Book Organization 101: Find the Bones to Your Book with this One Tool

If you can’t figure out how to organize your book and you’re struggling with even outlining your content into concise, successive chapters, here’s an idea to consider:

Pretend you’re preparing a TED talk. I’ll presume you know what TED talks are, and if not, check them out online. Both the talks given at the big annual, exclusive TED conference and the smaller TEDx events that happen throughout the year and typically cater to a particular community, share the same goal: to “promote ideas worth spreading.”

And my guess is you want to write a book with that same goal. So, see if you can think like a TED speaker and start to gather what I call your book’s “bones”—the key takeaways and analogies held together by one strong message or theme (akin to the “spine”). Watch a few TED talks and notice patterns in the presenters’ delivery and underlying formula. You’ll notice lots of parallels despite talks on wildly different topics. Each one requires superb organization, engaging storytelling, and a singular message. Below is a rough roadmap of things to consider that mimic putting a TED talk together.

First, define your big idea: What ONE message do you want people to remember? This informs your one core message and theme. It should be clear, fresh, and relevant to your audience (the readers).

Next, create a strong beginning that hooks readers: Introduce the main idea, thesis, or problem the book will address. Do so in a way that captivates readers and grabs their attention right away like a TED speaker accomplishes in under two minutes. Present a surprising fact, raise a powerful, provocative question, or share a short personal story. Brené Brown’s TED Talk on vulnerability, for example, starts with a humorous but relatable confession.

Develop your core content: Organize key points into chapters with clear subtopics. Each chapter should have an obvious purpose or theme, flow nicely from beginning to end, and have a transition to keep the reader moving on to the next chapter. TED talks are often filled with authentic stories to connect with audiences, relevant science and research to build credibility, and analogies and examples to make ideas memorable (stories are 22 times more memorable than facts alone). You’ll want to do the same within your chapters.

Finally, craft a satisfying ending: Summarize key takeaways and provide action steps if relevant. Think about how you’ll empower readers to execute your lessons or ideas and share them with others. TED talks typically end with a call to action, a thought-provoking question, or a vision of the future. Simon Sinek’s famous TED Talk (“Start With Why”) ends by encouraging leaders to inspire action.

Many bestselling books have originated from successful TED talks and launched writing careers. When Brené Brown delivered “The Power of Vulnerability” talk in 2010, which has since garnered more than 60 million views, it was followed by her Daring Greatly book in 2012. Simon Sinek’s book came out in 2009, a few weeks before his TEDx talk in Seattle that surely helped catapult book sales. Start With Why has sold over a million copies.

Credit: Photo by Bogomil Mihaylov on Unsplash