Welcome back to B is for Book Coach. Today, we’re making space for a special guided 5 minute outline.
My grandma’s house is the games-and-puzzles house. There is a whole pantry in her kitchen filled not with dishes and cookware, but with board games and craft supplies and old VHS tapes and anything else a kid (or grown up kid) could want to do.
One game that we’ve played for as long as I can remember is Othello, a two-person tile game with the tagline “A minute to learn, a lifetime to master.”
When she taught my kids how to play, she told them all in turn that she was excited to teach them so she finally had someone to beat again.
Apparently, I had outpaced her as a cheeky little kid and wouldn’t let her live it down.
Before we get into this week’s episode, I want you to understand that these outlines might take 5 minutes to map, but they represent a lifetime of your mastery.
This is true more of memoir than any other nonfiction sub-genre.
So when I say that we’re going to reverse-engineer Hannah Gadsby’s book Ten Steps to Nanette: A Memoir Situation to create a 5 minute outline for your book, I’m not being cheeky.
We’re not oversimplifying the work that Hannah did or presuming that this exercise is going to cut corners on the deep introspective work that memoir requires.
We are going to get a better view of the bones of that work and give you a tangible place to start piecing your own together.
Context for the Book We’re Mirroring
Ten Steps to Nannette is the follow-up book to Hannah Gadsby’s Netflix special Nanette. The big draw was the idea that Hannah was quitting comedy forever and, oddly, announcing it within a comedy show.
Hannah is a brilliant storyteller and absolutely hilarious comedian, but this special was not laugh out loud funny. It was searing. It was impeccably structured.
It was spectacular.
I’d say I’m a bit biased because I’m now a die-hard Gadsby fan, but I had no idea who they were before Nanette. I watched in awe as Hannah moved every person within a packed Sydney Opera House through the exact responses they intended, as though they were conducting the audience like an orchestra.
I was locked in immediately and haven’t been able to look away since.
The book is just as intentional, while also pulling back the curtain on what that kind of experience looks like to create.
The hard part about memoir is deciding what NOT to say, and Hannah is an expert at that. Every single word and gesture builds toward the larger arc.
For the book, the signals of that commitment are evident right from the title: “Ten Steps” smacks of a how-to (and you absolutely can follow along to find your own Nanette), and “A Memoir Situation” tells us it’s laden with story but might be something a bit more.
Plus, it’s Hannah’s voice—if I ever say “situation” a lot, you know I’ve been binging Hannah Gadsby again.
In the strictest sense, it is a memoir. Also in the strictest sense (as Hannah bemoans from page one) they are a celebrity. And aspiring writers should know that traditional publishers are primarily interested in memoirs when they come from celebrities.
The next thing you should know is that most memoirs are dull.
Probably because of the way celebrities are expected to get memoirs and few others are allowed them, everyone involved is relying on the celebrity more than the memoir to draw interest.
The bar is low.
Those who want to give their book a little more zhuzh tend to appeal to those who are reading for the train wreck of it all: how much trauma can I dump in 300-or-so pages?
But Hannah already swore off selling trauma. That’s what Nanette was all about. And Ten Steps to Nanette is about coming to that decision.
That’s what makes the book GOOD.
It’s ABOUT something.
And Hannah knows it.
In fact, “Step One” is not the first sparks of Nanette. Step one is titled Epilogue. Where Hannah is now that makes all of this worth writing—and reading—about.
The bulk of the steps that follow are not about the show Nanette. They are about the life experiences and learning and missteps that had to happen for the show to emerge as it did.
It’s not until the end that we see the magic of Hannah’s storytelling abilities and the literal steps it took to bring Nanette to life.
There’s so much more I can unpack about this book (and I probably will over time), but we’ll start with this: if you want to write a memoir, you first have to know that it’s ABOUT something.
Like Hannah leading with the Epilogue, I often guide people to find their “about” by looking to the end. What’s all of this for, really? What story am I telling, and why, and to who, and what will I do with it all afterward?
If you’re writing memoir, that is not an easy exercise.
So let’s step outside of the “situation” and instead learn from the Ten Steps.
For this outlining exercise, I want you to think about what your Nanette is.
What transformative experience, process, service, or technique have you executed? One that now looks (maybe even feels) effortless, but that you meticulously crafted through years of trial and error and then limited only to what you know to be effective?
Too often, we think of process books as dull and memoir as exciting.
But when the process forms the axis of the book, the memoir-esque stories can rotate around it and bring it to life.
This inversion—opposed to a memoir-first approach that opens up the door to your entire life’s worth of transformations—gives you guidelines to choose stories and create emphasis around.
