With the arrival of AI in the form of ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude, Gemini, Microsoft Copilot and other ‘writing tools’ there is a growing discussion about how great these tools are for writing, how bad they are at producing high-quality writing that’s worth reading, and how they simply make up references, citations and quotes, over use em dashes and work in what I call Caesar’s triplet (after his famous phrase Veni, Vidi Vici).
As someone who writes for a living (54 business history books and counting) and advises businesspeople on how to write their own book, I’ve had plenty of book writing practice and have honed this over the past 40 years. So, when someone asked me HOW to write (and why they couldn’t just use ChatGPT to do it for them), I had to step back and work out the process I use as its second nature to me. I’ve outlined my process below which I have broken down into 7 key steps.
Before I run through these steps though I have to share/declare that I do not use AI to ‘do’ any of my writing. I use a wide range of AI tools throughout the process but not the writing. Why? Because AI cannot write high-quality, insightful, engaging books. It can reproduce and repackage ideas and information that’s out there in the world that you might not know about, but it cannot by dint of the fact that AI is a predictive model, create original thought, connect seemingly disconnected themes, experiences or knowledge, or bring to the page your unique personal and professional experiences, interactions, conversations and thoughts.
The 7-step process of how to write.
1. Think first.
- Don’t just start writing because you feel the urge to, or you have a spare weekend. Spend some time thinking about the following:
- What unique insight/experiences do you have to share?
- Who is your primary audience? What are their challenges? How is what you are planning to write going to help them with their challenges.
- What are the ‘next first steps’ you want your readers to take? So many books are a brain dump of someone experiences or insights. Far more valuable are books that provide actions for the reader to explore, start and implement.
2. Create a chapter outline.
This is one of the more challenging parts of writing. It’s really about organising what you have worked out you want to write about, in a logical order. While this might sound easy it isn’t. And it might take several iterations to get the flow right. And the flow of your chapters has to work for you and for the reader.
This is where utilising some AI tools can help. Test versions of your chapter outline – provided you have set up your chat with a detailed overview of the audience, key challenges/themes etc. This is where Step 1 comes in handy.
3. Test your outline with colleagues/your peer group.
Seek out people in your network/peer group (not friends or family) and ask for open and honest feedback. Most people don’t know how to provide feedback so you need to provide clear instructions as to what you want them to consider and the timeframe. Once you have the feedback, review it and revise your outline (again) if you need to.
4. Organise your information and research.
Before you start writing pull together ALL the information you have gathered over the years/decades and get it organised. I use both old-fashioned manila folders and create folders for specific types of research on my computer. I also create a new Bookmark folder to collect the URLs of articles I’ve read and online presentations, videos and links.
5. Work out what new research you need/want to undertake.
This could include interviewing people and if that’s the case you need to pull together a list of people to interview, connect with them to undertake the interview and do your homework on the questions you want to ask and why.
Make sure you’re ready to record the interviews, share a summary with the person, and that you check with them about any quotes you use in your book BEFORE it goes to print. AI tools are really helpful here. I use several transcribing tools (depending on the detail I want from the interview).
6. Create a style guide for your writing.
What’s a style guide? I hear you ask. A style guide is a list of the spelling, punctuation, naming and number conventions (among a wide range of other things) that you are going to use in your writing. For example: I use the Australian Macquarie Dictionary as my ‘English style’. Not US spelling (think ‘z’ instead of ‘s’, using ‘u’), not UK spelling. I also use the Australian Government Style Manual as my go-to reference for the style of numbers, dates, proper names, business titles, how to treat acronyms, references, footnotes and more.
An area that can get very complicated is how to reference people, company names, divisions within companies and specific industry terms. NO ONE, and I mean NO ONE wants to read a book full of acronyms, esoteric terms or convoluted descriptions. Your role as a writer is to make your book as readable and accessible as possible, so don’t try and show off.
You will save yourself a world of pain and a lot of money if you create and then follow your Style Guide BEFORE you start writing)
7. Create a writing schedule
If you want to write your book in a reasonable amount of time (no, 5 years is not reasonable) you have to make your writing a priority. Try to write on the same days at the same time each week for at least two hours. It’s about discipline.
Creating a writing schedule will do three things:
- Keep you on track with writing at least once a week, if not twice a week. This means that you don’t lose time getting your head back into writing.
- Your colleagues and family will know when your writing time is and respect it, provided you have engaged them about your writing project and have agreed on the day/times.
- You will progress in your writing, even if you don’t feel like it, have writer’s block, feel like chocolate or have something more urgent to do
Connected with this is creating a writing space. This is going to be different for everyone, and I’ve even had a client who did his writing on the train commute – although this writing had to be rewritten several times. Most people don’t have a dedicated writing space, but find a space where you can regularly sit at and pull out your hard copy folders, books and notes. These could be stored in a box. You want to have everything handy when you start to write otherwise you lose time trying to find things.
NOW, you are ready to start writing. So start.
I’ve lost count of the people who have shared with me that they’ve thought about writing a book, but never do as they don’t have time. What they really mean is that its not a priority for them. And that’s OK.
When I ask them what their book is about they can’t answer clearly, or they say what it’s not going to be like and reference a book they’ve read on their topic.
Writing is a process.
Even if you follow the 7 steps I’ve outlined above you may well change some elements of your content outline as you start writing, do more reading, conduct interviews, think more about what you are writing and how you want to express yourself. Writing is a muscle that develops over time. The more you write, the more you think, and this might change you and what you write.
Curiosity is part of writing… heading off in directions that interest you because something piques your attention. I am constantly playing the game of being focused with my writing but then exploring some small element of the topic to learn more, get a different perspective. And it’s this human process that AI tools can’t replicate. They might assist you in some of your research, testing some of your concepts, helping you with grammar and spelling (be careful what dictionary it uses), but you are the writer.
As a result, expect to work through three, four or more drafts of your book. Your first draft is the start, NOT the end. And, write your whole book before you start reviewing, it otherwise you risk getting yourself into revision hell and not progressing.
If you are stuck with your writing project, contact me and I’ll help you get unstuck, or at least be an accountability partner in your project.
