If you’re one of the cool kids, you’ve probably considered writing a book at one time or another.

Maybe even this morning, or later in the day you’ll give it a thought or two. Book writing (well, any writing) is an amazing way to clear your mind while you educate or entertain others. Being part of this crazy world gives you a special insight into life, your job, the best way to arrange flowers… whatever. Your voice is important, and that’s the biggest reason for you to take the plunge and write a book.

Scared yet? Good.

That’s usually the point where most books go and die. We have the idea, the quick picture of becoming a best-selling author, and then the downward spiral of self-doubt… without even writing a word, yet. Some of us, however, take a few deep breaths (perhaps over a decade or two) and then take another step into writing that book: organizing our thoughts.

Books, ebooks, web content and even blogs require some type of organization. There is structure, a path to follow. How do YOU organize your writing?

Personally, I prefer to hang out in office supply stores for a few weeks, looking at my various options for tactile book organization. A few of my favorites are:

• Whiteboard foam board – you can write on it, you can stick things to it with pushpins, use sticky notes. Whatever you need for a tactile experience of linear goodness.
• Index cards – remember when you had to write papers in high school and they made you use index cards? No? I’m not the only person who remembers that, right? You can do the same thing with powerpoint or Google slides.
• Notebooks in all sizes and colors – writers love notebooks… and gel pens. Get creative and colorful and be awesome with your rainbows and demons. Metaphorically and literally.
• Spinny office chairs – sometimes, you just gotta spin those ideas around, and that could mean your body, too.
• Sticky notes – I’m sorry for wasting paper, but damn, sticky notes are the gateway supply to pure organizational bliss.
• New pens -always new pens. I don’t care what the project is, a new pen makes life better.
• YES, I NEEDED THAT COUPON ORGANIZER. STOP JUDGING ME.

I cannot tell you how many times I’ve found myself wandering the aisles of the local office crack store during this process.

My ebook and web content organizing style works for me, but you may have other ideas. For instance, I’ve worked with writers who enjoy other methods of organizing their brain, such as:

Outlines, blurbs, verbal processing, dart boards, channeling spirits and other eccentric methods of structurizing written content. Yes, structurizing. I made up that word. The point is not that you need to follow the advice of how to structure or organize your brain chunks into a book form, but that the structure is a giant leap into becoming an author, web content writer and all-around badass wordsmith.

Basic book, blog or web content page structure usually looks like this:

Introduction.

Stuff.

Conclusion.

Easy peasy. Unless you’re some dystopian author or just a big jerk. People tend to prefer the standards above. What you do between A to Z is totes up to you, but bear in mind that if you’re writing for public consumption, adoration or fame and fortune, you may want to stick with what works.

So, guess what! MojoWriting is ramping up for summer eBook boot camps! These six-week adventures in writing can help you get organized, “structurate” your thoughts, and lead you down the path toward becoming an author. eBook boot camps give you access to a group of people to help you brainstorm, solve problems with your writing and keep you accountable. Want to know more? Send us a message today!