____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
BOOKS TO BRING YOU HOME TO YOURSELF
A publishing house for your inner garden
Naomi Rose, Publisher
If you have a great idea for a book,
but you're more right-brained
and don't like making outlines,
here's a whole other way to go about it.
An Organic Approach to Structuring Your Book:
A Right-Brained Alternative to Outlines
(Workbook Included)
by Naomi Rose
Book Developer & Creative Midwife
Creator, Writing from the Deeper Self
$25 (Print)
$10.99 (E-book)
Say goodbye to rigid outlines and hello to a way to structure your book
that lets your innate creativity flourish!
Find joy and excitement in the process of finding your book's structure
as you open yourself to glimmers of inspiration
and weave them all together to evolve a Table of Contents (TOC)
that truly works for you.
Looking for a more fulfilling writing experience? Feeling resistant to the idea of planning every aspect of your book before even starting to write? Finding it hard to organize your ideas coherently without losing all the juice of your intuitive, creative nature/
Imagine the joy of writing a book from the bottom up, allowing your ideas to flow effortlessly onto the page in whatever order they come, then translating them into a TOC that reveals the bigger picture. This organic, interactive process frees you from externally imposed constraints, letting your alivenss and internal interest guide you to the next step, and the next, and the next.
Many "Aha!" moments will be sparked in you by this book's unique and compassionate mapping of the territory. And what you discover about yourself through the "Reflections" in the included Workbook will help you find your own way through the structuring (and writing) of your book.
With An Organic Approach to Structuring Your Book, you get to benefit from the expertise and guidance of a renowned author and book midwife who understands the intricacies of the writing process, and how freeing it is to trust finding your own way.
With delightful illustrations by the author.
$25 (Print)
$10.99 (E-book)
“This is IMPRESSIVE! It's fabulous. You have so much to offer.
May your message reach far and wide.” —Taj Inayat, Sufi Guide
"I thoroughly enjoyed this book and moved through it with ease.
This liberating approach offers breathing room. Naomi Rose is offering a divine gift." —Jane Majkiewicz, writer, editor, literary agency associate emeritus
To give you the flavor of what's possible for you
in evolving a structure more organically,
here's an excerpt from Chapter One, "A Book Idea Is Born":
The real difference between starting with an outline and evolving a Table of Contents isn’t in what the ingredients look like when they’re done. It’s in how they get there in the first place.
Maybe you have always wanted to write a book. Maybe you already consider yourself a writer at heart and are ready to go bigger with a book-length offering. Perhaps your motivation is to make an impact on the world . . . or use your book to build or further strengthen your career . . . or something else. Or maybe you never thought of writing a book before, but now it has visited your thoughts and doesn’t want to leave.
So the desire is all-important, and you have already internally experienced it. Being called from within to write a book, and saying “Yes!” (as you have) will see you through.
​
Still, you may not yet have much of a sense of what the road ahead will look like, or where to place your feet on the path. Typically, writers of nonfiction books (including but not limited to first-time authors) will look around for some formula to get them started and keep them going. And there are many formulas available! “Write a book in a weekend!” “Come up with an outline, and then just fill it in!” The outline-based approach is a standard prescription, often starting as far back as middle school and extending into graduate school and PhD dissertations. So for those who have been exposed to this approach over the years, it might seem like a no-brainer.
But it doesn’t fit for everyone. It requires a certain way of thinking, and pretty much only that way of thinking. And what if you just aren’t put together that way — what then? Must you shoehorn yourself and your book-to-be into a convention that fails to inspire you? That makes you feel you have to hunker down and produce something that doesn’t organically come from within you? That doesn’t reflect the real you? And why would you even want to spend time and energy to write a book that didn’t?
​
The fact that many nonfiction books tend to follow a generic format and get published doesn’t mean starting with an outline is the best, or the only, way to write a book. Much better, in my view, is to write a book that’s alive for you as you write it . . . that brings forth more of you, so you end up even richer and more self-actualized than before . . . that makes use of your uniquely creative nature (even if you aren’t yet fully aware of what it is or how it works for you).
Starting with an outline or some other prescriptive formula may get the job done. But this may sacrifice an intimate, fresh, full-of-discovery relationship with your book, as it gradually shows itself to you. Besides, to tell yourself ahead of time what your book will be about from A to Z can eclipse the light of the creative process that’s inherent in you as well as your book.
