There are many people who dream of writing a book one day, but without a clear message and plan of action very few will ever write a single word of it.
Here are some tips from a publishing industry veteran with over a decade of experience and hundreds of published manuscripts under her belt on how to start writing a book.
Getting started writing a book can be a long and arduous task, which is why it’s often easier to get going if you have a plan.
Luckily for all you budding authors out there, I’ve put together this useful guide full of tips on how to stay motivated when writing your novel.
The experience of professional book writers can help you avoid mistakes that can cost you time and effort.
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1. Find your passion, which will help you stay motivated
Writing a novel is tough work, so before you begin it’s crucial that you’re passionate about the story you’re going to tell. If not, then you’ll probably lose interest along the way and won’t be able to finish your masterpiece!
Similarly, try not to choose a genre that has been written about ad nauseam (i.e. zombies, vampires, anything to do with vampires or zombies). You want your novel to be unique and memorable; otherwise, no one will ever read it!
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2. Create a plan of action to outline what you want to write about
One of the questions I was asked when I said that I am writing a book
was “How are you going to write your book?”. I replied that
I have outlined my entire story in notes on my computer. Then,
the person who asked me the question told me with certainty that
“You can’t just outline everything in bullet points and go with it.” This statement caught me off guard because I had already done all the legwork for this project, so why would they say something like this?
As it turns out, there are several different methods of developing a novel or narrative nonfiction book.
Many of these ways don’t involve following the traditional rules of writing, which is what makes them interesting.
Here are three methods to consider if you are planning on writing a book.
1. Outline the entire story, then write everything down in notes on your computer first
I am following this method because I believe it is the most efficient way of making sure that you don’t leave anything out when creating an outline (especially with fiction).
This process also has other benefits like saving time and cutting down on the laundry list of changes editors come up with after they have read your work.
However, not everyone agrees that outlines are best for writing nonfiction books. For example, Ramit Sethi writes about how he wrote his bestselling book “I Will Teach You To Be Rich”
2 . Create an outline after you have written several drafts of your book
This is a good option for people who want to try the traditional way of writing a book which involves getting an idea, writing one draft, then going back and editing it.
In this method, after you have your first draft of your story done, start creating an outline by outlining each chapter from beginning to end. You can refer to your original notes as a guide when doing this.
After you’ve finished the last chapter on the outline, move onto writing a second draft of your story. Then do another round of edits on that until you are satisfied with the product.
3 . Create an outline first before starting on drafts of your story
In this method, create an outline first then write several drafts based on that as you develop your story.
Then if you want, you can go back and create another outline after you have all of your drafts done to help with editing.
This is a good option for people who like the idea of outlines but don’t like the idea of outlining every single chapter before writing them out.
However, this method could be time-consuming and complicated because after your first draft, you will have to go back and develop another outline before starting on the second draft.
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3. Write out your book idea and story line on paper
This is one of the most useful tips that I am sharing with you.
If you’re like me and you feel intimidated by all the writing that we have to do, then I hope this tip will be helpful for you.
I call it “Mapping Your Novel”, because essentially that’s what we’re doing: planning everything out before we actually start working on it.
And why not? Writing is hard work, so why make it more difficult than necessary?
Not saying there isn’t joy in spontaneity or whatever; but sometimes knowing where you want your story to go makes the journey way more enjoyable and easier.
I’ve filled up dozens of notebooks with my notes and ideas and plans and sketches and characters’ backgrounds (and their deaths – because hey, if they die, I know it from the start!).
So I want to show you a step-by-step process that will help you take a project from a jumbled bunch of thoughts and plans into a smooth flowing novel. It’s pretty straightforward and doesn’t take too long, but it sure does make your life easier.
Also, once you’ve written out your ideas for each chapter this way, making revisions or adding new chapters later on is so much easier!
Trust me – I didn’t do this for my first two novels and I still have nightmares about trying to change little things without screwing up everything else.
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4. Brainstorm ideas for chapters
In preparation for writing your book it’s important to think about what you want to write about before getting started on it or else you may end up with a disjointed piece of work that makes very little sense and is difficult to understand and follow.
Before we get into brainstorming ideas for chapters of your book let’s first take some time to consider some questions:
- What do I want my audience to get out of this book?
- Who is my target market? Do I need an editor or another set of eyes looking over my work before challenging myself by publishing it?
- Are people interested in reading similar books published recently?
- Do I have a unique perspective I can bring to my subject?
These are just a few of the many tough questions you should be asking yourself as you plan what topics and ideas to include in your book.
We will now move onto brainstorming those ideas.
First, give some thought as to what type of book you want to write: fiction or nonfiction?
It may help to think about others who have written similar books and consider what they did right and where they fell short.
Perhaps take a look at the “about the author” section or look them up online for more information regarding their background that could help give you inspiration for your own work.
Some good places to do research regarding other authors is by looking on-line at library databases such as this one: http://www.worldcat.org/.
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5. Start writing – even if it’s just for 10 minutes each day
If you’re a new or aspiring author, then there is a very good chance that you will feel an incredible amount of pressure to write quickly.
The reality is that it takes time to develop the skills necessary for crafting a compelling story.
However, if you want to have any hope of being published in the modern era you must be willing and able to write quickly.
In order to meet this requirement with your writing, I recommend making a habit of spending just 10 minutes each day working on your book.
This may not seem like much time, but in fact it’s actually enough time for a lot of progress in your manuscript. For example:
- You can do some research for your book
- Write a page or two of actual prose (dialog, action)
- Polish up an existing scene to make it more compelling
The point is that even 10 minutes each day will allow you to continue making steady progress on your manuscript, without being overwhelmed by the pressure of needing to write all day long.
In order to begin using this expert tip today , identify a time in your daily schedule when you know you will have at least 10 consecutive minutes available for writing—and then set a reminder on your phone/computer that goes off during that time interval.
Then commit yourself to spending those 10 minutes actually putting words on paper.
