check out The Goulet Pen Company. They have a great website, full of videos and info on pens and ink. It’s your open door into fountain pen nerd heaven. I relax watching Brian and Rachel Goulet talk about drip and smear tests.

My go-to writing pen is a Lamy Al-Star. It flows even on the driest of desert summer days and feels great in my hand. And the clip slips onto my tee-shirt neckline with no bother.

For ink in the Lamy, I just switched from Pelikan 4001 to Noodlers Black, thinking it might work better with watercolors. It still runs, but only because I’m impatient and don’t wait for it to dry all the way before I paint over my lines. For making speedy paintings, I have another pen with DeAtramentis Document Ink in it. I can watercolor over this ink right away.

So, currently, I carry the Lamy for writing and drawing and, for ink/watercolor, a Sailor Fude De Mannen-Stroke Style Calligraphy Fountain Pen-Bamboo Green-Nib Angle 55 Degrees, a mouthful for a pen I bought for ten bucks on Amazon. The Fude pen is fun for loose doodles. If you’re not in the habit of turning your pen/pencil around in your hand while you write/draw, this is a good one to practice on, because it’s light, round and the line varies a ton depending on how you’re holding the pen, so you can really get a feel for the value of pen rolling.

Pencils are one of the greatest human inventions. They work in space. I’ve used them while SCUBA diving to make notes. Pencils rock! If pencils are your jam, you maybe already have a favorite pencil. Mine is the Ticonderoga Black #2. There are many other lovely pencils. Find one you love. And by one, I mean, you can draw with just one pencil type. I made all the drawings in my book By the Forces of Gravity with my favorite pencil. You don’t need every hardness from 9H (like drawing with a nail) to 9B (like drawing with soft butter) to make pencil drawings. A cool shop for pencil lovers is C.W. Enterprise in New York (and online). For more pencil love, check out this Ted Talk by pencil shop owner, Caroline Weaver. It’s a delight.

Once you have your drawing kit assembled, you can start drawing. Anything. Or nothing in particular. Just make marks on the page. Space-filling doodles can get you going (see below). I’ll post more doodle-prompts in other posts, between reviews of amazing books with pictures.

Happy Drawing!

Rebecca Fish Ewan, a poet/cartoonist/writer and founder of Plankton Press, teaches landscape architecture in The Design School at Arizona State University. She grew up in Berkeley, California, and now lives in Arizona with her family. Her cartoon/free verse memoir, By the Forces of Gravity, was published in 2018 through Books by Hippocampus. She’s working on a drawing book for writers right this very second. You can connect with her at rebeccafishewan.com.

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