It's understandable that you might want to seek out a formula and follow it, especially if you haven’t written a book before. The unknowns of writing a book can seem overwhelming, at first: “What do I do? Where do I start? How do I know I even have it in me to do it?”
​
I believe it’s entirely possible to write a terrific book—one that interests its readers and does well for its publishers—and be true to yourself in the writing. And one way to go about this is to forego the outlines, forego thinking you need to know exactly what you’re going to do at the outset, and offer your wider span of intelligences (not only the cognitive intelligence responsible for architecting an outline) the opportunity to offer their gifts.
And that’s what this book (workbook included) will give you access to: a more organic, right-brained way to structure the book that’s in you to write. Along the way, you may encounter inner capacities that you didn’t even know were there.
​
So many possibilities lie ahead of you, not only for your book but also for your understanding of who you are.
Straining to come up with an outline isn't the only way to discover what your book has it in it to be.
Instead, you can receive "glimmers" from within that spark your creative process. Writing them down and seeing how they weave together lets you evolve your TOC seamlessly and organically.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
The Table of Contents (TOC) of An Organic Approach to Structuring Your Book was discovered in the very same way the book guides you to find your TOC. First came the discovery process, and then the topics and headings for the TOC came out of that. So it all looks professional and proper when you read the TOC, as if it had been thought up ahead of time. But it's the result, not the start; and the process was much more (a) intimate, (b) creative, (c) surprising, and (d) even fun!
​
As you go through this book,
here's what you'll get to take into your own reflections and experience
to evolve the structure of your book organically:
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​Chapter One:
A Book (Idea) Is Born!
​
We Are Conditioned to Think in Terms of Outlines
Does an Outline Have to Be the First Step?
Who Outlines Do and Don’t Work For
The Top-Down Approach / The Bottom-Up Approach
Workbook Reflections:
1: Your Experience with Outlines
2: Are You More Top-Down, Bottom-Up,
or Somewhere in Between?
Chapter Two:
How Evolving a Table of Contents
Differs from Starting with an Outline
​
A Different, More Receptive Model
-
A Castle in the Air / A Statue Made of Clay, Not Stone
-
Building a House / Making a Sculpture
The Benefits of Evolving a Table of Contents
-
When an Itinerary Isn’t Possible (or Even Advisable)
-
The ”More” of You
Workbook Reflections:
3: Re-Trace Your Path of Inspiration
4: What “More” of You Hasn’t Yet Been Invited
into Your Writing?
Chapter Three:
How to Evolve a Table of Contents:
It’s as Much About You as About Your Book
​
The Intelligence(s) Inside You (in Addition to Cognitive)
You Contain Many Facets of Intelligence
-
Heart Intelligence: Rhythm and Heartbeat
-
Body Intelligence: Listening for What’s Here
-
Subconscious Intelligence: Steeping and Sleeping
-
Spiritual Intelligence: Meditating and Praying
-
Integrative Intelligence: Glimmer-Gathering
-
And Let’s Not Forget About Cognitive Intelligence — It Has a Role to Fulfill, Too
Workbook Reflections:
5: Accessing Your Heart’s Wisdom through Its Rhythm
6: Enlist Your Body to Help Evolve Your TOC
7: Steeping
8: Incubating a Response During Sleep
9: Meditating on Your TOC
10: Praying About What Belongs in Your Book
11: Integrating Your Glimmers into a More Whole Picture
12: Giving the Cognitive Mind Its Right Place in
Structuring Your Book
Chapter Four:
An Illustration of the Process:
Writing Down Your Glimmerings
and Seeing the Pattern They Start to Form
​
An Illustration of the Process
(1) Writing Down What Comes
(two pieces that arrived independently)
(2) Putting the Pieces Together: Looking for the Relationship
Writing a Working title
Looking for the Themes in What You Wrote
(3) How These Themes Might Interrelate
(4) An illustrated evolution of the Table of Contents
A Look Back at the TOC Process So Far
A “Cheat Sheet” on the Basic Steps
Your Reflections on This Evolutionary Process
​
Workbook Reflection:
13: Clarifying What You Have Learned
Appendix:
A Fuller Picture of How My TOC Illustration Evolved
​
Next Steps
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Once you understand what's possible organically,
you can evolve your book's structure in a way that fits for you,
and avails you of your many levels of Intelligence.
Whether you come to your glimmers by steeping ~
or by sleeping ~
Whether you find your glimmers in a castle in the air ~
or by sculpting words in clay, not in stone ~
your intuitive, right-brained nature is more than ready to help you
evolve a structure for your book
that works with you,
not against you,
and even delights you with what you find.
