Writing a Book Can Be As Easy as 1-2-3. Here's How:

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Begin doing what you want to do now. We are not living in eternity. We have only this moment, sparkling like a star in our hand, and melting like a snowflake. -- Francis Bacon Sr.

Okay, there’s a bit more to writing a book than three steps but for natural health and wellness author-experts who want to write a nonfiction book about their expertise, say you’re a yoga teacher, herbalist, acupuncturist, or another type of holistic, alternative, integrative or functional medicine practitioner, it’s a great place to start.

The three steps are:

1. An idea that solves a problem for your ideal reader. If you’re a yoga teacher, it might be a book about poses that ease chronic pain.

2. A repeatable method, step by step plan, program or approach that gets results. You’ve used it, you know it works with your clients or patients, and you want to share it with readers.

3. A structure (typically a Table of Contents) that serves as a container for the contents of the book. An effective structure helps ensure that readers take a transformational journey. This gives a book narrative drive, keeps readers engaged and helps them make positive changes in their lives.

What if You Don’t Have 1, 2 or 3?

I often write and talk about these three steps because it’s what I see in the successful non-fiction books that I’ve written, edited, and coached. If these three elements aren’t defined, it can lead to problems. You can have trouble getting started, get stuck in the middle or not finish at all. Get clear about all three and it will make writing your book much easier.

The ADHD Reset 1-2-3

Last year, I worked on The ADHD Reset: Shift Your Mindset. Find Clarity. Unlock Your Magic by Claire Michalski (Fair Winds/2025). Claire had an idea, which arose organically from her unique way of dealing with ADHD. Her book idea came from a combination of her personal story and her work with clients who had followed her program and experienced positive and repeatable results. She had identified her ideal reader and offered them a real solution.

1. The Idea

Like Claire, your idea should – in most cases – connect to the work that you are doing with clients or patients. What aha! moments have you had in your work? Has the light bulb gone off when you tried something new, a practice, method, or plan? Does the idea reflect your unique point of view? For example, two different experts can approach say, treating anxiety in two different ways, and still get solid results. The most important thing is that you are solving a problem for the reader.

2. The Method or Plan

Once you have a workable method, plan, approach, or philosophy, you can translate this real-life experience into a book. That’s because you know that if readers put your steps into action, they will get results. In fact, this may be what prompts you to write a book in the first place. Claire’s method is based on her work with clients. She saw that her method produced results. She knew that these results could be repeated. The book replicates, in many ways, her process.

Do you have a method, plan or approach that shows repeated positive results? Is it something that you can share with readers to help them transform their lives? Take note of what’s working. Take notes period. Don’t let ideas about your book slip away unnoticed. See the above quote for inspiration to do this.

3. The Structure

With ADHD Reset, the structure serves the content. Like most nonfiction books, it begins with an introduction, and in Chapter 1, the problem and solution are defined. From Chapter 2 on, Claire helps her readers adopt her approach and put it into action, one step and chapter at a time.

Like any good nonfiction book, the chapters are set-up so that each step, in each chapter builds on the one before. By the end of the book, readers are transformed. That’s the goal of prescriptive nonfiction. You can see this promise in her subtitle: Shift Your Mindset. Find Clarity. Unlock Your Magic.

1-2-3. Keep this in mind the next time you sit down to write your nonfiction book. Simplicity can give you clarity and power you forward.

Until Next Time!

Contact me when you’re ready if you need:

1. A book coach to be your editorial guide, support, and project manager as you write or re-write your book and/or book proposal.

2. A manuscript evaluation for a big picture, smallest detail overview.

3. A developmental editor to structure your book, and make the text clear, concise, and reader friendly.

4. E-mail me at info@thenaturalhealthbookcoach.com to schedule a FREE 1:1 call to discuss your book project. www.thenaturalhealthbookcoach.com