How to write a book by 42thingsleft

"Brilliant, I love reading but writing is better"

How I did it: You need a great idea first then you need a writing plan that is realistic. Decide how many words you want in your book (a novel is 50,000) there will be roughly 400 a page. So check how long a page will take you and you can figure out the time needed. Most of all you need to be motivated to write, if you don't enjoy the process you will probably give up. If you do you will make the time to do it.

My book is set in the Channel Island of Herm which is very familiar to me. It's important to write about something you know or can learn about. 

Lessons & tips: Get someone close to you who will be brutaly honest to critique your work. Its no good people being nice if you can't write (unless you are just doing this for fun). But choose a genre they like, its also no good asking your partner to critique SciFi if she never reads it. I deliberately chose a genre my wife liked for this purpose. Don't rely on a vanity publisher to critique your work but normal publishers should be fine. There's nothing wrong with vanity publishing just don't rely on them for that.  

Resources: If you want to write with others their is a collaborative book project where all the writers will share the royalties. That's good because you can share ideas and the workload is less. Not a bad idea for the first published work to get you started. All done online. www.amazonclicks.com for details. Look for 'The Book' press release. Don't worry too much about typos, crack on with the story, your editor will sort all that out. Good luck!


108 people found this helpful
 

Sep 11, 2008, 10:58AM PDT | 20 comments | 96 cheers


Comments:

utopiangnostic is optimistic

Thank you :-)

this is great advice. thank you :-)

Sep 15, 2008, 04:46PM PDT | Thread | Respond to this

42thingsleft

Its about your slant on life

My pleasure!

..and don’t worry about being ‘an expert’ people want to read about unique, amusing,moving or interesting perspectives on life, they can get the facts from reference books!

I hope you go ahead and write your book.:)

Sep 16, 2008, 05:05AM PDT | Respond to this 1 cheer

Carl

Being Motivated on Writing a Book

This is really good advice you have posted here – very appreciative of your efforts.

I did give up until I read your post and now I will move forward as you are 100% correct in what you mentioned.

Thanks – It is good to see some good come out of this site. My wife has always been brutally honest in her editing of my writing and it really helps me a lot.

Right now I have only wanted to get started with an eBook so I can get in the spirit of writing. The theme of my book is on “How Time Flies” – we need to live our life to the fullest whether we are rich or poor. Mind you it is better to have money. :)

The idea is to look at things in a better light while we are struggling so we don’t waste a lot of energy on negative events. Basically, it is what it is, in a nutshell.

I always say there is a season for good and a season for bad neither of them last but depending how we handle all seasons is what determines our outcomes.

Sep 17, 2008, 07:08AM PDT | Thread | Respond to this 2 cheers

42thingsleft

Time fascinates me!

Good subject Carl, time fascinates me. If you contemplate long enough whether it actually exists on its own or is just a human ‘construction’ you get close to the secret of life – at least that’s what I think! I do know that its always slower at work than at home and that I sometimes squander it – which is worse than squandering money.

So let me know when your ebook is out, as it sounds right up my street!

Good luck and keep typing.

Sep 17, 2008, 03:40PM PDT | Thread | Respond to this 1 cheer

Carl

Time Should Not be Squandered

Excellent comment – I hope you don’t mind but I thought the above title is catchy as what you said in your comment makes good sense.

When I get this book completed I will definitely post in here and let you know – if you don’t mind I can give you a copy in exchange for some feedback.

My goal is to have this book completed by October 15, 2008. Without a deadline it will just keep on being a project until whenever.

Would you mind if I used “squandering” terminology in some form in my book as I have been stuck a bit on how to continue with the writing but what you said sparked a thought.

Let me know when you can – thanks. I ask as I certainly don’t want to be viewed as stealing ideas from people to help only myself – my goal in life is help others in my quest to improve my own situation – Win Win Win for everyone! :)

Sep 24, 2008, 05:54AM PDT | Thread | Respond to this 1 cheer

42thingsleft

Squander away!

Carl I have absolutely no problem with you using any terminology or ideas I post here, you don’t need to ask but I thank you for your consideration.

Your quest is a very worthy one and I wish everyone pursued those principles.

Good luck with your writing – I have found it helpful to set deadlines too especially getting the first draft written as you can always go back and perfect it later. Once you get the words flowing its best to stay with it as long as possible. The revisions don’t need the same creative juices, they are more about details.

