Self-help books are all about solving a problem for the reader. The problem faced by the reader could be anything: how to lose weight, get a better job, be happier, invest their money better. When they buy the book, they want answers.
Many of my valued self-help clients–the authors who have a solution to offer–ask me how they should start their book. While they feel confident in their ability to solve the reader’s problem, the steps they want the reader to take are not organized. Their ideas are floating around like clouds in the sky, in no particular order.
I ask the author to imagine a simple scenario. They are in their office and a person walks in. We’ll call this person Sally. The author says, “Hello, Sally. How may I help you?”
Sally says, “I have a problem. How can I solve my problem and lead a happier life?”
I say to the author, “What is the very first thing you would ask Sally?”
You would probably ask her to describe her problem.
Therefore, the very first chapter of your book should be devoted to describing the problem. Not at great length, but enough so that Sally can recognize herself and the challenge she faces.
What would be the second thing you would ask? You would probably ask Sally to describe her goal. That is, the positive outcome she wanted. This could be chapter two, or just a few paragraphs.
Then, you ask Sally what other solutions she had tried that failed.
The Winding Path to the Goal
After laying this foundation, you introduce your solution, and the steps the reader needs to take to implement it. I advise my authors that the process is very much like taking someone by the hand and leading them down a winding path. At each turn of the path, there’s something to see. You show that something to your reader. You say, “See that? Do you understand what it means for you? Good! Now we’ll continue to the next spot on the path.” You just lead them along the path, and they learn as they go. At the end of the path, the reader is ready to put into action the solution they’ve learned.
Every new thing they learn builds upon what they’ve learned before. Lessons are not repeated; once you’ve covered a topic, you move on. The reader’s time is valuable, and you don’t want to waste it!
This pathway simile is not unlike your book outline. Both are like maps or guided tours, and you–the author–are the tour guide. At the end of the tour, you want a happy reader!
I may be a little late to the game…. but recently I picked up a copy of the Oxford University Press paperback edition of “One Thousand and One Arabian Nights,” newly interpreted by Geraldine McCaughrean, a highly regarded British author of novels for children.
Of course, like many people I’d seen the various movie versions of “Aladdin,” but I never knew the context in which the story appeared. I had never read any of the originals, which comprise a collection of Middle Eastern folk tales compiled in Arabic during the Islamic Golden Age, a period of cultural, economic, and scientific progress traditionally dated from the 8th century to the 14th century. The title that we use originated with the first English-language edition (c. 1706–1721), published as “The Arabian Nights’ Entertainment.”
Over many centuries, the stories were collected by authors, translators, and scholars across North Africa and West, Central and South Asia. Some tales are truly mythical, tracing their roots back to ancient and medieval Sanskrit, Persian, Arabic, Egyptian, and Mesopotamian literature. They are timeless yet familiar in their display of human foibles, and serve as a window into the rich storytelling tradition of the ancient world.
35 Charming Tales, Deftly Interpreted
The framing device—the glue that holds the stories together—is the ruler Shahryār, who is convinced that all women are unfaithful. To avoid being cheated on by his wife, his marriages last only one day. At dawn on the second day, the current wife is beheaded and another one summoned to the marriage bed. But wife Scharazade has a clever plan: Each night she tells Shahryār a story, and hints that another one—equally exciting—will be forthcoming the following night, should he spare her life. The stories proceed from this original premise; some are framed within other tales, while some are self-contained.
This charming volume contains 35 stories, and you can read each one in ten or fifteen minutes. They’re packed with a rogue’s gallery of colorful characters, of course including the fan favorites such as Sinbad the Sailor, Ali Baba, and Ala al-Din. But there are others equally enthralling, such as the greedy Fox who gets his comeuppance from the clever Crow, or the Ebony Horse, which has the power to fly anywhere in the world.
The stories are full of cornball humor and playground insults, but they’re served up by McCaughrean with such a deft touch that you can’t help but smile. This is truly a book that transcends normal publishing house marketing demographics and can be enjoyed by anyone who can read.
