Structure, people. It’s everything. Or it’s a very simple thing. Like I said in the shownotes, for fiction, chronological 3rd or 1st person, present or past tense, following the protagonist through the story is the white-button-down and jeans of structure. Always appropriate, almost invisible.
For non-fiction, it’s harder—there is no fall-back basic, but a good trick is to pretend your book is either a chronological story or a how-to and start from there, then see what feels right and what feels wrong about it. Overlaying a very practical structure on a philosophical topic can make it more accessible to the reader—and easier to write.
I threw in a bunch of book references to this one. Our stand-by, The Art of the Book Proposal from Eric Maisel. The Christie Affair, The Jane Austen Society and Bloomsbury Girls, Adult Assembly Required, The Arc, The Mutual Friend.
Hope the blueprint is going well for you!
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