This transcript was generated from the episode audio and may contain minor errors.
[Music]
Today's caller has a common New Year's resolution, which is to write a book. And when I say it's common, to be clear, that's not a bad thing. I think it's a great idea. I love writing books myself, so why wouldn't somebody else out there want to do that? Well, maybe not everybody, but some people.
I have learned long ago, I never encourage someone to write a book who doesn't want to. It has to be something you need to do yourself. But if you do, it is a valiant goal that I think you're gonna find to be meaningful, no matter what happens with it. But today, the caller wants to know about the easiest and most helpful tools to write a non-piction book specifically, as I'm gonna say in the description. Unfortunately, books do not write themselves, but we're gonna provide a few resources that might make it quicker, simpler, just better, right?
And we're also gonna talk about the least useful software, which is something you definitely want to avoid if your goal is to be creative. I'm gonna share exactly what I've used to write my last, I think, five books at this point, and I'll give a couple of other tips as well. Hopefully it'll be helpful to Alonzo and some other folks out there as well. Stay tuned for Alonzo's question and my answer. [Music]
Hey, Chris.
This is Alonzo from Pensacola, and I just started listening to the show earlier this year. I've been trying to catch up by listening to the show in monthly batches. You've featured several people who write romance novels or software guides. What about non-fiction books? I'm looking for the best tool or software to make the process as easy as possible.
Should I just open a blank page in Microsoft Word and start writing, or is it better to work from an outline and use the tool or software to guide the way? Thanks. [Music]
So the best thing for you to do is whatever works for you. If you wanna open a blank page in Microsoft Word and start writing, you know, and that works, great. I do think outlining is more helpful.
So the second option, you know, is it better to work from an outline? I do think for most writers, especially for your first book, but really, like, I've done nine books so far. I always outline. I'm a big fan of outlining. I did use Microsoft Word for my first couple of books.
Then I switched to a tool called Scrivener, which I have used ever since, no affiliation. I'm just a paying customer. It makes outlining much easier. It allows me to work on different sections of a manuscript at different times without losing my place. That is a practice that is probably more common in nonfiction than fiction.
You know, I don't write just page one, page two, page three. I'm working on different sections and eventually compiling them. And then there's a process of editing to make sure it's all smooth and cohesive. But Scrivener helps a lot for that. I think it costs about 50 bucks.
It's available for both Mac and Windows. There's also a 30-day trial. And then there's some other options as well. Focus writer, Ulysses. There are free tools like Notion, Google Docs, of course.
And people write books and all these tools and people write books longhand, right? Like with the pen and paper, you know, like they used to do. So ultimately, as I said, you got to do what works for you. And then I think I said, what's the most unhelpful software? It is Instagram or Facebook or social media or anything that is distracting to you.
You may also want to turn off your notifications or even your wifi or phone access in general when you're writing. Tools are just tools. Your goal is to find what boosts your creativity instead of getting you bogged down and of course, distracted. So that's my two cents. Good luck there.
Scrivener, again, is what I use. If you have a question, listeners, or if you have an experience of your own, to share, sidehustleschool.com. So excited to make the podcast for you every day. 3,314 days and counting. Always free.
You can download every episode from the website. You can access new episodes wherever you get your shows. My name's Chris Guillebeau. This is Side Hustle School. [Music]
From the Onward Project.
