You\u2019ve finished a complete version of your manuscript after countless hours of work and mental effort. You\u2019re ready and eager to thrust it into the next stage of actually become a published book. You\u2019d like to think it\u2019s about as perfect as you can make it on your own.<\/p>\n
But is it really?<\/p>\n
You\u2019re probably flat-out tired of working on it. Mental exhaustion is perhaps your biggest roadblock to revising your manuscript any further. But if you’re aware that there’s room for improvement—the opportunity to raise your manuscript\u2019s quality a few notches higher\u2014all on your own\u2014what could give you the creative energy (and fresh vision) to accomplish that?<\/p>\n
Here are eight simple exercises to help you find that energy and vision. Go through the suggestions listed below, and write your response to each one.<\/p>\n
1. First, simply re-clarify exactly what your book is, at present. As briefly as possible (no more than a paragraph), describe your book as if answering a quick question about it from a curious acquaintance. Be sure to mention the specific target market for your book\u2014the ideal or typical reader you\u2019re hoping to reach.<\/p>\n
2. Re-clarify also your personal objective (or sense of mission or calling) for what you hope this book will accomplish. Capture this in one sentence, maximum.<\/p>\n
3. Now, from the perspective of that typical reader, state why this book is needed. What personal needs or longings will your book meet in this reader\u2019s life? Respond as fully as possible. Expand your perspective as you imagine your target reader\u2019s typical day or week.<\/p>\n
4. With this wider understanding of your reader\u2019s needs, dreams, and desires, list every idea you can think of for helping your manuscript more fully address those things\u2014which are invitations for you to speak into your reader\u2019s life.<\/p>\n
5. Now look into the future. Imagine your reader having read your book (in its revised state). How will this experience actually change your reader\u2019s life? Think of as many ways as possible\u2014transformations, adjustments, awakenings.<\/p>\n
6. Next, think back to your manuscript\u2019s current state. In what specific ways can you more clearly promote and motivate these kinds of life-changes for your reader? How can you more profoundly inspire, instruct, challenge, exhort, heal, comfort, encourage, revive?<\/p>\n
7. Now allow yourself to get philosophical. Your manuscript probably focuses on a particular slice of truth, a portion of genuine reality that\u2019s part of a bigger overall picture. Think of other nearby \u201cslices\u201d of that larger reality, ones that probably have some level of interaction or relationship with your book\u2019s topic.<\/p>\n
How could you expand your book\u2019s content into some of these areas, to make your book more wholistic, more organically intertwined with a larger share of truth and life? Of course, you don\u2019t want to blunt the sharp clarity of your book\u2019s focus. On the other hand, expanding your book\u2019s message into a wider context of life and truth can help strengthen its lasting impact.<\/p>\n
8. Finally, look at yourself. What are the most important and profound things about who you are\u2014and your own life history\u2014that have prepared and qualified you to write this book? How can these things be more fully expressed in order to serve your book\u2019s message? How can you make it more personal, in a truly engaging way?<\/p>\n<\/span>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" You\u2019ve finished a complete version of your manuscript after countless hours of work and mental effort. You\u2019re ready and eager to thrust it into the next stage of actually become a published book. You\u2019d like to think it\u2019s about as perfect as you can make it on your own. But is it really? You\u2019re probably […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":27,"featured_media":8043,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"8 Writing Exercises To Enrich The Content Of Your Nonfiction Manuscript","_seopress_titles_desc":"Mental exhaustion is perhaps your biggest roadblock to revising your manuscript, Here are eight exercises to help you find that energy and vision.","_seopress_robots_index":"","_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","inline_featured_image":false,"ub_ctt_via":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"featured_image_urls":{"full":["https:\/\/www.book-editing.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/man-thinking-world-map.jpg",600,900,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/www.book-editing.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/man-thinking-world-map-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/www.book-editing.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/man-thinking-world-map-187x280.jpg",187,280,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/www.book-editing.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/man-thinking-world-map.jpg",600,900,false],"large":["https:\/\/www.book-editing.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/man-thinking-world-map.jpg",600,900,false],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/www.book-editing.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/man-thinking-world-map.jpg",600,900,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/www.book-editing.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/man-thinking-world-map.jpg",600,900,false],"bloom_image":["https:\/\/www.book-editing.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/man-thinking-world-map.jpg",600,900,false],"et-pb-post-main-image":["https:\/\/www.book-editing.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/man-thinking-world-map-400x250.jpg",400,250,true],"et-pb-post-main-image-fullwidth":["https:\/\/www.book-editing.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/man-thinking-world-map-600x675.jpg",600,675,true],"et-pb-portfolio-image":["https:\/\/www.book-editing.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/man-thinking-world-map-400x284.jpg",400,284,true],"et-pb-portfolio-module-image":["https:\/\/www.book-editing.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/man-thinking-world-map-510x382.jpg",510,382,true],"et-pb-portfolio-image-single":["https:\/\/www.book-editing.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/man-thinking-world-map.jpg",600,900,false],"et-pb-gallery-module-image-portrait":["https:\/\/www.book-editing.