So, as we prepare to shift into outlining mode for the next few minutes, you’re going to go get a paper and pencil.
And as you do, think about that transformative experience you’ve been able to create for other people.
Let your thoughts start drifting toward the process of creating that experience. Not just in the moment of creation, but the unseen elements that culminated to make it possible.
When you’re ready, write the numbers 1 through 5 on that piece of paper, get ready to start on number 3, and we’ll begin.
5 Minute Outline: A Memoir Situation
Shake out your muscles, take a deep breath—or several—make sure you’re in a quiet place, and we will begin with our pencils on number three.
Minute One/Number Three: What transformative process are you writing about?
Beginnings are hard, so we’re not going to start there. Instead, let’s identify the experience, process, product, service, or technique that you’ll center this book or piece around.
Hannah centered their memoir around what it took to write and perform the show that broke them out to international recognition.
Not because of the fame that followed, but because of the nuance and depth of the show itself.
Write the question “What process am I writing about?” next to the number three—we’ll get back to numbers one and two in a minute—and let’s begin.
[Timer starts]
What is your Nanette?
A transformative experience you’ve facilitated…
A presentation, procedure, technique…
A service that has made you stand out in your field…
It could be a moment of wild success…
Something you’re known for…
You’ve lived a lot of life, friend.
What is one thing that experience has enabled you to create?
[Timer stops]
Now stop, and quickly review what you’ve written.
What stands out as the key process you’d like to focus on here?
Circle it, then shift your pencil to number one on the list and get ready for minute two.
Minute Two/Number One: Where are you now because of this process, product, or technique?
Hannah starts Ten Steps to Nanette with the “epilogue,” which includes funny and relevant moments from the fame that followed the show’s international acclaim.
This not only meets the reader where their attention is—in curiosity about Hannah outside of the show and familiarity with the conventions of “celebrity memoir”—it also opens the door to the topics Hannah wants to turn our attention to. In this case, their newly announced diagnosis of autism and general relationship to the world of celebrity.
It’s a trust-building choice.
No, Hannah isn’t going to spend hundreds of pages at Nanette-level intensity.
Yes, I can relax and enjoy this book.
And maybe I can also relate to Hannah as a person.
While you may or may not have celebrity to point to, I do want you to meet the reader where you are right now, after you’ve already executed the process, technique or experience that we just named.
We’re going to build back up to that. But first, we’re going to let the reader know that they’re in the right place, listening to the right expert.
So.
Next to number one, write “Where am I now?” and take another deep breath…
[Timer starts]
Hannah demonstrates who they are post-fame by focusing on one moment with Jennifer Aniston and an astroturf lawn.
Think about a somewhat recent moment where you realized your expertise.
One that demonstrates where you are now…or perhaps who are you now…thanks to this process.
Maybe you can point to international acclaim and celebrity…
More likely, it’ll be a conversation with a client who transformed…
The strangeness of winning an award…
A personal moment of realization…
Where and who are you now, and what moment helped you realize that?
[Timer stops]
Stop writing, and once again, circle what seems most relevant or interesting, at least for right now.
Now shift down to number two in your list, and we’ll move on.
Minute Three/Number Two: What did you have to experience in order to develop and execute this process?
The remarkability of Nanette the show is in the way Hannah masterfully orchestrates the tension in the room, building it to a level that underscores powerful, perspective-changing messages.
“Quitting comedy” was about no longer using their own trauma to create and hold tension then alleviating it for the audience in punchlines while holding it as unprocessed grief within themselves.
In the book, to understand how Hannah came to those stories, those realizations, that ability to hold an audience in the palm of their hand, we also have to understand more about the full stories themselves. What life looked like before and during those moments of realization, and the growth of Hannah’s skills as a storyteller and performer.
Similarly, you can replicate your process in direct workshops, teach it in courses and classes, and bring it to life in a number of ways.
But in book form, you have the ability to slow down the explanation to include how you came to it in the first place.
And that depth of context creates the kind of connection your reader needs to fully appreciate and then embrace the process you’re relaying.
This minute will probably bring up the biggest range of ideas, so be ready to write down absolutely everything that comes to mind.
It’s where the bulk of the content will go—and where the reader will connect with you most.
Write “What led me here?” and take that big, deep breath.
Ready, set…
[Timer starts]
Nothing emerges in isolation, so start listing out everything that had to come together for you to execute this transformative process.
What context gave you this perspective?
What experiences let you know what would or wouldn’t be helpful?
What mindsets…mistakes…mentors…
What did you have to learn before you could teach?
What led you here?
[Timer stops] Now stop writing, even if you have plenty more to list out. This is enough for now.
