You’re excited. You’ve got the idea of the decade (maybe the century, even). And you’re ready to rock and roll and put pen to paper (or, more typically, fingers to keyboard).

Wait!

Don’t go all half-cocked and start whipping up a frenzy of words!

You need an outline. A comprehensive outline.

If this sounds familiar – “Okay, so I’ll mention X in the first chapter. Then there will be M in that next one. Maybe throw a little C in there. And then wrap it up with Z.” – then you’re in for a world o’ hurt and an ebook that jumps all over the place.

No one likes something that jumps from place to place with no cohesive, understandable flow. It’s like watching CSI Miami. Where people jump to conclusions and storylines pop out of nowhere and you’re left wondering how they hell they got from point A to point D without really telling you about points C and D. It’s annoying.

And it makes for a BAD ebook!

You need an outline and you need it written out. (No, an outline in your head doesn’t count).

And a good outline will take you more than one sitting. It may take you three or four. Because as you look at it you will see the flaws in flow. You will see the missing elements. You will see how you can make it better and provide terrific content to your readers.

Not sure how to flesh out that outline? Next up will be a post on steps to create a comprehensive outline!