As an editor, on of the most common problems I see in the writing of my valued clients is needless repetition.
This manifests itself in either of two ways: Repeating the same idea more than once, or repeating words that add no new value to the reader and make for a boring reading experience.
Trust your words! The English language comprises a huge variety, each with its own meaning. The latest official edition of the Merriam-Webster online dictionary includes approximately 470,000 entries, while the main page of Oxford English Dictionary official website provides the figure of over 600,000 terms. By all accounts, English consists of more words than any other language. Instead of using the same words repeatedly, do your reader a favor and choose just the right one for the occasion.
Some examples of repetition are obvious. For example, consider this paragraph:
“The white house stood at the edge of a dense wood. In the sunset, the white sides seemed to glow red. In addition to the white painted walls, the trim of the house was painted yellow, and the shutters were painted red. The combination of the red, white, and yellow was very pleasing to the eye. Not many houses near the dense wood were painted white; most of them were painted red. This was perhaps because red paint was cheaper than white paint.”
You get the idea. The repetition drags down the prose.
Try this instead:
“When touched by the rays of the setting sun, the white house at the edge of the dense wood took on a crimson glow. With its yellow trim and shutters the color of burgundy wine, the structure stood apart from its neighbors, which were universally clad with inexpensive barn-red paint.”
There’s an informal rule in prose that you don’t use the same noun, verb, adjective, or adverb twice in the same paragraph. So if you describe the house as being “red,” then if you need to refer to its color again, find another way to say it without repeating the word “red.”
Having said that, there are some authors who are handsomely rewarded for repeating the same words. In the classic novel “The Road,” author Cormac McCarthy uses a basket of nouns and adjectives over and over again: cold, dark, ashes, black, night, gray. He does this deliberately to pound into your head the bleak hopelessness of the landscape. To be honest, it’s not my cup of tea, but he won the Pulitzer Prize for it, which means that plenty of smart people were impressed.
In addition, for online publication, many writers succumb to the temptation to pack their blog posts or articles with search-engine optimized (SEO) content. This simply means repeating the same key words so the Google bots will find them. This may work to improve page ranking, but it makes for an unsatisfying reading experience.
These days, every author has ready access an online thesaurus. They’re free–and a valuable resource!
Congratulations to Brad Mewhort on the publication of his new book, “The Peaceful Man: Heal Within Yourself the Personal Effects and Historic Patterns of Male-on-Male Violence.” The author, who grew up experiencing family and neighborhood male-on-male violence, and who himself then became a violent bully, vividly describes how the cycle of violence is created and sustained.
He proposes that to create a more peaceful and healthy planet, it’s important for men to heal the traumas that afflict their bodies and spirits, and break the generational cycle. This is a challenge, not only on the micro or personal level but on the macro level of society as a whole, which often glorifies male-on-male violence. He argues that we need to establish “new standards for what is courageous and celebrated in men.”
But this is not a theoretical book. Mewhort offers sections devoted to somatic (body-based) healing practices and contemplative (spiritual) healing practices that any man can learn and follow. With his practical advice and personal experience, the author guides the reader step by step along the path to a new world of peace and compassion.
Writing is a form of communication. Its structure is linear, like a path. That means the reader intakes the first word, remembers it, and then intakes the next word. As the reader progresses through the words, sentences, and paragraphs, the remembered bits of information coalesce into a mosaic. The author–the person who controls the flow of information–slowly guides the reader along the path, showing the reader one thing after another.
Each new thing shown to the reader becomes part of the mosaic until a complete picture emerges. This system is used to both convey information to the reader and, in many cases, to build an emotional response. For example, in a novel, we meet the protagonist, learn more about their experiences, and (usually) develop an affection for them. We become emotionally invested in their predicament.
After words and sentences, the paragraph is the third largest building block of writing. In expository writing, the paragraph is a mini-essay. It introduces and elaborates upon an idea or variation of an idea. In terms of the role of memory, it tells the reader how to categorize the information that follows.
For example, if the first or topic sentence of the paragraph is, “The house was painted red,” the author is promising the reader that the information in the following sentences will elaborate on this statement. The author will talk about the house and its various features, and set the stage for action to follow.
