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How to Write a Self-Help Book Outline

How To Write A Self-Help Book Outline

Knowing how to write a self-help book outline can help you be able to take your experiences and wisdom and put it into a meaningful format. Then you can write out your content in a logical manner, providing others like you with the help that it needs.

This world is a very complicated place. It can be stressful and frustrating. Many might wish to seek out professional help to cope with these issues but cannot afford the costs of therapy. What is the next best solution? Purchasing self-help books that can be immediately applied to personal life. 5.7% of all consumer books purchased in any given year are self-help books, resulting in an industry that brings in $10 billion or more each year.

The market for self-help books is booming. To capitalize, start with a self-help book outline that will pave the way for your manuscript. Here’s how to write a self-help book outline.

#1. Make sure to break everything down into manageable steps.

Self-help books are useful because the advice can be readily implemented. That advice must be relevant, easy to understand, and something the average reader can do on their own to create results in their lives. This means your outline must break down the end goal into manageable steps.

Think about your average staircase. There might be 9-14 steps in a home that take you from one floor to the next. Each step is its own goal in your self-help book outline. As the reader takes each step, they move forward to their end goal. This does two things: it allows the reader to see their progress and it makes your advice feel relevant because there has been successful movement.

#2. Don’t be afraid to repeat yourself.

The goal of a self-help book is to create efficacy. This means a tangible result can be achieved. This means it is a good idea to keep revisiting the core ideas of your narrative to reinforce the changes or choices that need to be made.

However, that doesn’t mean every outline point should be the same topic, just restated in a different way. It does mean that each chapter can revisit important core topics in a meaningful way. The goal is to create an outline that encourages reader familiarity once the actual writing process begins.

#3. Use examples that most people are going to understand.

In the movie Defending Your Life, Rip Torn’s character Bob Diamond tells Daniel Miller, played by Albert Brooks, that he was stuck and couldn’t make it in time for Miller’s hearing.

“Don’t treat me like a moron,” Miller says in the movie. “Try me.”

Diamond responds: “I was trapped near the inner circle of thought.”

“I don’t understand…” says Miller.

“I told you,” Diamond retorts.

When an author speaks to a reader in a self-help book, they must use examples that most people are going to understand. This is because one of the keys to unlocking success for the reader is the ability to visualize the changes or choices they will need to make to reach their goal.

As part of the outlining process, make sure to include certain examples that help to reinforce the key points you’re trying to make. You don’t want the examples to overwhelm your narrative. So use the outlining process to insert them into key areas where you really want to drive your core ideas home.

#4. Find the inspiration.

Of course, most self-help books discuss life improvements, such as weight management, coping skills, or how to negotiate a better wage at work. The goal here isn’t to keep identifying the problems that your reader segments already know about.

The goal is to help readers believe they can overcome the problem your book identifies. They want to see how you’ve overcome a problem so they can repeat the process. This is what your outline will help you to cover.

You’re not trying to win a gold medal when you write a self-help book. You’re trying to inspire others to become an Olympic champion in their own way. Click To Tweet

You’ll be able to inspire others by outlining the exact steps you took to deal with the identified problem being discussed in your book. And, just as with your core thoughts, you can keep revisiting these inspirational moments throughout your book.

Outlining a self-help book is almost the same as outlining any other type of manuscript.

The focus of each key point is the only difference. Instead of trying to entertain, you’re trying to inspire change in readers so they believe that new choices can be made. When you focus on these four key areas, you’ll be able to write a self-help book outline that will let your book do its job effectively.

Further Reading
Why Write a Self-Help Book vs a Big Idea Book
Is It Better to Self-Publish or Get a Publisher?
Writing Your First Nonfiction Book
Most Lucrative Nonfiction Genres to Write In

For more advice…

Feel free to contact me to ask about anything pertaining to writing, publishing, or marketing books. My goal is to help experts write successful, exciting, and impactful books better and faster. Just reach out here!

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