Goodreads asked Milo Shapiro:

What’s your advice for aspiring writers?

Milo Shapiro I cannot address fiction in the same way, but for non-fiction, in writing my two books, "Public Speaking: Get A's, Not Zzzzzz's!" and "Public Speaking for TEENS: Get A's, Not Zzzzzz's!" , I saw that writer's block could be an issue. I first decided upon all the chapter titles -- all the things I knew I wanted to cover. Then, before starting a sentence, I came up with ten points I wanted to cover in each chapter. That took care of all writer's block! Every day, I'd go to the current chapter and bang out the details of 2-3 of the ten points, finishing a chapter every 4-5 days of effort. It left my book in a fun-to-read "top 10" format while propelling me through the writing.

A well-outlined book will make it much easier for you to stay focused. Don't rush this process...I put a LOT of effort into the outline before starting.

Lastly, write that intro chapter at the end, not first. It's too daunting up front and you'll do a better job once you've already actually written the book you're introducing!

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