And I still want you to circle the most significant moment that you see in this list—just know that each of them will likely become relevant in turn as you begin to write.
Now let’s shift down to number four on the list, remembering that we already named the key process on number three.
Minute Four/Number Four: What unexpected pitfall made the process harder but better?
Readers who have seen Nanette might read this book to learn how Hannah came to write and perform such a powerful piece.
For most of the book, I thought that’s exactly what was happening. Recognizing the stories and little motifs that appear in the show as the book unfolds did create a satisfying reader experience.
But when Hannah delivers Nanette for the first time and has a panic attack on stage, then delivers it again and tips into an autistic meltdown, the true heart of the book emerges and the message becomes fully anchored.
On number four, write “What surprised me?” and remember that is deep diving that we’re doing here. We can only get so far in one minute, and that’s okay.
We’ll see what comes up.
[Timer starts]
What was your “panic attack in front of a live audience” moment?
What did you think you had all sorted out before reality struck?
What did you need to see more clearly…
or believe more deeply….
before you could fully execute this transformative process?
What anchored you to the truest power and potential of that experience?
What surprised you?
[Timer stops]
Stop writing. And remember we’re using this outline to get us thinking in a clearer direction.
So if the intensity of a moment doesn’t come up just yet, trust that more will emerge once you’ve written through the chapter to this point.
As always, if something you wrote here stands out as especially resonant, circle it, and let’s wrap up at number five.
Minute Five/Number Five: What were your earliest indicators that you’d find your way to this process?
Hannah ends Ten Steps to Nanette with a prologue, circling back to a childhood story that is sweet, poignant, and of course a little bit silly.
Not only is this a callback to one of the first things we read in the book, it’s also the perfect way to demonstrate some of the core learnings throughout.
Most notably for me, we see so much of Hannah now in this picture of Hannah then, that it feels like the journey to and through Nanette has been a way for them to shed the masks and protective layers that had taken them off course.
Implicit in that demonstration—and in fact, throughout the book—is an invitation for us to do the same.
Only, we only know that we are the “us” who is invited if we hear that implicit invitation while relating to Hannah and their story.
Whether your invitation is implicit or explicit won’t matter: as we map out this last stage, we’re going to make that invitation clear by demonstrating who you were when you first set out on the journey toward this process.
Whoever can relate will know without a doubt that the gift of this story has been packaged up specifically for them.
So move your pencil to number five, write “Who was I in the beginning?” and we’ll map out our ending.
[Timer starts]
Thinking about the core of this process or experience that you’ve created—what was an early indicator that your path would turn this direction?
For Hannah, it was a story they wrote as a child.
We’ve all heard about the entrepreneur and their lemonade stand.
Maybe yours happened in college, or early on in your career.
Where can you spot a clue that meant little at the time, but in retrospect makes it clear that you were always going to find your way here?
[Timer stops]
Now stop writing, and if you blocked out multiple moments, circle the one that feels clearest.
Highlighting those subtle clues in your life will give the reader the ability to see them in their own, and that relatability will help empower them to trust and then step into this process.
Now, shake all of your muscles out again, and when you’re ready, you should be able to re-write or type up a basic five-point outline from what we’ve circled here—and that outline will follow a similar structure to Ten Steps to Nanette.
Epilogue: A demonstration of where I am now that builds trust with the reader before they embark on this process with me.
The first steps: The context, experience, and realizations that enabled me to come to such a thorough and transformative process.
The core steps: Articulating the core process, experience, service, or transformation that the book is about.
The biggest steps: An honest depiction of the most challenging, likely surprising pitfalls that came with the process so that the reader knows what they’re getting into AND gets more out of it than a surface-level understanding.
Prologue: Revisiting who I was before this process as a way to signal to the most affected reader that they are, in fact, on the right track.
Again, it can’t be stated enough that transformative books are challenging to write. This outline is a good next step, but there are plenty to come.
Whether this starting point feels resonant or still seems foggy, I recommend you sit with it for a while.
Read Ten Steps to Nanette—not only to see what else becomes clear, but to learn from Hannah’s process. Especially if you’re writing about traumatic experiences in any form.
Watch Nanette because it’s absolutely brilliant.
And each time you revisit your writing, with or without this outline, sink a little bit deeper into your own lifetime of mastery.
Something powerful is bound to emerge.
Thanks for creating this space with me today. Whether or not you’re ready to dive into writing just yet, remember that the best authors show up fully, just as they are. That’s all it takes—and you're already doing it.
Be sure to subscribe on Substack or wherever you listen to podcasts to catch every coaching moment to come. And when more of your book is ready to emerge, the space we made today will be here waiting for you.
And so will I.
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