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5 Reasons Your Nonfiction Book isn’t Finished Yet

Having published eight books taught me a lot about the common reasons some of us haven't finished writing our manuscripts yet. Based on my personal experience I’ll share practical approaches to developing and finishing the draft. Here we’ll review five challenges authors will face, and methods for overcoming them.


  1. No focus. It’s easy to hold a book idea and draft an introduction and chapter. However, where do we go from there? Beginning a draft shouldn’t start with our introductions. Instead, create clear messages. Before diving into any project, I ALWAYS develop my book objectives. These goals will direct my pen, outline and book’s messages. I focus on making two to five messages I want readers to take away from my nonfiction work.


  1. No structure. After focusing on my key messages for the book, I get organized. I get a binder and separate sections: 1) introduction/conclusion/objectives, 2) outline, 3) chapter content, and so forth. Because I’m a visual learner, I write a book layout from the “dedication” page to the “about the author” page. Then I plug in my ideas. Thus, producing a user-friendly outline which is practical and thorough to follow. 


  1. No clear understanding of the next steps. After working with a book coach on my first book I was able to design my own system to finish the project. Only after getting a hands-on lesson on book-writing and publishing was I able to press forward. If you’re working on your first or second book I encourage you to work with a book coach to gain a solid foundation and direction on how to proceed. IN HER OWN INK offers book coaching from the draft to self-publishing on Amazon.


  1. No perfectionism allowed. Getting stuck early on based on not fulfilling perfection is a complete loss. Instead, expect to make mistakes but still take action. And, learn how to do each part of your work better along the way. Les Brown said, “anything worth doing is worth doing badly until you learn to do it well.”


  1. No deadlines. “I’ll publish my book by the end of the year,” is not sufficient. To this day, I set deadlines for every book. Even though I might miss a deadline, I still have one to strive for. That way I can hold some form of accountability. Therefore, give yourself a deadline. If you don’t meet it, postpone it, but always give yourself a date to work towards. 


We reviewed five common obstacles to completing our books. There are more than five challenges to finishing a book. However, you’ve probably faced at least one of these setbacks. Also, I shared practical techniques to overcome each one. 


Again, here are the five tips for controlling your writing journey and finishing that book: 1) no focus; set clear messages for your reader. 2) No structure; get organized with a binder and book layout and outline. 3) No clear understanding of the next steps; work with a book coach on your first and second book to build a solid foundation. 4) No perfectionism allowed; you’ll make mistakes. Move forward and get something to edit and finish while learning how to develop your craft. Lastly, 5) No deadlines; set realistic deadlines but if you miss it, postpone it until a later deadline. Always strive for a date to finish writing your book.


And, work with IN HER OWN INK to finish your draft and self-publish it. 


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