How to start writing a book? This is a question we receive frequently. That’s why we decided to write an article with our top 10 tips on the subject. Writing and publishing a book is a long and difficult process. During this process, you will have to overcome many obstacles. When you’re writing a book, there are a lot of details you need to keep in mind, and it’s very important to write in a structured way to avoid feeling overwhelmed. There are tips you can use to start writing a book effectively, so we’ve put together 10 simple tips.
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These 10 Tips Will Help You Start Writing a Book
1. Create a creative space
If you decide to write for hours and hours, it is better that you are in a place where you feel comfortable and which will allow you to be creative. Writing on a messy table or in a noisy environment will distract you, and it will be difficult to complete your manuscript. A good start would be to tidy up your desk and sit in a comfortable chair. Having a clean table will also help you avoid distractions and stay focused. Keep in mind that you don’t need a fixed writing space, it can benefit your creativity to change your environment from time to time. You can write at home, in a library or even in a park enjoying the sun. Changing locations will help you keep your mind busy and open to new inspirations.
2. Always plan
Writing without planning will result in a big mess, especially when writing longer books. Having a mentally clear structure will allow you to write a framework for the story, which you can then modify as you wish. When creating a plan, you should focus on certain points:
Choose a gender:
There are a lot of people who write a book without a clear genre in mind. On the one hand, it’s great because you write exactly what you want, but problems can arise when you try to sell this book. Indeed, you cannot target a specific audience. If you don’t know the genre of your book, you can’t classify it in the sales channels and you will have a very small readership (if you have one). That’s why it’s important to try to have a specific genre before you start writing.
Choose a perspective:
To start writing a book, you have to choose the point of view of your choice. We recommend picking one and sticking with it throughout the story so you don’t confuse readers. While it is possible to bring together multiple perspectives, it should be done very clearly and concisely.
3. Develop characters
This step can be considered part of the planning phase, although due to its importance it has its own section. Your characters will make or break your story and having a deep understanding of them is essential to developing a compelling story around them. Before writing your story, you can create these characters in different ways. Each of these tips will help you figure out what purpose you want these characters to serve.
Write a biography:
For the main characters, you can write a biography about them. It shouldn’t be long but you have to answer several questions about the character, such as:
- What are they called?
- When were they born?
- Who are their parents?
- Are they in a relationship?
- Do they belong to the rich, middle or poor class?
- How was their childhood?
- What are their dreams?
By answering such questions, you will get a portrait of your characters which will then help you create your motivations for certain actions in the story.
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Understand your motivations:
Your characters should have some purpose for what they do in your story. For example, you can’t write a book about a murderer without trying to explain how the character became the person he is today. Of course, you don’t have to reveal it explicitly in your book. But it’s important that you, as the author, know this in order to have a story that holds up.
Understanding the conflict:
For every story, the conflict is most important. It’s important to understand the obstacles your characters face and what prevents them from achieving their greatest goal. Once this is developed, you will have a better understanding of what needs to happen in your story to reach (or not) this happy ending.
4. Attention to detail
This advice is for those who are writing a novel based on a historical timeline. When you create a completely new world or setting, you have complete freedom to play with the background of your story, and avoid having to research certain topics. However, if your story is based on the past, whether it’s fiction or non-fiction, you need to pay close attention to detail. Certain aspects of a historical novel, such as the course of events, what led up to the conflict, or even the difference between the uniforms, are important details to look into.
5. One project at a time
This advice is very simple but important. Writing a book is a project that takes a lot of effort and occupies your mind for several weeks. If you try to write more than one book at the same time, you risk mixing them up, thus getting confused and you may not finish one or the other. If you’re only writing one book, you already have to think about how to follow your story for a large part of the day. We therefore recommend that you complete one before starting another. The same applies with more time-consuming projects outside of work. If you’re offered more projects, no matter how exciting, don’t accept them until you’ve finished your book. A project as big as starting to write a book is hard enough without adding more work.