If the topic sentence is, “The killer, knife in hand, leered at his victim,” we’re going to be shown a scene of tension or violence directly related to these nine words.
It’s the author’s choice as to how to allocate his or her text into paragraphs. Paragraphs can be any length–even just one word. After all, writing is a form of art, and the rules, once learned, are flexible. But every writer needs to remember that your reader has allowed you to take them by the hand and lead them along the winding path, and while you can surprise your reader, you never want to lose them!
Clients will often send me a finished manuscript of 40,000 or 60,000 words, which, for various reasons, they’re not happy with. A non-fiction manuscript may be outdated, not well organized, incomplete in its arguments, or just plain boring. A novel may be – well, just about any problem can afflict a novel!
Developmental editing is when the editor strives to re-shape and even re-write a manuscript so that the work succeeds as a whole. You might say this is the “30,000-foot view.” This work is done before line editing and proofreading. There’s no point in polishing a section of text that may later be deleted!
The key to successful developmental editing – which then leads to line editing and proofreading – is to take it slowly, in baby steps. Each step should require a small investment by the author and a commensurate amount of work by the editor. Typically, I’ll work in one-day increments.
Day 1: Read and Review
I’ll read the entire manuscript without prejudice and then offer my opinion about what we need to do to improve it. For full-length manuscripts, I will ask my client to hire me for one day at my “day rate,” which is usually enough time to complete this first step. This first day of work may include a brief written report from me. If the manuscript is very long – I’ve received manuscripts of 150,000 words and more – this step will require two or even three days.
Day 2: Cut, Paste, and Re-Write
Having read the manuscript and made a plan, the next step is to get “under the hood” (so to speak) and start pulling out bad parts and installing good parts. I’ll do this for one day – again, not a huge risk for my client. Then I send the file to them for their review. If the book is very short, this may be enough. If the word count is longer than 30,000 words, we’ll probably need Day 3.
Day 3: More Cutting, Pasting, and Re-Writing
Another day, more work on the manuscript. We go at the pace the client is comfortable with.
Day 4: Line Editing
Once the manuscript is acceptable to both my client and me, then we start polishing – line editing and proofreading. This usually takes a few days; for the average manuscript, I can edit and proofread no more than 20,000 words per day.
No Surprises!
The key is to take the process step by step, with each step approved by the author. Then at the end, we have a finished manuscript that’s ready to be marketed to my author’s readers!
At least half of my ghostwriting and book development business centers around self-help books.
A self-help book is defined as one that instructs or inspires its reader to solve a particular personal problem and make their life better. The genre takes its name from “Self-Help,” an 1859 best-seller by Samuel Smiles that advanced the allied virtues of hard work, thrift, and perseverance. Self-help books are also known and classified under “self-improvement,” a term that is a modernized version of “self-help.”
From the perspective of the aspiring author, the key to a successful self-help book is simple: Keep your focus on delivering useful, actionable information to the reader. The reader has paid good money–$10 or $`15–for your book, and he or she wants answers and results.
The problem the reader faces could be anything:
How do I become healthier and feel better?
How do I get a better job?
How do I become a more effective leader at work? (A very common theme!)
How do I dress for success?
A concept that many new authors find difficult to accept is this: The reader is totally self-centered. He or she does not care about your life or your amazing experiences. The reader cares only about one thing: “What’s in it for me”? This is also known by its acronym, WIIFM.
Your life story may be of anecdotal interest, and it may be used to validate the advice you provide to your reader. But you must very quickly pivot and provide to your reader the actionable solution that will help them change their life.
Here’s a simple litmus test for your self-help book. If the personal pronouns “I” or “my” or “me” appear in your book more than once every few pages after the preface, then you have a problem. You’re talking about yourself too much. Cut it down. Put the focus on what your reader can do to make their life better. Your reader will thank you, and you’ll sell more books.
Thomas Hauck is a professional book developer and ghostwriter serving both emerging and veteran authors of self-help books.
