Write a book: build your book

Although it's often said that "Books aren't written, they're rewritten," it's truer to say that they're built.

Every book has a structure, whether it's fiction or nonfiction. Here's how The Nanny Diaries authors work on their books:

Nannies drew on experiences for novel states: "By now, McLaughlin and Kraus have come up with an effective routine in working together. Kraus said they rely heavily on outlines to organize their stories. They hammer out the details, nail down the facts, then break the work down into scenes and write separately. Once finished with a scene, the two swap material and edit each other's work separately. Anything they strongly disagree with is discarded... "We build off each other," said Kraus. "It's like layering paint."