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/man-thinking-world-map-400x516.jpg",400,516,true],"et-pb-post-main-image-fullwidth-large":["https:\/\/www.book-editing.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/man-thinking-world-map.jpg",600,900,false],"et-pb-image--responsive--desktop":["https:\/\/www.book-editing.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/man-thinking-world-map.jpg",480,720,false],"et-pb-image--responsive--tablet":["https:\/\/www.book-editing.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/man-thinking-world-map.jpg",367,551,false],"et-pb-image--responsive--phone":["https:\/\/www.book-editing.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/man-thinking-world-map-480x720.jpg",180,270,true]},"post_excerpt_stackable":" You\u2019ve finished a complete version of your manuscript after countless hours of work and mental effort. You\u2019re ready and eager to thrust it into the next stage of actually become a published book. You\u2019d like to think it\u2019s about as perfect as you can make it on your own. But is it really? You\u2019re probably flat-out tired of working on it. Mental exhaustion is perhaps your biggest roadblock to revising your manuscript any further. But if you’re aware that there’s room for improvement—the opportunity to raise your manuscript\u2019s quality a few notches higher\u2014all on your own\u2014what could give you the…<\/p>\n","category_list":"Writing<\/a>","author_info":{"display_name":"Thomas Womack","author_link":"https:\/\/www.book-editing.com\/author\/twray\/"},"comments_num":"0 comments","featured_image_urls_v2":{"full":["https:\/\/www.book-editing.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/man-thinking-world-map.jpg",600,900,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/www.book-editing.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/man-thinking-world-map-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/www.book-editing.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/man-thinking-world-map-187x280.jpg",187,280,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/www.book-editing.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/man-thinking-world-map.jpg",600,900,false],"large":["https:\/\/www.book-editing.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/man-thinking-world-map.jpg",600,900,false],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/www.book-editing.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/man-thinking-world-map.jpg",600,900,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/www.book-editing.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/man-thinking-world-map.jpg",600,900,false],"bloom_image":["https:\/\/www.book-editing.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/man-thinking-world-map.jpg",600,900,false],"et-pb-post-main-image":["https:\/\/www.book-editing.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/man-thinking-world-map-400x250.jpg",400,250,true],"et-pb-post-main-image-fullwidth":["https:\/\/www.book-editing.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/man-thinking-world-map-600x675.jpg",600,675,true],"et-pb-portfolio-image":["https:\/\/www.book-editing.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/man-thinking-world-map-400x284.jpg",400,284,true],"et-pb-portfolio-module-image":["https:\/\/www.book-editing.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/man-thinking-world-map-510x382.jpg",510,382,true],"et-pb-portfolio-image-single":["https:\/\/www.book-editing.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/man-thinking-world-map.jpg",600,900,false],"et-pb-gallery-module-image-portrait":["https:\/\/www.book-editing.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/man-thinking-world-map-400x516.jpg",400,516,true],"et-pb-post-main-image-fullwidth-large":["https:\/\/www.book-editing.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/man-thinking-world-map.jpg",600,900,false],"et-pb-image--responsive--desktop":["https:\/\/www.book-editing.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/man-thinking-world-map.jpg",480,720,false],"et-pb-image--responsive--tablet":["https:\/\/www.book-editing.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/man-thinking-world-map.jpg",367,551,false],"et-pb-image--responsive--phone":["https:\/\/www.book-editing.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/man-thinking-world-map-480x720.jpg",180,270,true]},"post_excerpt_stackable_v2":" You\u2019ve finished a complete version of your manuscript after countless hours of work and mental effort. You\u2019re ready and eager to thrust it into the next stage of actually become a published book. You\u2019d like to think it\u2019s about as perfect as you can make it on your own. But is it really? You\u2019re probably flat-out tired of working on it. Mental exhaustion is perhaps your biggest roadblock to revising your manuscript any further. But if you’re aware that there’s room for improvement—the opportunity to raise your manuscript\u2019s quality a few notches higher\u2014all on your own\u2014what could give you the…<\/p>\n","category_list_v2":"Writing<\/a>","author_info_v2":{"name":"Thomas Womack","url":"https:\/\/www.book-editing.com\/author\/twray\/"},"comments_num_v2":"0 comments","featured_image_src":"https:\/\/www.book-editing.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/man-thinking-world-map.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.book-editing.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8041"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.book-editing.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.book-editing.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.book-editing.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/27"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.book-editing.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8041"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.book-editing.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8041\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.book-editing.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8043"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.book-editing.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8041"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.book-editing.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8041"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.book-editing.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8041"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}