The Challenge of Writing a Book

Have you ever wanted to write a book? Most people have. Over the years, I have seen statistics showing that around 80 percent of people want to write a book. However, less than 10 percent do. If so many people want to write a book, then why don’t we have a society of authors?

Time.

Writing a book is about fitting it into our daily schedule. The problem with a book is that you cannot just dedicate one day to it. You cannot get it written and then be done with it. It takes more time. Unfortunately, this can be a real problem. Most people can take time out of one day. However, they find it hard to take it from every day. The routine of writing a book for an hour a day over 30, 60, or 90 days ensnares people.

Writing a Book in a Day with AI

But what if you could write a book in just one day instead of 90? Sound impossible? For the normal person, I would say yes. But what if you had help? In my daily life, I start every day by researching the news using my Meta RayBan glasses. This often happens as I am driving to a coffee shop. Once I arrive at the coffee shop, I open my laptop and crank out a blog post. I do this while listening to podcasts to get more information on the current event I am working with.

From there, I will often start creating several web pages of content. Each of these pages supports the blog post and extends the details of the topic I am working on. Readers now can choose to read more on the topic if they have the time or interest. This process lets me keep working on content about the current event. I work on it until I have written enough to assemble a book on it.

Using AI to Develop Your Book Idea

Even if you don’t have smart glasses, most people have a smartphone, which can serve the same purpose. If you have a smartphone, you can use it in the same way to assist your writing process. You can use the voice mode in ChatGPT. It’s a great alternative to talking to a personal assistant. This will help you come up with an idea for your book.

Just simply talk with ChatGPT back and forth about what you want to write about. Use it as a sounding board. Ask it to expand on your idea. Question its responses and go back and forth through your idea until you have it fleshed out. The best part of this process is that you do not have to take notes on your writing. ChatGPT is working to create a record of the conversation that you are having. It will be there ready for you when you have time to get to it.

Structuring Your Idea into a Blog Post

With a solid idea in place, the next step is transforming it into structured content. It is similar to how I choose a daily news event to write about. But what about the writing? And how are you going to turn your thought into a book? Do you remember that I said I start with a blog post? I then add supporting details to it by creating web pages to extend ideas further. This is a process of working through my concept repeatedly to expand it.

Let’s do the same with your idea. While you were talking with ChatGPT, it was creating a transcript of your conversation. It will appear as a tab on the left side of your screen when you are in ChatGPT. Click on it and let’s get started working on it. Ask ChatGPT to take this transcript and clean it up for you. ChatGPT will take your conversation and condense it down into one complete thought in its next response. Once it has done this, read through it. If you have any more ideas about it, type them into ChatGPT and ask it to add them in.

Once you are comfortable with the idea as a complete thought, it’s time to create your ‘blog post.’ Don’t worry, you do not have to publish this like I do. Simply ask ChatGPT to use your idea to create a blog post and put it in a canvas. This will ‘post’ it to a new window on the right side of your screen. Unlike the chat screen, which is now on the left, this new screen acts as a document editor. You can go in and change words and add sentences right into this canvas window.

Take a chance to read through it and edit it until you like the idea of it. Use the chat window on the left side as you work through the content. Ask ChatGPT to work with you on creating this. As you explore a topic or idea on the canvas, ask ChatGPT to read through what you have. Let ChatGPT inform you of its thoughts. ChatGPT will go through and tell you what is strong in your writing. Then it will make a couple of suggestions. If you like, you can choose to work on these suggestions yourself. You can also ask ChatGPT to apply them for you. If you do it will make the necessary changes.

Think of ChatGPT as a collaborative writing partner, helping you refine and expand your ideas. Read through your content and work on it for a bit. Then ask ChatGPT to read through it and work on it. Ask it questions about things when you get stuck. Have it make suggestions to help you along the way.

Expanding Your Content into a Full Book Outline

After finalizing your blog post in the canvas, the next step is expanding it into a more comprehensive structure. For me, I will read through the content in the blog post methodically. I aim to find all of the areas where I can extend the content. I find words or key phrases that are significant enough to where I can create another page. As I create these new linked pages from the blog post, I am developing new chapters. These chapters expand on the key ideas introduced in the blog post. This process turns the blog post into a full-length book.

For you, this step is going to be much easier and straightforward. Ask ChatGPT to take your work on the canvas and turn it into a book outline. ChatGPT will go through what is written on the canvas and start working it out into an outline. You can then read through it and figure out what you like and what you don’t. As you go through, ask ChatGPT to add details to a specific section. You can also request it to create a new chapter between the current chapter 3 and chapter 4. Again, work back and forth until you are happy with this outline.

Once you feel comfortable with this book outline, it is time to start breaking it down into chapters. Unfortunately, I have found that the canvas mode has a limited amount of characters. Most people will not hit it. However, I have noticed that as I work through longer content, I will hit it semi-consistently. To avoid this, I will exit the current canvas. Then, I will ask ChatGPT to open a new canvas and place the outline for the first chapter on it. Once I have this, I will go back to ChatGPT to create this chapter outline. I will follow the same method used to create the book outline.

Once I like Chapter 1, I will again X out of that canvas. You will notice in the top right corner, there will be a box icon that appears. If you click on it, you can choose to go to the book outline canvas. You can also choose to go to the Chapter 1 canvas. As you add more chapters, this list will include all of the canvases that you are working on. For now, type into the chat to open a new canvas with the Chapter 2 outline. This will again open up a new canvas so that you can expand this chapter’s outline. Continue this process until you get through all of the chapter outlines in the book.

