Writers do this sort of thing because they're insecure. They imagine that if
they're vague, the agent will ask to see their book because they want to know exactly
what it's about. This is a HUGE mistake. Agents and editors receive hundreds of
letters and proposals each week. If you're not specific, you give the impression that
you haven’t thought out your proposal.Day Six: Write the proposal
Day Six Task
(^)
Task One: Write the initial draft of your book proposal
Write the draft quickly. Don’t think too much about it. In your initial draft, you aim
for quantity, rather than quality.Relax! You'll write your draft in stages
Today's the big day. You're going to write your book proposal. If you're starting to
freeze up at the thought, relax. You've already done a lot of preparation work, and
you're not going to write it all at once. You'll write it by taking the proposal through
several clearly defined stages:A. First draft. This is your "thinking" draft, in which you think on paper. In this
draft, you write whatever you like. You're aiming for quantity here, rather than
quality. Write this draft full-steam ahead, without stopping to look things up.
Consider "writing" this draft by talking into a tape recorder.
If you need to do some spot research, just leave a note to yourself, and keep
working on the draft. You can look up individual items later. The benefit of doing
specific research later is that you may find it's unnecessary. It's quite possible that
you'll eliminate this material from a later draft.B. Your second draft. Your first draft has shown you what you want to say. In this
draft, you have a crack at saying it. In your second draft, you organize. You decide
what material you want to include, and perhaps expand on, and what material you'll
delete. Think of this draft as shaping your material.