Writing an outline

Don’t laugh, but when I retire from selling hotels I want to try my hand at writing books. The kind of books that intrigue me are detective novels and suspense books. I read on average a couple of books a week. The authors I really enjoy are like John Sanford, Lee Childs, Vince Flynn, Brad Thor etc. I feel pretty certain that what I write will pale in comparison to these authors, but I want to give it a go.

In all the books you read about how to write effectively, they all say you need an outline to start with. This will probably give you some insight to the quality of books I will write because I cannot think through outlines. Ha. I have tried but the computer chip in my brain just doesn’t work that way. Even with each blog post I write, I literally do not know the full structure of each post until I get into it. Many times, even the blog post takes a different route than what I first thought it would. I literally only can write and create a message or story when I start writing.

Many times in business I will just start writing an email or a message and let it take me to where it needs to go. My brain simply doesn’t not work on the outline program. So maybe when I write the first book it will start with a police detective and end up with a ski boat. Ha. I may be one of these guys who write only one book that ends up being sold at the dollar store.

Why am I telling you this? Think about life for a moment. Many people get lost in the plan or the outline and never get to the real life part. They have the perfect plan and the perfect outline but cannot shift gears and put it into motion. You have seen these type people, that have everything perfectly organized and in place and every idea or thought is written down and changed and rewritten until it is perfect. The problem is they cannot get past the outline stage. In life, many people only have the outline but never put it into practical life experience.

I am not saying to just go off into life and education and jobs without a plan. What I am saying is to be honest with yourself if you are stuck in the planning stage and unable to get into motion. I had this guy years ago that worked for me that was so organized it was a little scary. He knew every answer and had every document and every file and everything he needed to succeed. The problem was he never went out the front door. He was stuck in the planning and outline stage of life.

Sometimes we just need to go with what we have and trust the Lord that he will direct our path. In our line of work which is sales, the most important call you will ever make is a new sales call. The new client and the new project is the life blood of what we do. If a salesman only works on the stuff he already has and does not continually fill the pipeline, he/she will become stagnant and most likely fail in our business. In our business it is the voice of a new client that keeps us in the game.

See I told you, I had no idea when I started this blog where it would end up. Ha. KT

3 thoughts on “Writing an outline

  1. I call your writing style annointed, to be determined by our creator just like he said he would do. The steps of a righteous man are ordered by God.

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