Choose a topic you already know well. You won't have time to do much research and should already have the majority of the book in your head or at least at your fingertips. Writing is hard work and it's unlikely you'll be able to produce more than 4 type-written pages day after day, especially if you spend hours on research.
That's how writing a book and getting published works. But if you try to follow that process - just sit down and start typing - the chances that you'll sell the book are slim. To sell your book you need to know the kind of book you're writing before you start, and also whether there's an audience for that kind of book. It sounds unfair, but in order to sell your book, you have to prove to the publisher that people will want to read it.
Start with an outline just like your English teacher taught you. The first part can be about who the characters are, what they do and how they are connected. The next part can be about what you where you think your story will go. Think is the key word here, because your imagination may take an unexpected path.Write. Anything and everything is game. You may want to focus only on your idea, but you may find more freedom to put the idea in a different context to see where it goes from there. After you have written your story you will revise and edit. You will find many directions and then you will find the right one. And then when you are done you will revisit, edit and revise again and possibly find another direction.
Plan for a weekly day off. Why are you writing, anyway? Surely not just for the sake of it. You want to improve the life of your family or share something with the world. Don't forget to connect with the people that matter to you or they may begin to resent your writing. Realize that writing the book is only the beginning. Getting it published will take at least as much time as the first draft of your manuscript, likely more. Don't let this discourage you. Just keep at it, a little at a time.
If you're inspired by Harry Potter, you know you're writing a children's novel. Imagine your book on the shelves, right beside the rows of Harry Potters.This isn't an idle exercise, or a fantasy. You must know what you're writing, so please visit that bookstore. "What is it?" is the first thing an agent will want to know when you contact her to represent your book. It's also the first thing an editor at a publishing house will want to know.So, what are you writing? If you don't know, or aren't sure, think about it and visit a bookstore if you need to. You can write a book and get published if you know what you're writing, and who will want to read it.
Here's my 'trick'. When I get an idea for a book I get a ring binder and label it with my book title. Then I chuck into that ring binder some blank paper and a few plastic punched pockets to store things in. Then as I go about my work over the coming days I'll just scribble down on the paper in my folder any ideas I get which might be useful for the book. Also if I see any articles in newspapers or magazines, I'll rip them out and place them in the plastic pockets in the binder. Similarly, if I see a web page which might have some value to my book, I'll print it out and shove it in the binder. I do not make any value judgements, I do not try to put things in order, I simply chuck everything that might be useful into the ring binder. I also jot down questions that people ask me that are related to the book subject and I try to come up with my own questions which the book might answer. Anything and everything is collected into the ring binder.
[How to Write a Book & Become a Published Author - Brian Tracy]
That's how writing a book and getting published works. But if you try to follow that process - just sit down and start typing - the chances that you'll sell the book are slim. To sell your book you need to know the kind of book you're writing before you start, and also whether there's an audience for that kind of book. It sounds unfair, but in order to sell your book, you have to prove to the publisher that people will want to read it.
Start with an outline just like your English teacher taught you. The first part can be about who the characters are, what they do and how they are connected. The next part can be about what you where you think your story will go. Think is the key word here, because your imagination may take an unexpected path.Write. Anything and everything is game. You may want to focus only on your idea, but you may find more freedom to put the idea in a different context to see where it goes from there. After you have written your story you will revise and edit. You will find many directions and then you will find the right one. And then when you are done you will revisit, edit and revise again and possibly find another direction.
Plan for a weekly day off. Why are you writing, anyway? Surely not just for the sake of it. You want to improve the life of your family or share something with the world. Don't forget to connect with the people that matter to you or they may begin to resent your writing. Realize that writing the book is only the beginning. Getting it published will take at least as much time as the first draft of your manuscript, likely more. Don't let this discourage you. Just keep at it, a little at a time.
If you're inspired by Harry Potter, you know you're writing a children's novel. Imagine your book on the shelves, right beside the rows of Harry Potters.This isn't an idle exercise, or a fantasy. You must know what you're writing, so please visit that bookstore. "What is it?" is the first thing an agent will want to know when you contact her to represent your book. It's also the first thing an editor at a publishing house will want to know.So, what are you writing? If you don't know, or aren't sure, think about it and visit a bookstore if you need to. You can write a book and get published if you know what you're writing, and who will want to read it.
Here's my 'trick'. When I get an idea for a book I get a ring binder and label it with my book title. Then I chuck into that ring binder some blank paper and a few plastic punched pockets to store things in. Then as I go about my work over the coming days I'll just scribble down on the paper in my folder any ideas I get which might be useful for the book. Also if I see any articles in newspapers or magazines, I'll rip them out and place them in the plastic pockets in the binder. Similarly, if I see a web page which might have some value to my book, I'll print it out and shove it in the binder. I do not make any value judgements, I do not try to put things in order, I simply chuck everything that might be useful into the ring binder. I also jot down questions that people ask me that are related to the book subject and I try to come up with my own questions which the book might answer. Anything and everything is collected into the ring binder.
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