How I write a book

Here's my take on writing. If you want to write a book, then you should practice writing. Listen to all the advice you can and try it out. If you think you already know how, then try it your way. Plot it out, revise, don't revise, rewrite, explore, but whatever you do, create. All of these methods above have some merit to them, and perhaps there really is one way to write that, if we were only to learn it, we could all write amazing stories. But I haven't found it, and I think that the most we can say about these other authors is that they've found one way that works. Most of the time if you find a method that works for you, some or all of it will work for someone else, but not for everyone. So in light of this, I'm going to give you my method.

I tried out a few of the above methods and I came to the conclusion that I can't really hold an entire plot in my head. But if I don't have some goal that I am writing to then I get lost.

I found out early on that I can write from a spark without planning if I'm writing a short story. Even then it gets dicey if the story is longer than a few thousand words. And I really do have a plan, but with a short story there is little enough happening (one or two characters, one scene, one specific conflict) that I can get it all down before I forget.

But when I have a longer work it starts like this:

• I have an idea
• I start to write a few scenes or scraps of dialogue. Perhaps I even get down a theme or overarching concept.
• I look at my ideas and figure out the story that they tell. This is the stage where I decide on my basic plot. I have a beginning and an ending and a few events in between.
• Next I fill in the blanks. I start to ask questions about how I get from the beginning to the end. I talk to my characters and see what they do.
• Then I write my outline. I usually write this by scenes, but I have started to give myself broader leeway and work down to the details. I read a few books and listened to some podcasts about outlining. The two outlining methods I used in my most recent book are the try fail cycle that David Farland writes about here, and the structure that Dan Wells talks about here. I take the big events and then break them down into chapters, scenes, and sometimes even beats.
• When I have a solid idea of where I'm going for the first few scenes then I start to write.
• As I am writing I continue to work on my outline. I've already got the big points down, I'm just working on the details at this point.
• I come up to problems and I brainstorm with someone I trust. I say, "I've got this problem, what are some possible solutions?" Sometimes I just brainstorm on my own.
• The outline evolves as I go, and sometimes I make changes. Sometimes I am driving in my car and I think of something awesome so I put it in. Usually it was already in the story I just didn't know.
• A few times along the way I will go back and rewrite a scene because it's taking me somewhere that I don't think fits the story. Other events will work as far as the story goes, but they are weak. I usually leave these and come back at the end.
• As I write I have my wife read and give me her initial responses to the story, though not grammar or spelling corrections.
• When I am finished I sit back and celebrate. I have a party and then I realize that I've still got a long way to go.
• I send my story out to some readers. I call them alpha readers because they are giving me only a basic response, similar to what my wife gave me as I wrote.
• While I'm waiting for one of my readers to finish, I don't think about the book. On my most recent project I waited two weeks before going back to the book. 
• I listen to the gist of the feedback. If the plot works for my readers then I start on my revisions. I make a list of things that didn't work for my readers and attack them first.
• I read my novel for the first time and destroy it. I make my English teacher envious with the amount of red I spill onto my pages.
• Then I go back and address all of my own notes.
• At this point I look for new readers and start the revisions again. I repeat this until I feel like the book is ready. Each time I look for readers that are less and less connected with me because the have less reason to like the book.
• Now here is where I stop, because I haven't published anything. So far I just keep revising until my readers aren't giving me things to change. Eventually there are some things that my readers will point out and I'll just say, "I'm not changing that." But I like to keep a mostly open mind.

One last thing...at some point there must be a new step which is this: I start another book. If this book never gets to be publishable, then I'll need to move on. I've set a goal for the middle of this year. I already have plenty of ideas to pursue. Once I've taken one idea as far as I can, then I need to start another one.

Writing is a very personal thing. Start writing something you can finish. Write a sentence, then a paragraph. Perhaps a short story. If you feel up to it, write a novel. Whatever you do, finish something. And then start something new.

Enjoy your writing, and then let others enjoy it too.