But what if you get stuck along the way? In the chat, you will see a button that says research. If you click on it, it will light up. Now you can ask ChatGPT questions about where you are. You can inquire about the content you want to include in this section. You can even ask it to research what you have written to expand it. ChatGPT will go out onto the internet and return you results.

This may come back as text or as actual search results. Either way, it will show you its source at the end of the text as a clickable link. This is an excellent method for using ChatGPT as a research assistant. It helps you gather more information and provides support along the way. Just remember to bring it back out of research mode. Click the research button in the chat when you are done.

Turning Your Outline into a Written Chapter

Once you have all of your chapters done, it’s time to go through them. It is time to turn each chapter outline into an actual chapter. This may be a scary point for you because it means that you have to ‘do the work.’ However, we need to finish this book quickly. You do not have time to work through the 1st draft. This is where ChatGPT comes in again. Ask ChatGPT to take your outline and turn it into a written chapter.

ChatGPT can’t write content that’s ready for publication in a book at this moment. It does however have the ability to get you a first draft of content. It is your job to read through the canvas again and add your specific style to the writing. As you go along use the chat side to work as your writing and/or research assistant. I promise you this will speed up your process. It will be quicker to work through this content and make it your own.

Finish working through this content. Then ask in the chat for help to read through your content. It will make suggestions. You can choose to work through them or have ChatGPT apply them for you. Now I want you to think of who your ideal reader is. Once you have this person in mind, ask ChatGPT to read through it again. Have it assess the content as if it were that person and let you know what it thinks.

For me, I am usually writing to an AI enthusiast who may or may not have worked with AI before. Knowing this, I ask ChatGPT to read through this content as a beginner. I aim to understand what a beginner is looking to learn about the world of AI. ChatGPT will read your content again. You will notice that it changes the response of what is good and what could use improvement. It now does this from the perspective of your target reader.

Using this read-through technique, you can now ask ChatGPT to review the chapter. This ensures it still aligns with your book theme or outline. Determine what is important to you and your writing. Then, ask ChatGPT to read through your content in this manner. The more you ask about it, the better your writing will get. Once you have your chapter the way you like it, ask ChatGPT to add a bridge paragraph. This should be placed at the end. This paragraph should connect the content from this chapter to the next.

Congratulations, you have gotten through writing the first chapter of your book. Now may be a good time to take a short break. This will help you recharge before getting on to your next chapter. When I take my breaks it’s a good time for me to get up. I can order a refill of my coffee. I use the restroom while they are preparing it for me. It allows me to move around and take a break from staring at my screen. If I think of something, I will pull out my phone. I will talk to ChatGPT as we have worked on talking through your topic idea earlier. Find something that can allow you to relax for 5 to 10 minutes and then let’s get back to writing.

Connecting Your Chapters to Increase Readability

When you return to your computer. You should copy the content for your chapter. Then move it over to either Microsoft Word or Google Docs. This way, you now can build chapter by chapter ask you go. Just make sure that you are copying the content and not cutting and pasting it. By doing this, you are allowing ChatGPT to still be able to reference it as you work on further chapters.

Now in the next chapter outline, you will repeat the same process. However, in the end, you will ask ChatGPT to work on an introductory paragraph. This paragraph should connect to the previous chapter. Then, create a bridge chapter at the end to connect this chapter to the content in the next chapter. By doing this, you will start building a consistent theme and readability throughout the entire book.

Continue this process chapter by chapter until you get completely through your book content. Make sure that you copy each chapter over to your document. This ensures that you build your book’s content as you go. Seeing this document grow will give you motivation to keep on going throughout the day to complete it.

Repeat this process for each chapter until your entire book takes shape. As you complete each chapter, transfer it to your main document, ensuring your book steadily takes shape. This ensures that you build your book’s content as you go. As your document grows chapter by chapter, you’ll feel a greater sense of accomplishment. This will further motivate you to see the book through to completion.

Finalizing and Formatting Your Book

With your chapters compiled in your editor, it’s time to finalize your book’s structure and presentation. Ask ChatGPT to create the front matter of your book in a new canvas. This front matter is all of the content that you see in the front of a published book. This should contain a title page, a copyright page, a dedication page, a preface and a table of contents. Once it is completed, I suggest that you ask ChatGPT to add a disclaimer page as well. Read through it. Make changes as needed to customize these pages to your specific needs. Then copy it and put it in front of the first chapter in your book on your document.

Once you have completed this, ask ChatGPT to do the same for the back matter for your book. Back matter can vary greatly. You may need things like appendixes, end credits, and bibliographies. You might also include lists of other resources you are providing or crediting in the production of your work. Once you have this, copy this into the back of your book after the last chapter.

Take the First Step and Start Writing

Dividing the book-writing process into clear, manageable steps ensures you stay focused and make steady progress. This approach prevents you from feeling overwhelmed by breaking the writing process into manageable steps. By using AI and ChatGPT you’re making this process faster. By working through the content that it provides you are making sure that it stays your own.

This process allows you to set clear goals, stick to your outline, and let your creative mind take over. Now, the power to create is in your hands. You’ve learned how to generate ideas, structure your thoughts, and use AI to enhance and refine your writing. What once seemed like an impossible feat—writing a book in a day—is now within reach. Take that first step, open up your AI assistant, and begin crafting your story or expertise into a book. The only thing standing between you and becoming an author is taking action. So go ahead, start now, and watch your words come to life. Happy writing!