How to write a book.

Hello all,

I've had a few people ask me the question "So how do you write a book?" and they usually follow it up with "especially when you've got a wedding to plan and a business to run and work 40 hours a week at a coffee shop?"

I'll save the time management bit for another post. You must learn how to write well before you can learn to write fast.

To write a good book, you must do 3 things.

1. Identify your ideal environment

If you aren't comfortable when you write, your book won't be comfortable to read. It'll feel and sound just as strained as you were when you wrote it. Therefore, choosing your environment wisely is very important. Some authors write best laying on the sofa while typing on their laptop. Others can't focus unless they're sitting in a coffee shop with a pen and notebook handy. Some need music, others need complete silence.

Decide for yourself whether you're more productive sitting by a lake or at the library, or on a bench in a public park.

Don't be afraid to leave your laptop at home if you feel too distracted by the internet. Bring headphones or don't, eat while you write or don't, but always write in the environment that's best for you.

2. Know your style: Planner or Surfer?

Do you prefer to list out every single thing you have to get done in a day? Or do you wake up when you need to and see what happens? Personally, I like to plan out the entire plot, begin writing the story, and deviate from the plan as I feel necessary. If you're a planner like me, you may need to list out an outline, scene by scene, noting the most important event in the scene and nothing else (i.e. the reason why you're including this scene in your story at all). There's a tendency to over-plan or include too much detail in your outline. Resist this. It'll spark the urge to write the details in your story.

If you're a surfer, and you prefer to go wherever the turns of the story take you, begin with a simple concept (Like: A young man in a futuristic world finds out he can jump through time dimensions, or a young model gets attacked by a dog and the doctor treating her is the only one who has ever loved her for more than her looks). Then, just start writing. You don't have to start at the beginning. Pick a scene that fits your mood at the time: sad, angry, confused, embarrassed, frustrated, accomplished, etc. and then write with reckless abandon.

3. Become your characters.

As a writer, I encourage you to write, and write unceasingly. When you're not writing, think about writing, play out scenes in your head and talk to yourself in the voices of your characters.

Experience their feelings. If you allow yourself to fall in love with their love interests, so will your readers. If you let yourself hate their enemies, you will inadvertently make their enemies hate-able. To write a convincing story, you must be convinced yourself.

Onward & Upward,