6. Find your good idea
If you want to write a book, you need this good idea, the one that will take you far enough to write an entire novel and that can be read without getting bored at any time. You have to find something you’re passionate about and stick with it. Many times, people don’t finish a book because what seemed like a unique idea wasn’t developed enough or didn’t reach its full potential. Think of the worlds of Harry Potter or The Lord of the Rings, these are worlds where the story can grow every time you think about it, with the potential for limitless stories. These concepts stick in your mind, and your story should try to do the same. Ask people you trust if they like the idea. Your story must really be worthy of a book. Anything less than that can be an article or a short story. You will know when you have this idea but first you have to keep developing the details until you find it. Once you find it, it will be easier for you to create an intriguing story.
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7. Word Goals
Since writing a book is a long process, one of the most difficult tasks is to keep writing on a consistent basis. There will be times when you won’t want to write anymore and you’ll stop putting it off until the next day. The more this happens to you, the more likely you are to give up for good. That’s why a good tip is to set a daily, weekly, or monthly word goal (depending on how much time you have to write). This goal doesn’t have to be huge, it’s more of a way to make sure you’ll keep writing. It can be something as little as 500 words per day (keeping in mind that’s a minimum). However, we recommend that you set a weekly or monthly goal because there are always days when you won’t be able to write. Deciding how many words you set as your goal is a personal thing, because some people write novels in two or three months and others take years. The important thing is not to know how many words but to be consistent with your writing.
It’s also important not to have overly ambitious goals because you don’t want writing your book to become an obligation. Writing should always be a passion, something you enjoy doing. Be confident with your goals and stay consistent when writing.
8. Clear your mind
Writer’s block is a real thing that happens to even the best authors. Don’t worry, there are lots of things you can do to overcome it.
Some exercise:
To overcome the blockage, some great writers recommend exercising. Getting out of your creative space and getting some fresh air is always helpful. Exercising is not only healthy; it will clear your mind during this time and help you be mentally stronger.
The morning pages:
The author of The Artist’s way (Unleash your creativity: dare to say yes to life!), Julia Cameron, recommends to writers stuck or lacking inspiration, the exercise of writing a page in the morning. This is an exercise that will help you regain your creativity. Cameron suggests writing three pages of everything that pops into your head as soon as you wake up. Morning pages don’t need editing and there’s no wrong way to write them. It is simply an exercise to get rid of everything that bothers you or distracts you in the morning and thus clears your mind. She also suggests doing it in a state of semi-unconsciousness: you just let yourself go. Cameron also explained that the Morning Pages are very personal and serve as therapy. Some will like it, some won’t; but why not try it?
If you are still stuck, you can consult our blog article to discover our advice against white page syndrome.
9. Things to avoid
A story that begins very slowly
The first chapter of your book is the one that will decide whether the reader will read the entire book or not. Many authors spend the entire first chapter describing and presenting. Of course, it’s important to make sure the reader knows what’s going on, but there has to be tension and excitement. Once you’ve written a few chapters, you can start describing in detail what you need, but it’s important to hook the readers first.
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Write in too much detail
This tip is related to the previous one. This may seem counter-intuitive, but it often happens with new writers. At first, thinking that you have to write around 50,000 words or more may seem inconceivable to you, so you start to describe everything in detail in the hope of arriving at this figure more quickly. However, as you write, you will notice that (if your idea is good) you will need those 50,000 words to tell your whole story. There are people who consult very experienced authors and explain to them that they could have told the same story in 20,000 words less. You should provide details as needed but be careful not to bore the reader. If your idea and your structure are good, you will be able to write the number of words necessary, while maintaining the interest of your readers throughout the story
10. Write!
The final tip for starting to write a book is: Write, write, and write! You’ll make mistakes, and you’ll have to change a lot of things, but it’s all part of the process. The best way to get a better version of the book is to keep writing until you’re really satisfied. An entire novel seems like an impossible task but take it word by word, sentence by sentence and chapter by chapter. It is without realizing it that you will arrive at the half of the book and will still have much more to tell.