Thomas A Hauck – Book developer, ghostwriter, editor
Written works of fiction come in all lengths as measured by the word count. This is simply the number of words in the document or book. When you’re writing on your computer, word processing applications such as Microsoft Word will give you a word count, either showing just the words alone or all the characters, including individual letters, spaces, and punctuation marks.
In the typical text, the ratio of words to all characters is roughly 1:6. That is, if the word count is 100, the number of all characters is likely to be 600. This is of great interest to proofreaders, who must seek perfection in every character.
Haiku and Limericks
The shortest complete written works are haiku poems. This ancient Japanese poetic form consists of three lines, with five syllables in the first line, seven in the second, and five in the third. One of the best-known Japanese haiku poems is “Old Pond” by Basho (17th century):
old pond frog leaps in water’s sound
A limerick is a a five-line poem consisting of a single stanza with an AABBA rhyme scheme. It has roughly 30 words. Edward Lear popularized limericks; here’s one:
There was a Young Person of Smyrna Whose grandmother threatened to burn her. But she seized on the cat, and said ‘Granny, burn that! You incongruous old woman of Smyrna!’
Flash Fiction
A piece of flash fiction is a short story of 500 words or less. (Bear in mind these word counts are fairly arbitrary.) Subcategories include the six-word story; the 280-character story (also known as “twitterature,” after Twitter); the “dribble” (also known as the “minisaga,” 50 words); the “drabble” (also known as “microfiction,” 100 words); “sudden fiction” (750 words). Some commentators say that flash fiction is 1,000 words.
Aesop’s Fables are flash fiction. One of the most well known, “The Hare & the Tortoise,” is 188 words:
The Hare & the Tortoise
A Hare was making fun of the Tortoise one day for being so slow.
“Do you ever get anywhere?” he asked with a mocking laugh.
“Yes,” replied the Tortoise, “and I get there sooner than you think. I’ll run you a race and prove it.”
The Hare was much amused at the idea of running a race with the Tortoise, but for the fun of the thing he agreed. So the Fox, who had consented to act as judge, marked the distance and started the runners off.
The Hare was soon far out of sight, and to make the Tortoise feel very deeply how ridiculous it was for him to try a race with a Hare, he lay down beside the course to take a nap until the Tortoise should catch up.
The Tortoise meanwhile kept going slowly but steadily, and, after a time, passed the place where the Hare was sleeping. But the Hare slept on very peacefully; and when at last he did wake up, the Tortoise was near the goal. The Hare now ran his swiftest, but he could not overtake the Tortoise in time.
Short Story
The average short story is anywhere from 1,000 to 10,000 words. (But rules are made to be broken; some works have 15,000 words and are still classed as short stories.) A short story typically can be read in one sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood.
H.G. Wells described the short story thusly: “The jolly art, of making something very bright and moving; it may be horrible or pathetic or funny or profoundly illuminating, having only this essential, that it should take from fifteen to fifty minutes to read aloud.”
While many authors believe a short story should have a beginning, a middle, and end, others disagree. Anton Chekov thought that a story should have neither a beginning nor an end. It should just be a “slice of life,” with the emphasis not on plot but on character or situation.
Novelette
The novelette has a word count between 7,500 and 17,000 or 20,000 words, depending on whom you ask. Call it a long short story, if you will.
A few classic novelettes or long short stories include:
The Most Dangerous Game, by Richard Connell – 8,426 words
Leiningen versus the Ants, by Carl Stephenson – 8,881 words
Paul’s Case, by Willa Cather – 8,970 words
The Burial of the Guns, by Thomas Nelson Page – 9,601 words
Children of the Corn, by Stephen King – 10,964 words
Souls Belated, by Edith Wharton – 10,669 words
Rappaccini’s Daughter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne – 12,261 words
Everything’s Eventual, by Stephen King – 19,552 words
Novella
A novella is a fictional piece between a short story and a novel with anywhere from 10,000 to 40,000 words. The longest of the short fiction forms, the novella grants the author the freedom for an expanded story, descriptions, and cast of characters, while retaining the condensed intensity of a short story.
