You have a manuscript sitting on your computer. You open it every few weeks, read through what you’ve written, maybe add a paragraph or two, then close it again.
Months pass. Sometimes years.

You tell yourself it’s because you’re busy. Or that you need more research. Or that you’re waiting for the right time to finish it properly.

But here’s what’s actually happening: you’re going round and round in circles because there’s no clear thread.

The Expert’s Curse

When I was writing Power Marketing, I had tips everywhere. Brand advice here, content marketing strategies there, offline tactics scattered throughout. So much valuable knowledge, and absolutely no structure to hold it together.

I kept adding more. Every time I sat down to write, I’d think of another important point that readers needed to know.

The manuscript became a jumble.

This is what happens when experts try to write. You know too much. Everything feels important because it is important. You can’t bear to cut material because someone, somewhere might need that exact piece of advice.

So you include it all. And your reader feels overwhelmed. Uncertain what to do. They put it down for another time.

Finding Your Single Golden Thread

The breakthrough came when I realised something simple: the core message should go through everything.

If something sits way outside that theme, chop it out. Your manuscript should be as long as it needs to be, and no longer.

This isn’t about structure or chapter headings. Those come later. This is about identifying the one message that holds your entire manuscript together. The thread that connects every tip, every story, every piece of advice you want to share.

Without it, you’re not writing a book. You’re creating a reference manual that nobody will reference.