The very first step in writing should be deciding what you are going to write about. This should be your first task whether you are writing fiction or nonfiction. It does not matter whether you are writing a book or a blog post.

To help make this easier, you need to answer three simple questions:

Who is your intended reader?

If you cannot answer this question then there is no point in writing anything unless you intend to read it yourself. Knowing your intended audience means you will tailor your content to them.

Different audiences require different types of content and different styles of writings. If you are writing a self-help book on stress management, for example, you will not present it the same way to millennials and older generations. These two groups have different stress triggers and are likely to require different stress management solutions. Secondly, even the language you use in presenting the information to these two groups will need to differ. 

Always have your audience demographics at the back of your mind when deciding what to write about and how to deliver the content. 

Are you passionate and knowledgeable about the topic?

If there is any slight hesitation in answering this question, then abandon the topic. 

Passion plays a very big role in the successful completion of your book. No amount of research or resilience will make up for lack of passion. If you are not passionate enough about the subject, chances are that you are going to abandon the project or do a half-baked job. 

Your passion and knowledge should be in line with whatever you want to deliver to your intended audience. If, for example, you want to write about stress management, just being knowledgeable about the topic will not be enough. You need to be knowledgeable and also have the desire to help people dealing with stress. Anyone with the knowledge can write about the subject but your genuine passion and intention to help will come through in your words and that is what will set your book apart from the rest. Passion and knowledge go hand in hand.

What do you aim to achieve?

This is the final question and it is as important as the first two. Having a goal for your book guides your writing and prevents you from meandering off into writing unnecessary content. You must know why you want to write. This is important for both fiction and nonfiction but more crucial for nonfiction writers. Note down your objectives for the content and the goals you want to achieve. Still using stress management as an example, do you want to teach people about stress in general or do you want to provide solutions? These are both valid goals but you have to know which of the two you want to focus on or if you want to write on both. Without this basic goal, you will end up providing content that might be confusing to your readers.

Once you are clear on what you want to achieve, you can then get into the more detailed breakdown of what you want your book to look like.

These three questions must be answered to your satisfaction before you attempt to write anything, otherwise you might be wasting your time.