How To Start Writing A Book
People ask me all the time about how to start writing a book, and now that it's National Novel Writing Month, I think I'm getting more emails about this than I normally do, which means - a lot of emails.
So, I'm going to blog about it.
There are basically three components to writing a book or a novel, or anything honestly.
The first part is you have to write. You have to put words to the page and/or computer screen. A lot of people get stuck on this part. There’s no one right way to do it. You can outline the heck out of a book and/or a novel. Or… you can hear a sentence in your head and just go from there and see where the journey takes you. The secret is to not get hung up on how to do the writing or outlining, but to do the writing, which leads me to the second component.
Do not stop writing. You have to keep writing even when you think your story sucks, even when you think it is pointless. You have to expect self-doubt and write right through it. Stopping because of self doubt is the number one enemy of writers. It is what keeps me from blogging, which to me is much more terrifying than writing a book.
End the Bad Boy. In order for you to have a book out in the world, you have to write all the way through it to the ending. There are a million books out there and even more ‘almost written’ books. Don’t be an almost. Be a writer.
Here are some more hints.
1. Write - Write as much as you can. I wrote my first book, TIME STOPPERS (13th published one) in the car on my way to newspaper assignments. I'd make the story up aloud and tell it to my daughter and then write the pages at home when I got a chance. If you write just one page a day, you end up with a draft that's 356 pages at the end of the year. You know what that is? It's a book.
2. Keep Track of Your Progress - A lot of the time, I feel like I haven't written anything or achieved any writing during the day. My mind is evil like that. So to help me keep track, I post a word count at the beginning of the day and the end of the day, too. That way I can see how many words I wrote. When I'm revising, I do it by chapter. I revise a chapter a day and mark it off in my notebook or computer file. It's good to see that you've accomplished things. It's motivating.
3. Work Every Day - Some writers don't do this. I do. But I'm trying to take the weekends off. Some writers go on a retreat and work for 24 hours straight, sipping green tea and eating Saltines. I am not one of those writers, but you can be. If you aren't the binge-type writer, though, make sure you are diligent. Write every day. Think about when you will write. Schedule time to write. Do it. For my first book, I was writing everywhere, on napkins, the back of envelopes, computer files, and I would be in the car waiting to pick up my daughter, at a swim meet (DO NOT JUDGE. SWIM MEETS ARE LONG), waiting for a meeting to start. All those moments of waiting became moments of writing.
4. Give Yourself Goals - I have daily goals, weekly goals and yearly goals. This sounds quite organized. It isn't, really. I just say things like, "I want to write 5,000 words this week," or I want to have the necromancer story done by November 1, this revision of a picture book done by December, and so on. Your goals can be big or little, but keep visiting them, remind yourself of them. And be psyched when you achieve them. I give this advice, but I totally fail at the celebration part of writing. When my last book came out, I was training members of Rotary International about public image. I absolutely failed to even have a cupcake to celebrate. DO NOT BE LIKE ME. Give yourself goals and party when you achieve them. You deserve it.
5. Be Okay with Sucking - I am so far from perfect. My writing is far from perfect. The truth is that even the writers that you think are heroic, brilliant, awesome, amazing mess up. They have editors, second editors, agents, friends who help them make their stories the best they can be. The secret is to let others help you. The other secret is to not let your fear of failure freeze you into not making story. We writers are often our own worst enemy and few of us have healthy egos that are okay with criticism, that don't have self doubt. The thing is to preserve, keep writing.
6. Write More - Once you have your story, revise your story. Revise it again. Study the books you like. Revise again. Study the books you don't like. Revise again. And write something new. Don't stop writing. Writing is a craft and the more you do it, the better you become. This is just like all the other arts and crafts. The more you practice piano, the better a pianist you are. The more you sculpt, the better the sculptor. Writers are artisans. Our materials are words. Words are the symbols we put together to create story.
7. Start a blog and find a community - Writing can be lonely. You are in your house or coffee shop or (if you are me) car, writing. If you blog, you can connect to other writers and readers. If you connect, you can find support when you are feeling like throwing your laptop through the window. You can feel less alone.
8. Get Inspired - When I talk to kids about writing, I tell them that to live the biggest lives they can, experience things that are legal and won't get you thrown in prison or hurt or kicked out of school, have adventures, make friends, listen to people's conversations. The stories writers tell are about interactions, cause and effect, about things happen. Be a witness. Be a story teller. Live.
If you'd like to find out more about me or my books, check out my website at www.carriejonesbooks.com