Welcome back to B is for Book Coach. Today, we’re creating space for a 5 Minute Outline.
When I introduced you to the 5 Minute Outline, we practiced with the outline for an entire book and the promise that we’d return for more specific exercises over time. Today, we’re going to zoom in to outline a single chapter.
If you missed that episode, you might want to switch over to it to get a better feel for what this exercise is. Otherwise, we’ll use the next few minutes as an almost meditative approach to bringing a chapter into focus.
Here’s how we’ll do it:
In five, one-minute long segments, I will give you prompts and tell you where to write them down. You will write for the duration of that minute, allowing any and everything to come to the surface.
No stopping. No editing. No judging.
Before we begin, get a chapter in mind that you’d like to draft, then pause to get a pencil and paper.
While you’re at it, envision the book as a completed project. Imagine yourself handing it to a real person, feeling excited and proud to have created something that you know will help them out.
And imagine that whatever other chapters that precede this one have done their job. Your reader is fully ready to embrace the one message you’re about to offer in this chapter.
Then, write the numbers one through five on that paper.
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’s your key takeaway?
Beginnings are hard, so we’re not going to start there.
Write the question “What’s the key takeaway?” next to the number three—we’ll get back to numbers one and two in a minute—and we’ll begin.
[Timer starts]
What’s this chapter’s key takeaway? The one thing the reader needs to know before they move on?
What’s the most important thing for the reader to understand?
What do you want them to be able to do, see, or feel differently in this moment?
Perhaps there’s a key lesson you learned about this topic—a pivotal moment where it became real to you.
Perhaps it’s a key action they need to take.
What can the reader hang onto after they turn the page to end the chapter and move on to the next?
If nothing else sticks with them about this topic, what would you want it to be?
[Timer stops]
Now stop, and quickly review what you’ve written.
What stands out as the key takeaway?
Circle it, then shift your pencil to the number one spot on the list and get ready for minute two.
Minute Two/Number One: Why do we care about this topic?
The key takeaway is where we’re going, now let’s look at where we’re starting.
Next to number one, write “Why do we care?” and take another deep breath.
[Timer starts]
Why would the reader want or need the key takeaway that we just named?
Where is their attention right now?
On a pain point…
Maybe a concern that a previous chapter raised…
A point of resistance or confusion…
What pain, problem, or curiosity made you set out to learn this thing?
Where have clients or friends or mentees started this conversation with you in the past?
Where is their attention right now, and why would they care to turn it toward your key takeaway?
[Timer stops]
Stop writing, and once again, circle what seems most relevant or interesting in this moment.
Now shift down to number two in your list, and we’ll move on.
Minute Three/Number Two: What’s in our way?
This minute will probably bring up the biggest range of ideas, so be ready to write down absolutely everything that comes to mind.
But only for this one minute.
Write “What’s in our way?” and take that big, deep breath.
Ready, set…
[Timer starts]
As we turn our attention toward the key takeaway, where will the reader struggle to keep up with you?
What obstacles keep them from already seeing or embracing what this chapter has to offer?
Could be mindsets…habits…things they don’t know…things they don’t want to know…
What kept you from learning this lesson sooner?
What did you have to overcome to understand this concept better?
When you teach this concept or introduce it to people, how do they respond? What objections do they have?
What else do they need to understand before they can understand your key takeaway?
What’s in their way?
[Timer stops] 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 obstacle that you see in this list, but each of them will likely become relevant as you begin to write.
First, let’s shift down to number four on the list, remembering that we already named the key takeaway on number three.
Minute Four/Number Four: What anchors us to the takeaway?
On number four, write “What anchors us?” and know that this one may bring up the least content. That’s okay.
Write something down as we move through this minute, even if it’s “I don’t know, but maybe…” or something general like “a story” or “some kind of stats.”
Here we go…
[Timer starts]
What does your reader need to see to fully believe they can enact the key takeaway?
What will help them believe this change is possible?
How did you begin to live out this change or concept?
Who or what embodied the lesson for you?
When you have this conversation with people and you see them start to pull away, what do you say to bring them back in?
What grounds them to this idea so they can take away the takeaway?
[Timer stops]
That’s all for now. Don’t worry if you don’t have much just yet. Knowing what kind of anchor you’re going to look for sets you off in the right direction, and more will emerge once you’ve written through the chapter to this point.
If something you wrote stands out as more resonant, circle it, and let’s wrap up at number five.
Minute Five/Number Five: What’s on the other side?
Not only do honest endings create a lasting impact, but they move us from one chapter to another. If you completely resolve everything the reader is concerned about or interested in, you might be done with the book.
So let’s not take it so far that the writing stops or the book becomes unrealistic. Move your pencil to number five, write “What’s on the other side?” and we’ll map out our ending.
[Timer starts]
What happens on the other side of this chapter?
When they take away the takeaway, what else are they taking with them?
Are there new beliefs to foster? Concerns they’d been ignoring but now can’t unsee?
What part of the initial pain point is resolved?
What still hurts?
What questions have been answered?
What new questions are raised?
What will they have to contend with?
What will feel like a gift?
What’s on the other side?
[Timer stops]
Now, shake all of your muscles out again and start to shift out of this meditative-type space we’ve been in.
You should now be able to re-write or type up a basic five-point outline:
Where the reader’s attention is now that makes the topic of this chapter relevant.
Things they’ll have to overcome on their way toward embracing, or at least understanding, the topic of the chapter.
The core understanding or teaching of the chapter.
The kind of content that will ground the reader to that teaching.
What will shift in or for the reader once the chapter is over—and where that moves their attention for the next chapter.
Check in with yourself one more time: is that a chapter you’d like to write?
If you met all of those objectives in this chapter, would you be satisfied with the outcome? Satisfied enough to move onto the next chapter?
Are you inspired to start filling in the gaps between these five points to start seeing that chapter come together?
If so, you’ve found your objectives. The work now will be to write toward each of them until you have a draft that you can read and revise.
If what you outlined here doesn’t feel resonant just yet, take a break. Come back. Run the exercise again. See what changes, what evolves, what emerges.
If you still can’t get traction after that, or if you’re excited to expand from here and don’t know how, let’s book a free thirty-minute checkpoint to get you moving.
I can’t wait to see what you come up with.
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.
Share this post