Writing Tips & Techniques

Breaking Your Topic Into Chapters A basic but important step early on in the writing process is to break your topic down into chapters. Here are a few suggestions on getting started.

• Begin by carefully reviewing the key elements of the task ahead of you; that is, what you've already identified as the scope, purpose, target audience, and the type of content that you plan to include in the book. Keeping these elements in mind throughout the writing process will help guide you as you progress through the book.
• Next, identify the major subtopics that you want to address in the book. Depending on whether your book is a tutorial, a reference guide, a user's guide, or a getting started guide, define common scenarios that a typical user of your book might encounter, like common programming tasks in a particular industry. Consider the audience's knowledge of the SAS product and industry, if applicable, that you're writing about (beginner, intermediate, advanced) and the existence of other resources and documentation that are available on the topic. Then determine how many chapters you will need, including any appendixes, to cover the topic sufficiently.
• Thinking about how many chapters you will need, create a rough draft of the outline or table of contents. Include working chapter titles as well as section headings. Make the outline as detailed as possible.
• In drafting the outline, organize the chapters chronologically, beginning with introductory chapters like "Introduction," "Getting Started," or "The Basics," then move on to intermediate and advanced chapter topics, if applicable.
• Think about how many pages, roughly, it will take to cover each chapter topic. You don't want chapters that are too long or unwieldy, nor do you want chapters that are too short. Generally a length of somewhere between 20 and 30 pages works well, depending on the type of book you're writing.
• Once you have a rough draft of the outline that includes all chapters and appendixes, consider organizing the chapters within parts pages. For example, if Chapters 1 through 3 include introductory material, you could put them in Part 1 and title that part "Introduction" or "The Basics." Part 2 could include Chapters 4 through 7, Chapters 8 through 10 could be Part 3, and so on. Parts pages make it easier for the reader, and for you, to navigate through the book. (If you have appendixes they should be included in the last part of the book.)

Remember, careful organization of your material will help the reader understand your content in the way that you intended.

John West, Acquisitions Editor