1.      Look for your hedgehog (refer to Jim Collin’s  “good to great”,  or “built to last”). Besides these books are great templates for a writer

2.      Write a book that can help the reader implement ( must be a simple blow by blow account with templates, good diagrams, draft PowerPoint presentations etc) . You want to leave a legacy.

3.      Avoid writing about your own story unless you are making a point  “do not do what I did”

4.      Wait for the inspiration and then write in 2 hour blocks, 3 or 4 times a day

5.      Never, I mean never, mix creative thought with editing, just move on and edit the next day

6.      Read Slide:ology regarding the use of post-its to plan the book.

7.      Call a spade a spade, your book does not have to be sanitised

8.      Your first book will be your best book, plan to revise it once every two or three years ( Darwin managed eight editions of his master piece)

9.      Write with a glass of wine, occasionally, it permits more personality to come through

10.   Never, never write when you are tired, the reader can tell!

11.   Don’t co-author a book, unless you are good at three in a bed (editor being the third person)

12.   Write your first book based on your experiences rather than your interpretation of other works

13.   Every chapter has to mean something for the reader .  If it does not add to their understanding remove the chapter and put it in an article

14.   Use plenty of stories in the book and draw out the understanding gained

15.   Read “The winner’s Bible” by Spackman it will help you get the book written

I hope this will help.

It took seven elapsed years to write my first book. Darwin took 30 years to write one of the most influential books of all time.  Thus you can be patient, as long as you on a pathway moving in the right direction.