How Substantial Is Your Idea? Is It Enough for a Book?

Eureka! Inspiration strikes. From out of the Void (or so it seems), you have…an Idea!

The question is, how much of an idea is it? Does your idea have legs? Can you make a book from it?

Writer Juliet Ashton, the main character in The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, is looking for her next book subject. She thinks she has one: she calls it English Foibles. After a while she realizes, however, that while the topic sounds fun, there isn’t much there; enough for a caption or a whimsical article, at the most. And that’s the same question you need to ask your idea.

Folks come to me frequently and want to know if they can write a book about XYZ idea or topic. The writer is a big part of the equation, of course. But we should be careful about overlooking the intrinsically necessary piece—how substantial your idea is.

Because some ideas are naturally book-sized. Others are chapter-sized, and plenty are a passing whimsy, like the desire to write about The Society to Protest Against the Glorification of the English Bunny, which first caught Juliet Ashton’s eye. How can you tell if your idea has legs?

Is the idea “sticky”?

One way to gut-check your idea is to let some time elapse and check whether it sticks around. If you go to bed and the next morning, POOF!, the idea is gone, that isn’t your book idea. I recently saw a post from none other than Lin-Manuel Miranda, creator of the musical Hamilton, that said the very same thing. So don’t just take my word for it.

At this level, you are checking for your own interest. Books are different animals from articles or short stories or blog posts, and not just because books have more words. But the fact they have more words means that you need to stick with them longer. You’ll be spending more time with this idea than with an article idea, if it works. So how much do you love it?

You better be fascinated by it down to the molecular level.

Is the idea generative?

If your idea sticks around for a while—not just over the one night—the next step is to check whether this idea generates other ideas. Connections to other, intimately associated ideas and (even better) questions, are a promising sign. For fiction or memoir writers, the original idea can generate ideas for other scenes, characters, and conflicts.

If your idea is fun but dead-ends, bad sign.

Going back to the fact that books contain more words than articles or blog posts, consider for a moment why that is. Blog posts and articles are dealing with a simpler concept, or only one facet of an idea. It’s like knitting a scarf—woven all of one piece. A book, on the other hand, is a sweater. It brings together a lot of related pieces.

Sit down and brainstorm a list of the associated ideas and questions that come up when you consider your main Idea. Depending on how you like to organize your writing, you can create a draft Table of Contents or a mind map, for example. Really try to exhaust the stream of ideas and questions—be utterly thorough. Only stop once you’ve got nothing left. The more substantial your list, the more robust (and potentially book-length) your idea is.

Can you write about it?

The final step to test how substantial your idea is, is to actually sit down and write about it. I want you to create a sample chapter.

If you’ve gotten this far, you have a lot of material to draw on from your brainstorm. Here’s another clue that your idea is book-sized: the associated ideas and questions can make up individual chapters.

Non-literary industries call this “proof of concept.” So far, you think you’ve got something. Let’s create a small portion, without sinking all our resources into the full concept, and see what comes out of it.

You’ll also be testing out your level of interest again, this time at a deeper level. Bored with your topic or story before you’re even done with one chapter? This might not be the idea for you.

On the other hand, if writing this sample chapter generates even more related ideas and questions, odds are in your favor.

Bottom Line

If you’re asking yourself if you can write a book about X, follow these three steps: see whether the idea sticks; brainstorm related ideas and characters; and write a sample chapter.

Curiously, these three steps are a good way to start a book proposal to send to agents or traditional publishers, too!

Let inspiration strike.
== ==

Want help figuring out if your idea has legs? Let’s schedule a book structure intensive.

Subscribe to the monthly newsletter & receive instant access to How to Find an Editor: a Resource for Independent and Self-Publishing Writers, plus all blogs delivered straight to your inbox, plus any upcoming local events and indie publishing tidbits I share.