Writing About Writing a Book!

posted in: Blog, Writing/Authorship | 0

So I’m writing about writing a book. Many people I talk to are amazed that I’ve written a book. The funny thing is, I see people blogging all the time or writing clever lines on Facebook and Twitter. What makes writing a book so much more difficult? While there are some hurdles when it comes to writing a novel, here are some insights into my process:

Start with an idea.

For instance, my first book, Call Her Forth started with a dream. I’ve had several dreams about meeting my soul mate throughout my life. Although I’m happily married now, I still occasionally have these dreams. After one such dream, I thought to myself, ‘what if a person really met their soul mate through a dream?’ I found the thought intriguing, and I thought others would as well, so I decided to write a book about it.

Develop your idea.

I tried to develop characters that were personable and believable. If the reader can’t connect with your characters, they probably won’t finish the book. I used personalities I was familiar with and added some quirks, like nervous fidgeting.

Once I had my characters in mind, I needed to develop the plot further. I found it helpful to write down a summary of the chapters, which gave me a good feel for the pace of the book. I needed to come up with situations that the characters would face or interactions that they would have. For instance, the main character, Trent, meets a new girl at work, which he finds attractive. That night he dreams of another girl, and the dream leaves him stunned. He is inclined to believe the dream girl is real, but struggles to determine if there is anything he can do about it. He is faced with a decision: pursue the girl at work, or try to pursue a girl who may be a figment of his imagination.

When I read, I can picture everything in my head. I utilized this to help guide my storyline. I wanted my readers to see what I saw when they read my book. I tried to describe settings, clothes, movements, or anything that would help the reader get an image. Of course, I had to find a balance. I couldn’t describe everything or I might lose the reader, but I tried to give them enough so that they can easily fill in the rest.

Just write.

While taking the time to carefully craft each word is good, sometimes you just need to get the general idea on paper. Once it starts flowing, just keep going. You can and should come back to refine and edit your text, so it doesn’t have to be perfect the first time around.

Keep motivated.

Now, I’m not always very fast or very committed, so it took me about two years to write and edit my book. That may seem like a long time, and it kind of was, but I had a method that helped to keep me going: I asked a friend to read what I was writing and give me feedback. I emailed her sections of the book to read at a time. She was very supportive, and it helped knowing that she wanted to read the next part of the story to see what happened.

Formatting, editing, publishing and promoting are the final touches to any successful book, but that is far too much to cover in one blog. I will say, however, that I opted to self publish my books though CreateSpace, and they have several articles that helped me out. So maybe you’re just a daytime blogger or a quip writer, but maybe you have what it takes to write something more. If you have ever asked yourself, ‘Can I write a novel?’ the answer is probably yes! Writing a book is hard work, but if you want to do it, the worst thing you can do is not try.

Leave a Reply