Writing a Self Help Book

[Bhaskins]

Hello! I am a therapist and am in the beginning stages of writing a "self help" book. I have what I feel is a good idea, but am self conscious about my writing. I am wondering if anyone has seen any good guides to tackle writing fears? Or help with writing this style of book. I see a lot for help with writing novels, but nothing else!

[RawRis1124]

I'm sorry I don't have advice to tackle writing fears, but as someone who reads more self help books than anyone should, maybe my opinion will help. Typically by the time I reach for self help, I've already done my research on the topic. Not to say some insight isn't helpful or educational, but if the book is full of information that I've already read on Google and there's very little advice or instruction on how to actually battle the issue I tend to feel like my time was wasted. If it doesn't contain help, I feel cheated. I may not represent others' feelings on this, but since I found the topic here I've added it. Good luck! I hope you get over your fears. There will never be too many books on personal growth.

[Nisha Ward]

Hmm. This isn't a hard and fast rule and it's usually given for fiction but should work just as well for this, but don't try to write it all at once. Set realistic goals for yourself and take the breaks you need. I think that might help make it seem less daunting.

[WhiteLotus]

What kind of fears are you trying to get past that you feel are unique to non-fiction? I think you will find most novel writing advice can be applied to non-fiction as well.
You already have a degree on the subject, so you clearly know your stuff. In the initial stages you should not worry about whether your writing is good or not, but just on getting an outline, and then the content, out on a page.
Particularly with a self-help book, I feel like you shouldn't be overly conscious of your writing, because you don't need pretty prose; you need clear, helpful content (that preferably doesn't sound like a textbook ).
I think if you work on getting all the information down first, ignoring all the nagging little voices by telling them you're just gathering the content in one place, the rest might come naturally.

[Amanda Howard]

The book “How to Write a Lot” really helped me! It challenges all the barriers we create for ourselves that prevent us from writing.

[Jeonju Sil]

i don’t known of any books to help with the writing, but I have also read a few self-help books. As an amateur, I’d say to not worry right now about what others think. Read and reread your writing. Fine tune it. Feel good and confident about what you write. When you believe the information you are sharing is true and good, positive and helpful to others going through a difficult situation, and you’ve given it your best-then that’s it. I’d be happy to read what you’ve written.

[Inkroverts]

I read a few self-help books, and most common thing they all have is case studies. You can give an example of a real case to show the readers your point. Of course, the names would be changed to protect the others' identities.

[naomisorge]

Do you already have an outline planned, ie chapters/headings/sub-headings? You might already be doing this but I would set myself the goal of writing each one by one, instead of thinking of it as writing a whole book. That way it might not seem like such a huge task!