How to write a self-help book outline
When you first sit down to write a self-help book, it can feel a bit frustrating to create an outline before diving into writing the chapters. So why bother? Why not just ‘get on with it’?
Because your book will be taking its readers on a journey. If you aren’t crystal clear on what the start and end points are, and where the overnight stops will be along the way, you’ll be in danger of getting lost.
When that happens, your readers won’t receive the benefit you want them to have — that of the transformation you’re offering.
And yet, planning your self-help book outline can feel overwhelming. What advice should you include? What should you leave out? And how do you decide what order to put it all in?
If you’re finding the process difficult, this post will help you. By the end, you’ll understand how to create a table of contents for your book and what to do with it.
Where to start with your self-help book outline
The first thing to decide is what kind of journey it will be.
Imagine you’re going on holiday—it’s going to be a super-relaxing, poolside break interspersed with trips to the restaurant and, if you’re feeling energetic, to the beach.
But how far along are you on the trip you’re about to take? Are you packing your bags? At the airport checking in? Or on the plane saying, “I’ll have a gin and tonic please”?
In the same way, where are your readers ‘at’ when they open the first page of your book? Are they at the departure gate or are they still stuffing clothes into suitcases? Could they even be at the end of week one? If you don’t know where they are, you won’t be able to talk to them in a way that’s meaningful for them, and you risk losing their interest from the word go.
Suppose you want to help people in their 50s to move from being stuck in their career to feeling fulfilled. What’s the conversation these people are having with themselves about their problem, before they pick up your book? It could be any of the following and more:
- Surely there’s more to life than this dead-end job?
- Managers will never give someone my age a chance.
- I’m too old to learn new skills.
Each of these examples points to a different starting place for your readers.
The first is the dissatisfied feeling that prompts them to seek help with changing their career. The second is the assumption that other people are getting in their way. And the third is that they’re not capable of change.
Whatever their starting place, this is where you must join them. If they’re telling themselves they’re too old to learn new skills, there’s little point in you beginning with an exhortation to go on training courses. Instead, you could start by convincing them they’re capable of personal growth; then you can go into the mechanics of how they could go about it.
This is where many self-help authors go wrong — they start from the place they think their readers should be at, or where they assume they’re at, rather than where they actually are.
Which means their advice isn’t listened to, because they come across as not understanding their readers. Who are likely to turn to a different book which speaks more directly to their needs.
Decide your points
Having got clear on your starting point, let’s now decide what main points to make.
Ask yourself what, given the big problem your readers have, is the first step they need to take to solve it. Write it down on a mind map or sticky note.
Next, ask yourself what other steps they could take, and do the same. Don’t worry about whether they’re in the right order for your book, just put them down. Let your mind have free rein.
Then, when you’ve written down everything you can think of that relates to how you’ll take your readers from starting point to destination, stand back. Maybe even have a cup of tea — you’ve earned it.
Group and order your points
How you could group your points, given the format you’ve chosen?
For instance, if yours is a themed guide to developing a more intimate relationship with your partner, your groups might be labelled like this:
- Introduction
- The benefits of improving your relationship
- What does intimacy mean to you?
- Common relationship problems
- How to stop arguing
- Ways of communicating more effectively
- The importance of spending quality time together
- Ways to improve your sex life
- Conclusion
I’m making this up, of course — I’m not a relationships expert and can only guess at what I’d write about if I were. But you can see how I’ve gathered my points into eight top-level chapter themes that make sense.
In this case it’s a themed format so it doesn’t matter too much which chapter comes first, second, or third. But it does work well having Chapters Two, Three, and Four early on as they set my readers up with some background information before I dive into how to change their relationships.
You can also divide your book into parts, each with its own set of chapters. This helps to organise your content so that the major steps are obvious to your readers.
An example of a book which does this well is Atomic Habits by James Clear. He starts with a part called ‘The Fundamentals’, which contains three chapters detailing why tiny changes make a difference. Then he has four further parts entitled ‘The 1st Law’, ‘The 2nd Law’ and so on, each containing three or four chapters. Finally, he has a part called ‘Advanced Tactics’, which gives readers ways of taking further action if they want to. All book-ended with an Introduction and Conclusion.
Is there anything missing from your self-help book outline?
After you’ve created your table of contents, take a moment to think about whether there’s anything missing.
You’re an expert in your subject but your readers are not. Putting yourself in their shoes, are there any significant gaps in your road map? Could people get lost along the way?
To help you, think of the questions that your clients normally ask you; would they be answered by the content of your chapter headings?
On the other hand, your book isn’t the place to put everything you know. Consider your readers — what must they learn if they’re to solve the pressing problem that’s brought them to your book? They don’t want to feel overwhelmed or confused by too much information, they just want to be taken by the hand and led on the journey that will get them to the right place.
It can be hard to appreciate how little someone needs to know to make a significant change in their lives; just because you have more insights than that, doesn’t mean you should include them all.
You’re now set to write an outline that will do your self-help book proud. If you’d like to learn more about the process, my award-nominated book How to Write a Self-Help Book is the most comprehensive guide you’ll find. It covers how to plan, write, publish, and promote your book so you give people the support they really need.
