Many people aspire to write a book, and most have no idea where to start. There are many ways to become a writer, but they all come down to one important activity…
Tip 1: Write stuff…
I am a great believer in not trying to eat the whole elephant. If you want to be a writer, and to write a book, you have to start by writing stuff. Unconstrained, nonsense, and whatever pops into your head. Try different genres and styles. Try for something short, and then try for something long.
After about 20 years of doing this…just kidding! After doing this for a while, which will be different for every writer, you start to get the hang of writing, and something interesting starts to unfold…which is usually a story idea.
Tip 2: When you get a story idea…
Maybe you have spent a bit of time at Tip 1, playing about with ideas before you find something that might work out into an actual story.
Or maybe you are the sort of person who wants to jump straight in at Tip 2 because you already know a story and you are chomping-at-the-bit to get it down. Let’s PAUSE. If this is your first ever story idea treat it as a bit of fun, and don’t be too disheartened if it becomes nothing more than ‘Tip 1 -stuff’ that ultimately you discard.
However you find yourself at Tip 2, there is no point in holding back. Write it, or plan it then write it, whatever works for you. One of two things will happen at this point:
- You realise this is a GREAT story idea and that it will pan out into an awesome book
- You get bored and realise it was FUN but it’s not worth pursuing, or not at this time, because you have just had another story idea that might be better still.
Tip 3: When you get an awesome story idea…
Usually you know when an idea for a story is something worthy of pursuit. Now you have to decide whether you need to plan or not. Planning is a matter of personal taste, some people swear by planning, some people loath it with the enthusiasm of a dental appointment.
For planning: People who get the most out of planning are the people who suffer from writers block. If you are the kind of person who finds themselves hemmed in when writing, or not sure what should happen next, planning is GOOD for you. It lets you nut out all the problems upfront so you don’t waste time on something that will go nowhere. Better to tackle all the blocks now than write 30k of words and discover you just don’t have a solution to a key plot point.
Against planning: People who never run out of ideas, who are always chasing the next shiny notion…and could simply write forever! If this is you STOP, and go back to the planning. This may sound harsh, but people with too many ideas suffer from a completely different problem to those who suffer from writers block, and that is what I refer to as ‘Infinite Story Syndrome’ also known as the ’10 book saga’. There is nothing wrong with ten book sagas I love ’em myself. But each book needs a level of conclusion and a little bit of planning, even for the idea masters, goes a long way to getting a good first book.
PS. There is a happy medium..and yes planning will help them too.
Tip 4: Get feedback sooner rather than later…
A trusted friend or confidant is what every writer needs. Someone to sanity check your idea to make sure it’s not a complete dud. Once it is drafted look for beta readers. They will be delighted to pick holes in your plot and make it stronger in doing so.
Tip 5: There is nothing wrong with trying…
I must have a couple of hundred story ideas floating about in bits, scribbled dialog, plot points, and random chapters. All of which were great for my ‘Tip 1-Write Stuff’. I only finished 3 books completely to the draft stage. It was the 3rd one I decided I liked enough to edit, and I am now about to publish. The first 2 drafts—I am going to abandon—and I feel no guilt in that.
I have subsequently finished writing the next 3 books in the series. I spent a lot of time ‘writing stuff’, playing about with ‘story ideas’ and I even drafted a couple of ‘awesome story ideas’ into a full novel, before I found a book I felt worthy of publishing, and I don’t regret any of this time. It helped me to find my writers voice. I had fun. It gave me confidence.
Tip 6: Quality is never a waste of time…
I learnt a massive amount about quality by having my book professionally edited…grammar is definitely not my strong point! A writing course if you can afford it is worth while, but otherwise there is a ton of fantastic free information on the internet, and plenty of great books you can buy to improve your skills that way. No time spent on improving your writing quality is ever wasted time.
Tip 7: Simply read…
The last tip goes without saying…but just in case…when you settle on a genre, read it—a lot.
More more posts on writing…
A simple guide to planning a novel – Part 1
Six secrets to drafting a novel – fast!
How to generate new story ideas
Love Sci-fi and fantasy fiction?
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Great post, I really enjoyed it. I love the part where you have discarded two drafts, that is so freeing to hear. Thank you for sharing 🙂
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Thank you Amy 🙂 Glad you enjoyed it. You don’t realise how far you have come until you look back on your old writing scribbles 😉
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A very helpful post.
