The Report Writing Process

This is the second part of the $7 Secrets case study.

Before beginning the actual report, I decided to review the $7 Secrets ebook again, especially my favorite part — keeping it short (30 pages or less short). Knowing that I had a limited number of pages to work with made planning it a bit easier, however, I learned during the editing process that you’ll want to make your first draft about 35 double-spaced pages and then edit down.

Planning the Report

Planning the book wasn’t difficult; it was a matter of preparing the table of contents (ToC) which would double as an outline. It took about 30 minutes for a working version to serve as a nice guide thoughout the process.

Title page/copyright/disclaimer
Introduction
First Section
1. Supporting section
Second Section
1. Supporting section
Third Section
1. Supporting section
Conclusion
Affiliate Program

In case it isn’t too obvious from the example, I used a variation of the 5 paragraph essay format we learn in grade school. Of course, the ToC evolved throughout the entire writing process, but it set nice boundaries to help curb the wild tangents.

Writing the Report

During the first phase of writing, I focused only on getting the contents down on paper. It was difficult not self-editing as I wrote, but I constantly reminded myself that it was just a sh*tty first draft (a great concept I picked up from a hilarious book on writing called Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott).

Another function of the ToC that I didn’t expect is that it allowed me to bounce around while writing. If I was hung up on a particular section, I’d simply skip on to the next section and come back when the mood hit me.

As you write, remember to bring forward your human voice. Envision that you are writing this report for a friend or colleague — keep it light and unpretentious. However, don’t make it so informal that it sounds trite. I mention this because when you’ve already built the human voice into your report in the first draft, you don’t have to worry about editing it in later.

Tags: seven dollar secrets, 7 dollar secrets, jonathan leger, writing reports, write that report, ebook writing