If you have been following along on my YouTube channel, you may know that I am writing a book. Along with that comes a book proposal. I don’t know if you have ever written one of those before, but it is massive. I am feeling overwhelmed, but I was reminded just now of the idea of breaking it down into bite sized pieces. This will help with the overwhelm. It is a common ADHD tactic to break things down, so how will I go about doing that and how can you? Read on to find out!
Natural Sections?
My book proposal will be broken down into sections. It covers many aspects of the book, the market, etc. There are plenty of natural sections in it. This breaks down the project for me. Do not reinvent the wheel. If it is already broken down for you, follow that.
Slice It Up!
However, even when projects have natural sections, there may be a need to break down each section further. For example, one natural section of my book proposal is discussing competitive titles. I need to list books that are similar to mine and discuss how well they have sold and how my book is both different and similar to them. I see three ways to slice up that section. I can just list out the titles. Then, I can find out how well they have sold and write about that. Finally, I can compare and contrast my book to those books (which could even be broken down further into two tasks). Find a way to break it down that makes sense to you. It is like carving a whole chicken. You start by cutting off the pieces that seem easiest to remove, and then you break it down further by slicing up the meat into pieces that are easily consumed.
Do It in the Order That Makes Sense to You
When you get your book proposal or chicken or whatever you are working on sliced up, you have different pieces sitting in front of you, and it is important to remember that you can start wherever makes sense to you. I started with the competitive titles section for my book proposal. That is not going to be listed first in the book proposal. There are multiple sections ahead of that section. However, it seemed to be an easy way to get going on the project. Yes, it may not be the first or even the most important section of the book proposal, but it seemed to me like a good place to start. Find what works for you and celebrate that.
Reward Yourself for Finishing Each Piece
An important aspect of the breaking it down process is to reward yourself when you finish each section of the project. When you finish the first piece of the project, throw a mini dance party or eat an ice cream cone. Do something you enjoy that will celebrate the accomplishment of making progress on your project.
A Closing Story
In her famous book on life and writing, Bird by Bird, Anne Lamott tells the story of her brother and his procrastination of a school project where he needed to write a report on various types of birds. When he was feeling overwhelmed with getting the project entirely complete the night before it was due, Lamott’s father told him, “Take it bird by bird.”
When working on a big project like a book proposal or something like that, remember to take it step by step and piece by piece. If it seems too large to handle all at once, don’t. Take it piece by piece or bird by bird.