I literally look like the pug in tip 2 when I have an idea, thinking and rolling the storyline in my mind.
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haha! 🙂
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Reblogged this on Kim's Author Support Blog.
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Thanks for sharing
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😀 ❤
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Reblogged this on Don Massenzio's Blog.
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Thank you Don 🙂
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You’re welcome
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Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge – I’m definitely a shiny notion chaser. Literally and mentally. I probably got it from my dad, who likes to pick up nuts, bolts, and car parts that might have some use one day from the side of the highway. I’ve always been frustrated at having word count limits on anything. I know I want to write a book – but I’m certainly at step #1, and I already have a trusted confidante who has a PhD in English Lit. She’s very happy to read my scribblings. And cross out large portions of them, lol.
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Thanks for stopping by and sharing your experiences 🙂 And how fortunate to have a friend with a PhD in English Lit…should be the first thing on every writer’s check list… 😉
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Great post! Prior to NaNoWriMo last year my debut novel was a hodgepodge of ideas, notes on characters, and short random scenes. I felt lost in how to put it together. Then friends in my writing group convinced me to try NaNo and just write it without thinking too much. It worked! A year later I’m still revising but at least I have something and I should be done soon. Can’t wait to do it again.
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That’s wonderful, and congratulations on completing a book 🙂 The NaNoWriMo is a great way to push through whatever writing barriers you have. 🙂
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Reblogged this on Archer's Aim and commented:
I might add that if you are serious about it then start getting your name out there early before the release and be patient with the results. Get an editor and a good cover too.
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Thanks for sharing, and great tips 🙂
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That was well said. I’m thinking of writing a short book about dealing with a first novel but maybe after I release the second one first!
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Thanks for sharing, much appreciated:)
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Reblogged this on When Angels Fly and commented:
Worth the time to read!
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Thank you 🙂
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Welcome
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Thanks for sharing 🙂
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Reblogged this on The Writer's Scrap Bin.
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Thanks for sharing 🙂
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I love Tip #5. As a perfectionist, I hate thinking about starting anything that I don’t think will be tremendous by the time I’m done. Fortunately for me, my Master’s program is break me of that (slowly but surely). I’d say that only one of the six pieces I turned in for my portfolio doesn’t require an overhaul, minor or massive, in order to be publishable. You’ll go through a lot of crud before you find a gem.
I would also add, probably between Tip #1 and 2, that you should try revisiting old work you’ve shelved for story inspiration. Maybe you’ll finish a half-baked manuscript or your old scribbles will serve as a springboard for an entirely new story idea; either way it might help get the creative juices flowing. It’s also good to remind yourself of how much you’ve improved over the years.
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These are great points, and yes, definitely think dragging out your old scribbles can be fun 🙂 Thanks so much for stopping by my blog!
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Reblogged this on WILDsound Writing and Film Festival Review.
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Thanks for sharing 🙂
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I’m learning how tip #4 (Get feedback sooner rather than later) is so much more important than I first thought. I never realized how critical it can be to get feedback from before. The feedback always helps me expand on my work. I think feedback from beta readers are important too because they don’t have that “oh, you did good” that friends and family can give you. I wrote about how beta readers were great on my blog a couple of weeks ago. I email my beta reader daily. Feedback is amazing.
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It certainly is! And us delighted you enjoyed the article 🙂
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Nice article and great tips. Will be sharing Thank you !
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Thank you! 🙂
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Great surely it’s gonna help me with my frst book
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I also have a couple million story ideas! And I feel like sometimes I can’t settle on just one. Great post
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This was extremely helpful!
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Great tips! Planning definitely helps both with writer’s block and with reining in infinite ideas
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Thanks 🙂
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Very sophisticated advice for someone who apparently lives on Dinosaur Island. I like that, too. When I was cooking professionally, no time was better than when all was done and I could experiment. One of my good friends back then said, “Writers write and everyone else, well, I don’t know what they do.” Definitely read. I am trying to get through 10 classics in the next year. I will probably not finish them all, but I will hear their voice. My vote goes for planning, the key is to keep it under control. Like many writers, I can’t stop until I’m out of carbon paper. Looking forward to the next…
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