Whether you already identify as a more right-brained creative soul,
or you don't but would like to bring a complementary ease
to your more left-brained, linear way of thinking,
An Organic Approach to Structuring Your Book:
A Right-Brained Alternative to Outlines
(Workbook Included)
will make the difference between
straining to put your book together,
and the wondrous delight of letting it unfold out of you.
Give yourself this way of making your desire to write a book
real in your life.
Then your readers will reap the benefits, too.
$25 (Print)
$10.99 (E-book)
Reader Praise for An Organic Approach to Structuring Your Book
“This is IMPRESSIVE! It's fabulous. You have so much to offer.
"May your message reach far and wide.” —Taj Inayat, Sufi Guide
"Unique and original! Very well-developed and explained.
"This book addresses a real issue. People who are more right-brained can struggle with writing an outline, when it may not be appropriate for them to do so. Naomi Rose is really brilliant at combining both nonlinear and cognitive intelligences — espousing a right-brain approach, but explaining it very clearly, including giving an example from her own writing. I'm very impressed!"
—Ralph Dranow, author, A New Life, and (with Daniel Marlin) At work on the Garments of Refuge
​
"I thoroughly enjoyed this book and moved through it with ease.
"Seeing the author's own process illuminated this writing practice and made it all come together in a helpful way. This liberating approach offers breathing room. I didn't feel the typical resistance I've had when trying to follow other models that ultimately feel too prescriptive and rigid. Naomi Rose is offering a divine gift."
—Jane Majkiewicz, writer, editor, literary agency associate emeritus
​
"This book is brilliant!
"Naomi Rose has created a beautiful and useful product, which doesn't feel generic. The artwork really works — the graphics feel fresh and inspired. I finally get the author's process when working with clients to form the Table of Contents. As I prepare to write my book, I feel this workbook will really help me."
—Dana Watt
TITLE: An Organic Approach to Structuring Your Book: A Right-Brained Alternative to Outlines
AUTHOR: Naomi Rose
ILLUSTRATOR: Naomi Rose
PUBLISHER: Rose Press
ISBN, print edition: 978-0-9983928-4-4
ISBN, E-book edition: 978-0-9983928-5-1
You may also enjoy working with the complementary book
​
STARTING YOUR BOOK
A Guide to Navigating the Blank Page
by Attending to What's Inside You
by Naomi Rose
Details HERE
​
​
___________________________________________________________________________________________________
About Naomi Rose
Naomi Rose is the creator of Writing from the Deeper Self, and a Book Developer & Creative Midwife by profession. She helps people write the book of their heart by listening to and with them so that what is essential inside the writer becomes known through the writing. Most of her clients have successfully completed and published their books., to their great satisfaction To learn more about her approach and explore how you might work with her on your book, see https://www.naomirose.net.
An Organic Approach to Structuring Your Book is part of the Rose Press "Creative Process" series.
​
If you yearn to encourage the flowering of your creative nature in a way that feels natural to you — that enhances your sense of yourself and also offers wonderful gifts to others — then the “Creative Process” series will lead you through that door. The intention of the books in this series is to bring you closer to the Source of Creation, which is not only available to you, but is actually in you. Whether you want to tap your inherent creative ability to write a book or simply become more intimate with the nature of the creative process as it lives in you, the books in this series will both unveil some behind-the-scenes mysteries and re-connect you with the Mystery of Creation. Out of this will evolve a book with your authentic voice and message — one that heals you as you write it, and heals your readers as they read it.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
The books put out by Rose Press are meant to last and last and last.
​
Unlike many books that are published to make a temporary splash and then fade out into dim memory or total forgetfulness, Rose Press books are meant to live in your heart and in your life.
​
So not only do they remain on your bookshelf (or your hard drive, portable reading device, etc): they also remain inside you, part of the impressions that make up your inner being. And sometimes ~ much like a sudden affectionate thought about an old friend with whom you’ve been out of contact ~ the desire will come to pick up and read these books again and make their acquaintance (and your own) again from the place where you are now.
Some of these books are already perennials: issued and reissued to encounter new readers and re-visit old ones. Others are brand new and just putting down roots, to return to readers’ attentions in their own passing seasons.
Books that go deep take time to write, so quality may win out over quantity, here. We hope you will content yourself with the current varieties in this “garden,” and look forward to new blooms to come.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________
Deep reads for deepening readers.
Rose Press. A publishing house for your inner garden.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________