Week 1: find the book
This week you decide what the book is: why you are writing it, who it is for, what it promises and what goes in it. You still write every day, at a lighter 300 words, so the habit starts on day 1 and the planning turns into pages.
What this week is for
Most people who start a nonfiction book start in the wrong place. They open a blank document, type "Chapter 1" and try to write the book from the top. Two weeks later they have a polished first page and no idea what comes next.
Week 1 does the thinking first, in small daily pieces. Each day gives you one decision to make and a short piece of writing that makes it. By day 7 you know who you are writing for, what they get from the book and what each chapter is about, and you have a list of real stories to draw on when the drafting starts.
What you should have by day 7
- A reason you can say in two sentences: what the book will do for your work.
- One reader, described well enough that you could pick them out of a room.
- A promise sentence: who the book is for, what it teaches and what result it leads to for you.
- A story bank of at least 20 one-line stories, with your five best marked.
- A working table of contents, with one or two sentences under each chapter saying what it argues.
- Stories matched to chapters, and a note on any chapter that has none yet.
- Your pace: how many words you write in 30 minutes, measured on day 1.
The promise sentence on day 3 follows the North Star template from The North Star Check, chapter 9 of The Scribe Method, which is free to read online.
Common traps this week
Writing a book for everyone
"Leaders," "business owners" and "anyone who wants to grow" are not readers. If your day 2 reader could be almost anyone, the book will be vague. Fix it by naming a job title, a company size or a moment in someone's career, and accept that a narrower reader makes a sharper book.
Polishing the outline forever
An outline is a tool for writing, not a deliverable. If you catch yourself rearranging chapters for the third time on day 6, stop and write the one or two sentences under each chapter instead. Weeks 2 to 4 will change the outline anyway, and that is fine.
Skipping the words because "this is planning week"
The habit is half the point of the challenge. Every prompt this week ends in written words, and they count. Three hundred words on why you are writing the book is real material: parts of it often end up in the introduction.
Thinking you have no stories
Almost every professional who says this has dozens. They just do not think of them as stories. A client call that went sideways, the first time a method worked, a hire you got wrong: those are stories. Search your calendar and sent email on day 4, and the list will fill up.
- Day1
Why this book, and why now
Write for 30 minutes, without stopping to edit, on three questions: why you, why this book, and why now. Name the concrete result you want from the book in your work, such as more clients, paid speaking, easier hiring or a body of work you can hand to people. When the timer ends, count your words and write the number down, because that is your real pace.
Why: A book with a clear reason survives the busy weeks, and a vague one is the first thing you drop.
Tip: Use a kitchen timer or your phone in airplane mode, and do not look at the word count until the time is up.
Target: about 300 words
- Day2
Meet your one reader
Describe one specific reader: their job title, the problem that costs them money or sleep, what they have already tried and what they would type into a search bar at 11pm. Then write them a short letter that starts with "You are reading this because..." and explain, in plain words, what you know that they do not yet.
Why: Every later decision about what goes in the book and what stays out gets easier once you can picture the person reading it.
Tip: Base the reader on a real client or colleague you have helped, and change the name so you can write freely.
Target: about 300 words
- Day3
Write the promise in one sentence
Fill in this sentence five different ways: "I will use my book to target [reader], by teaching them [idea], which will lead to my goal of more [result]." Pick the version that feels most true. Then write about what your reader will be able to do after the last page that they cannot do today.
Why: The promise is the test every chapter has to pass, so it is worth getting it on paper before you write a chapter.
Tip: If you cannot choose between two readers or two ideas, you may have two books. Pick one for these 30 days and park the other.
Target: about 300 words
- Day4
Start your story bank
List at least 20 stories from your working life, one line each: client wins, mistakes that cost you, turning points, hard conversations, moments a lesson finally made sense. Mark the five your reader most needs to hear. Write one of those five in full, as a scene, with who was there and what was said.
Why: Nonfiction for professionals is remembered through its stories, and a ready list means you never start a chapter empty-handed.
Tip: Search your sent email, old presentations and calendar for the names of clients and projects. Each one usually holds a story.
Target: about 300 words
- Day5
Brainstorm your chapters
Imagine you are teaching your topic as a full-day workshop to a room full of your readers. List the sessions in the order you would teach them, aiming for 8 to 15. Then write the walkthrough: what you would say to open the workshop and how you would get from the first session to the last.
Why: Most professionals already teach their ideas out loud, and the workshop you would run is often the skeleton of the book.
Tip: Keep a "parking lot" list at the bottom of the page for good ideas that do not fit. You will want them later.
Target: about 300 words
- Day6
Build a working table of contents
Turn yesterday's list into a table of contents: an introduction, your chapters in order, and a conclusion. Under each chapter, write a working title and one or two sentences that say what the chapter argues or teaches. Those sentences are today's words.
Why: A one-line point for each chapter is what lets you sit down on a busy morning and know exactly what to write.
Tip: Working titles can be plain and boring. "Why most hiring fails" is better for now than a clever title you have to decode.
Target: about 300 words
- Day7
Match stories to chapters
Go back to your story bank and assign at least one story to each chapter in your table of contents. Note any chapter with no story, because that is a gap to fill. Then write 300 words of the opening of the chapter you are most excited to write, using the story you assigned to it.
Why: Ending week one with stories mapped to chapters means week two starts with material, not a blank page.
Tip: If a story fits three chapters, give it to the one where it does the most work and use a different story elsewhere.
Target: about 300 words
End of week check
Before you start day 8, check that you can answer yes to each of these. If you cannot, spend one extra short session on the gap. Do not restart the week.
- I can say who my reader is in one sentence.
- I have a promise sentence I am willing to write a month toward.
- I have a table of contents with a one-line point under each chapter.
- Most chapters have at least one story assigned to them.
- I know my pace from day 1 and I have checked my daily target against it.
- I wrote something on most days this week, and I logged it.
Common questions
Do I have to plan before I start writing my book?
Not much, but some. A sentence that says who the book is for and what it promises, plus a rough list of chapters, is enough to start. Week 1 builds exactly that, while you still write every day, so planning never becomes a reason not to write.
Why are the word targets only 300 words in week 1?
Because this week's real work is deciding what the book is. The words you write (your reason, your reader letter, your first stories) count, but the bigger output is the outline and story bank that make weeks 2 to 4 easier. You can set your own daily goal in the tracker.
What if I change my mind about the topic during week 1?
Good. Week 1 is the cheapest time to change it. Rewrite your promise sentence on day 3 as many times as you need. If you find two books, pick one for these 30 days and keep a note on the other.
Can I skip week 1 if I already have an outline?
You can, but do days 2 and 4 anyway. A clear reader and a list of stories improve almost every outline, and they take less than an hour each.
Sources: The Scribe Method, chapter 9 (The North Star Check) and chapter 10 (Create Your Book Outline), free to read at scribemedia.com. Published by Scribe Media.