This tip from Jessica Brody is too good not to share: start with five things.

Don't know Jessica Brody? She’s the author of Save the Cat! Writes a Novel. (If you’re a fiction writer, I highly recommend it!)

The 'Start with five things' method: brainstorm five things about the main character, five things about the plot, and five things about the setting.

You can go BEYOND those five things. But according to Brody, you only need five things to start.

You don’t even need an outline…just plunge into your novel draft armed with these 15 pieces of information.

I thought the exercise was cool and could work for nonfiction writers, too. Wanna give it a try? Here goes!

1. Start by brainstorming five things about your ideal reader. Who are they? What do they want? What do they need? What have they tried already? What are their frustrations?

A tip: if you don’t know who your ideal reader is, think about the people you serve in your work. Or, think of yourself…ten years ago.

2. Brainstorm five pieces of advice you’d like to tell this person. Don’t worry about ranking the advice from most important to least important; just get it down.

You can go beyond five pieces of advice, of course. Start with five and see what happens.

3. Brainstorm five stories to go along with #1 and #2. Lessons you’ve learned the hard way, lessons you’ve seen others learn, moments when it all “clicked”…anything that sparks.

And there you go!

If you want to try this, I recommend setting aside 15-20 minutes sometime this week.

And if you want to talk to someone about making your book dream a reality? You know where to find me.

Happy writing,

Jenn

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