PS Sorry about the delay, I’ve been out of the country for a while.

Sep 27, 2008, 03:07AM PDT | Thread | Respond to this

Carl

Finishing My Book

Thanks for your reply greatly appreciated for sure.

Hope you had a great trip – we will have the book completed as planned by October 15, 2008. At least the first draft that is and hopefully it will make sense. :)

Sep 27, 2008, 04:29PM PDT | Thread | Respond to this

How did it all go? - Zakgirl
Update on the collaborative book - 42thingsleft

JulietNY is going to see a movie

Great post!

Thank you for posting your experience. It was very insightful and has remotivated me to start writing again.

All my life I have had several ideas for books to write but I have never been able to fully develop one. I always end up writing one or two chapters then quite. So now I am going to figure out a timeline first.

Oct 10, 2008, 08:28AM PDT | Thread | Respond to this

42thingsleft

Me too!

So many notes with ideas for books, so many first chapters!

It’s OK because there is now a rich vault for future works but to get something done and finished the full plan is essential. It also helps me to note dates, character ages etc in my timeline. Sounds fundamental I know but I find it easy to make mistakes about these things and rather than endlessly thumbing back through your work, notes in the timeline can save you time.

Good luck JulietNY

Oct 12, 2008, 03:26PM PDT | Respond to this 1 cheer

(This comment was deleted.)

Oct 24, 2008, 07:40AM PDT

Dasheil Mitchell

lessons learned...

yay, for you, I’ve always wanted to published a novel one day… I like writing a lot… I have written short stories way way back and had let my friends read it and get their feed backs. It seems that they like it…I hope that one day, i could be able to spend some quality time writing a novel….and hopefully get it published…
oh, just wishful thinking… =)

Nov 02, 2008, 07:34PM PST | Respond to this 1 cheer

surferart

procrastanation

i procrastonate far to much to be able to write a novel it would just hafto be a rather short book for me…

Nov 24, 2008, 03:45PM PST | Respond to this

fossilflower

Great Post your inspirational!

My draw back seems to be with dialogue. I have been working that out, but between thesis papers in school!
Good for you~

Jan 05, 2009, 10:28PM PST | Respond to this

martymonster is starting to clean her pantry cupboard

"The Book"

Firstly congratulations on having your book published….. I just had a look at the amazon web site you suggested, however I have unfortunately missed the deadline. What a fantastic idea though and thank you for your advice.

Jan 10, 2009, 12:51PM PST | Respond to this

Isamostder

gonna try it 4 sure

thanks a bunch for writing about this..
I needed it..
how many times I’ve picked up a pen and sat on my PC!! but I’ve never gotten past a paragraph..
:(
and the ideas all get jumbled up…

Jan 29, 2009, 11:30PM PST | Respond to this 1 cheer

(This comment was deleted.)

May 12, 01:13AM PDT

A_Complete_Stranger is still A_" "_" " ;'(

Writing is easy, it's the ending that gets hard...

I’ve actually been trying to write books for a couple years now, but what’s hard for me is coming up with endings. I know I’ve come up with some great ideas, but because I can’t figure out how to end them, they just keep getting longer and longer.
Any help you could share with me? Thanks for any hints or tips on endings.

May 28, 01:17AM PDT | Thread | Respond to this

42thingsleft

Start with the end!

When you think about what you want to write, why not think first about what it is you wish to convey in your story, rather than what your story will be.

Are you going to write about a redemption or justice prevailing? Love denied or achieved? Whatever the genre, try to think about the outcome – about the feeling you want to leave with your readers when they close that last page.

I find it helpful to create a rough plan of the entire book before starting to write anything so I know more or less how it will end before I begin. Usually, I will draw a circle for each chapter and write some high level details in each so I can see how it will hang together.

You can alter this as you go along but if you start with a plan and desired outcome you will find it easier to move towards a conclusion when you get there.

I hope this helps.

Good luck!

May 28, 11:10AM PDT | Respond to this 1 cheer

krusec

entry and comment

Jun 25, 01:19PM PDT | Respond to this

Memorial_Address is writing my book

thanks ^ this is really really helpful. i got a lot to learn when it comes to writing but thank you sooo much ^

Oct 28, 05:50AM PDT | Respond to this


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