Some classic novellas include:
The Stranger, by Albert Camus — 36,000 words
The Time Machine, by H.G. Wells — 32,000 words
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, by Roald Dahl — 31,000 words
Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck — 29,000 words
The Old Man and the Sea, by Ernest Hemingway — 27,000 words
Big Driver, by Stephen King — 40,150 words
Novel
A novel is any work of fiction over 40,000 words. There are many genres and subcategories.
Young adult (YA) novels range from 40,000 to 80,000 words. For children eight to 12 years old, middle grade books or novels have between 20,000 and 50,000 words.
Thrillers range between 70,000 and 90,000 words. Science fiction and fantasy novels tend to be longer, with 90,000 to 120,000 words and up.
Romance novels have a wide range, from 50,000 words to 100,000 words and up.
Historical fiction tends to require more time to establish an authentic setting, and these novels often reach 100,000 words.
An epic novel is anything over 110,000 words. Just a few epic novels include:
Les Miserables, by Victor Hugo – 530,982 words
War and Peace, by Leo Tolstoy – 561,304 words
Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, by Susanna Clarke – 308,931 words
A Game of Thrones, by George R.R. Martin – 298,000 words
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, by J.K. Rowling – 198,227 words
If you’re writing your first novel, unless you plan on self-publishing, then you should keep it under 100,000 words. Publishers aren’t keen on giving deals to debut authors with epic novels!
Thomas Hauck is a professional ghostwriter, editor, and book developer serving global clients.
I published my first novel, “Pistonhead,” in February 2009. It sold well and garnered rave reviews from both music publications (we still had such things back then) and book bloggers.
Heading into its 13th year, it’s still going strong–and the story is as relevant as ever! The book unfolds over a few weeks in the life of a young man named Charlie Sinclair. He plays guitar in Pistonhead, a Boston-based rock band. He’s not a rock star. The band is not well known and Charlie still has a day job at Evergreen Software, where–despite being a low-wage temp–he supervises an assembly line of developmentally challenged workers.
Charlie faces many personal obstacles. The lead singer of the band has a drug problem. Evergreen Software may close its factory and move overseas. The girl Charlie likes–a fellow employee, Lisa–seems to have a steady boyfriend. Charlie’s family, living up the coast in Beverly, ridicules him. But most of all, Charlie is deeply restless and unsatisfied.
When tragedy strikes, Charlie must re-assess his life–and he gets help from an unexpected source.
“As a novel, Pistonhead is an odd duck,” wrote Francis DiMenno in THE NOISE: ROCK AROUND BOSTON. “It’s not a strictly literary work (but who would want that, anyway?). It’s not an exploitative genre exercise (which would be of no lasting, or of barely even more than ephemeral, value). Rather, it’s cross between a journalistic expose of Entertainment Babylon and a quasi-documentary account of a rock ‘n’ roll musician–one with a great many very thinly disguised music business and local color flourishes. I read it in one sitting. It was that kind of book.”
Congratulations to my valued client Chip Munn on his groundbreaking book, “The Retirement Remix: A Modern Solution to an Old School Problem.” With so many Baby Boomers heading towards the biggest wave of retirements in American history, there’s greater urgency to not only plan for retirement in the traditional sense (that is, save for it), but to re-imagine it.
With nearly two decades in the finance business, Chip Munn proposes that the dividing line between working and retirement must be blurred. No longer should we toil like beasts of burden for 40 years and then suddenly be put out to pasture to do nothing.
Work, Retire, Work Some More, Retire, and Repeat….
He found that in the happiest and healthiest countries in the world, workers work less. Compared to the average worker in the United States, they take off an extra 220 hours a year. They focus on having strong social connections and take care of themselves. But the flip side is that they’re willing to work to an older age. They actually work two-and-a-half years longer compared to the American worker, with many taking “mini-retirements” with their time off each year.
Chip Munn proposes that the idea of Old School Retirement is broken and has developed a method to apply these innovative, common-senses practices to help you, the reader, live a happier, healthier life.
