Writing Tips

Four Lessons I Learned From Author Nicolas Cole About The Fastest Way You Can Write Your Next Book

There is no magical formula.

Many people who want to write a book never get around to it.

They see it as a monumental task, something that fits better in a mythical bucket list rather than in their list of realistic goals.

It’s understandable. Writing a book can seem overwhelming. But that’s only because we’ve been accustomed to writers of the past who have typically hidden from the public eye only to re-emerge years later with their bestseller in hand.

Well, it doesn’t have to be that way.

Writing books fast is possible if you have a system in place, according to author Nicolas Cole, who shared his outlining process in a YouTube webinar.

I should note that Nicolas Cole is a business author. Therefore, his system is written from the perspective of a non-fiction writer. That doesn’t mean fiction writers can’t gain anything from his ideas, but it’s important to put Cole’s views into context.

Here are some of my takeaways from watching his webinar:

1. Start by knowing where to start and end.

Many writers have adopted a habit of freestyling their writing.

I’m personally guilty of this.

As a major fanboy of the Beat generation and their “stream of consciousness” antics, my approach to writing has always been to sit down in front of a computer and start typing away until my brain runs out of juice.

Nicolas says that if you do this, you’ve already “lost.” To become a more efficient writer, you must write knowing your starting point and your finish line.

You may not know your exact path from the get-go, but you at least have to have a clue of where you’re going. Otherwise, you will end up going in circles and questioning yourself every time you run into issues.

2. Learn to think on a macro level.

Writers need to think big. And no, I don’t mean that you should ponder existential questions like, “What is the meaning of life?”

Rather, macro-level thinking is having the ability to see your book in its entirety before even writing it. This sort of ties into my first key takeaway about knowing where to start and end.

But there’s more.

Thinking big means being able to identify your major ideas. Major ideas are things that map your route from start to finish. This is how Nicolas says you should list them down:

• Create an outline with 10 to 12 main points.
• Ask other people around you or on social media outlets like Twitter if your main points are interesting to them. If they say yes, you’re good. If they say no, then revise your main points. Repeat this process until you have a complete set of main ideas that have been validated by others.
• Under each main point, list sub-ideas to further expound on your thoughts.

3. What we usually consider important in writing may not be that important, at least in the beginning.

Cole’s webinar covered a lot of things, but here’s what he did not cover:

• How to be grammatically correct.
• How to write flowery sentences.
• How to conjure jaw-dropping metaphors.

I’m not saying those things are pointless. Writers do need to add their unique flavor to their prose. I also think everybody should still be paying some attention to their grammar and spelling. That’s just me.

But if you want to write efficiently, the most important tool you need to have in your arsenal is an organized method. Everything else is just a matter of aesthetics.

4. Good writing solves a problem.

If you’ve been writing for some time, I’m sure you’ve heard this advice from countless experts, “You need to make content that solves a problem.”

It’s a good piece of advice, but it often gets ignored or deprioritized because applying it is not always as simple as it sounds.

Spending any amount of time trying to implement this simple piece of advice can lead anyone down a rabbit hole to another dimension. Personally, learning to solve a problem for readers is one of my biggest stumbling blocks as a writer.

I want to help others with my writing, but I have so many questions.

What problem exactly should I solve?

Whose problem is it?

How do I solve it?

Who in the world do I think I am to tell people I can solve their problems?

Nicolas’ solution was eye-opening for me. It’s so damn simple that I’m dumbfounded as to why I never thought of it before.

The solution can be captured by filling in this sentence:

How do I ____ (something a person wants to accomplish) without ____ (an obstacle people typically run into when trying to accomplish that thing)?

Asking this question captures the very essence of why people choose to consume one type of content over another.

People have desires, but something is standing in the way that’s preventing them from meeting that desire. So they seek answers, perhaps on the internet.

They don’t care who has the answer. They just want an answer. It’s up to writers and other content creators which of them can give the quickest and most compelling answer.

I was so thrilled by Nicolas’ advice that I decided to apply his question template to this article I’m now writing.

Just look at my headline again. You might not see it at first, but it’s there.

Before I wrote this article, I asked the question,

How do I write a book (desire) without taking years and years to get it done (obstacle)?

So what’s my answer to this problem?

There’s this author who wrote a book in four months. Here’s what he said and what I learned. I hope you learn something from it, too.

See how simple that is?

Solving people’s problems doesn’t have to be a major undertaking. If you can frame things properly, you can and will be able to provide valuable information to other people.

And just a quick side note, for those of you asking the age-old question, “What if I’m not an expert?” I think this question deserves to be answered in-depth in a separate article, but I’ll just give a quick answer for now.

I’m sure you noticed that I never portrayed myself as an expert.

Because I’m not.

In my eyes, Nicolas Cole is. I sought his wisdom, and now I’m sharing what I learned. That’s all.

So if you are struggling to be the expert, then don’t even try. Be a learner. A learner that’s willing to share new knowledge with others just like them.

Final Word

I’ve often heard writers say that they “have a book inside them.” I know that feeling, and it’s unsettling because you know you have something to say, but can’t say it.

Writers may think that they’re just not good enough. Or that writing a book is just out of their league.

After watching Nicolas Cole’s webinar, I have to disagree.

I realized that the biggest hurdle writers face when writing a book is not a lack of talent.

It’s a lack of structure.