🏷️ Categories: Writing.
After writing in public for a while, you start to notice certain themes standing out. You repeat them, readers respond well, and you feel like you could keep developing them. That’s the sign: you’ve got quality material for a book.
And you may be right—but being right isn’t enough.
If you dive into writing without a map, you’ll soon discover you’re lost. You need a structure to guide you from the first to the last page so the book has a real chance of success.
That’s exactly what we’re going to do…
The architecture of a book
1. The focus of the book
Broadly speaking, nonfiction books tend to focus on 4 categories:
Apply: Books that teach how to do something step by step (e.g., how to launch a project, how to write in public, how to manage your finances).
Analyze: Books that explain how something works in technical detail (e.g., the attention economy, the psychology behind habit formation).
Inspire: Books that speak from experience as a motivational example (e.g., my path to sustainable productivity, how I recovered from burnout).
Document: Books that describe the causes and context of phenomena or groups (e.g., how digital entrepreneurs work in Latin America).
Identify which is your dominant focus for the topic you want to write about. There may be overlap, but one has to be the essence of the book. This will help you filter which ideas fit in the next steps—and which don’t.
2. The 10 ways to expand an idea
Now that you’re clear on your focus, it’s time to turn your articles into chapters.
These 10 ways allow any idea to fit into a book format:
Observed case – Tell what you saw in someone else, something you learned without experiencing it yourself.
Strategic comparison – Compare methods, approaches, or tools.
Personal confession – Start from your own story, mistake, or transformation.
Debunking – Break common myths and reveal the reality behind them.
Frequent mistakes – Warn about typical pitfalls and how to avoid them.
Useful guide – Teach step by step how to achieve a specific result.
Enduring lessons – Conclude with what the topic taught you in the long run.
Rules of the game – Summarize the principles or rules that govern the subject.
Key answers – Address the most frequent questions on the subject.
Synthesis of ideas – Make a list of tips, steps, or key resources.
With this, you can take one of your articles that resonated with readers and ask yourself: What additional information would be crucial? What questions did it leave unanswered? What’s the story behind it? This way you’ll write a book based on high-value ideas you already have.
3. Writing the outline
Let’s make the previous point tangible.
Open your library of published articles (notes, posts, newsletters…).
Pick the 9–10 pieces that resonated the most with readers.
Analyze what topics and focus your best work have in common.
Ask yourself: if these articles were a book, what chapters would it have?
Choose one main theme for the book and write down 10 chapter titles.
Example: General theme: How to Write Without Block or Perfectionism
Possible chapters:
Synthesis of ideas – Why being prolific is the path to becoming a writer
Debunking – The myth of perfectionism: how it sabotages your writing
Useful guide – How to stay focused and write for hours without burning out
Observed case – The routines of great authors (and how to build your own)
Useful guide – The minimum viable routine: how to write even on bad days
Useful guide – What to do when you don’t know how to start
Rules of the game – Your first draft doesn’t have to be pretty, it just has to exist
Strategic comparison – Quality vs. paralysis: when to call a text finished
Frequent mistakes – How to write so you don’t have to constantly rewrite
Useful guide – When an idea gets stuck: how to write it through to the end
See the logic?
Each chapter is a piece that solves a bigger problem.
And since you’ve already written about these topics, half the work is already done.
If you’re clear about your focus and build your outline this way, the book almost writes itself.
Best of all: you’ll know from the beginning that your book has potential. That means you can work with a publisher and make a convincing proposal that’s irresistible to any editor. Your ideas are already validated by writing in public.
Writing in public gives you data.
Analyzing your articles gives you clues.
Creating a structure gives you direction.
Do it right, and you’ll have a book much sooner than you think. One with meaning, coherence, and—above all—value for your readers.
✍️ Your turn: What theme shows up again and again in your writing? And what chapters could you build around it?
💭 Quote of the day: “If you would not be forgotten, as soon as you are dead and rotten, either write things worth reading, or do things worth writing.” — Benjamin Franklin, Poor Richard’s Almanack
See you next time! 👋
