How to write a book

In order to write a book you should choose a basic topic, theme, setting, characters, etc. When you have mulled over the basics, you should then figure out what the ending to your story will be. Write that ending down because that's your end goal. You can jot down a few notes, but when you start writing be ready to discard anything except the ending. Make sure that whatever you write leads to the ending you have already written. Don't worry about drafts though, because you are going to do it right the first time. If you write a book that stinks, then don't go back to fix it. Write a new book using everything you've learned. While you are writing you might have some ideas about revision. Forget them. If you have an idea that changes your book, go back to the earliest point affected by the change and start writing again from there. You'll remember all of the important details as you rewrite (as opposed to revising) and the new material will keep the natural energy that comes from the first draft.

That's what I learned from attending a writing conference with Orson Scott Card. He's an author that I respect very much, but bwuh....Huh?
But wait, let's try something else.

In order to write a book you should outline like crazy. Work out the entire plot and then stick to it. The characters you are creating should never lead you away from what you've set down. You're the author, you tell what they do, not the other way around. If you come to a problem during the story just note it and come back in the revisions. Fix it in post, as they say in the movie business.

This is what I've gathered by listening to Brandon Sanderson, another author I respect very much. But wait...

 In order to write a book you should sit down at the keyboard, or a pad of paper and just write. Create your characters as you go. You might have some idea of where the story is going, but don't be disappointed if it goes somewhere else entirely. That's the fun of writing a book. If you know what is going to happen then why write? That's boring. The characters, setting, anything in the book will inspire you to move forward. Just keep pushing through until you discover the end. When you are finished go back and revise. You'll be revising for a while. It's the worst part, but just push through and people will love what you give them.

This is a paraphrasing of advice that I've hear from a few other authors. But wait...

In order to write a book you have to look at basic structure and conflict. Structure comes from the natural experience that we all have in life. We encounter an idea, struggle with it, and then resolve it. Conflict comes from these new ideas or events and is strengthened by involving various characters, settings, themes, events, or ideas. Start with the basics by choosing a setting (this includes politics, religion, social mores, or anything that affects the characters) When you are plotting out your book there is a basic structure you should follow....

HOLD IT!

Ok. I can't go into all of the ways that people write books. Kevin J. Anderson dictates his books onto a tape recorder while he's hiking (lucky!). Some people start with the end in mind, some people just write. Some authors say that revising is key, while others say to throw away the original and rewrite. And here's the thing that gets me. I like the outcome from lots of them. The bottom line is that I don't care how a book is written, or how a short story manages to eke its way out of your brain and onto the page. I will only see the end result. I will not often judge you on how you write, but I will judge your work because as a reader that is the point in the process that I get to take part in.

Now, that doesn't help you as a writer. Or does it? I think that you can take something from all of these writers. But you have to start taking things first.

This post is getting long, so I'll tell you about my method tomorrow.

Writing and Work Ethics

A member of my writing group brought up the age old problem with being a writer. You have to write. Writing every day is, according to the general consensus, a good way to go about it. Some people set a goal for how much they want to write every day: a page, a paragraph, 500 words, or as this guy(Steve Bohls) does 1639.34 words per day (I cheated a little bit and took his year goal and divided it, but it still works out about right. Good thing it's a leap year or else it would be 1643.84. You should take a look, his stories are engaging and his writing starts out good and gets better.) Fantasy writer David Farland even made writing daily his new year's resolution, and he's coming up on a solid two dozen books published with numerous best sellers.

For me, I often try to set aside a certain amount of time I will be writing instead of a word-count (If you are a writer you will become familiar with word-count. 80k for a novel, 50k for a young adult novel, 20k novelette, 6k for a short story, 120-300k for an epic. The numbers are pretty fluid, but as a writer you'll probably become familiar with those numbers. I'll do another post on length another day.) Man was that ever a long parenthetical. Anyway, like I said, I usually tend to set aside a certain amount of time each day to write and any writing will work. However, if I am on a project I will change my goal to match the number of words per day I need to finish my project on time.

That brings me to my main point. Writing needs to be taken seriously, and it's not always easy. Most successfully published authors that I've talked to or listened to describe their writing as a job.** They sit down for a certain amount of time each day (just like a job) and work on writing. If they are making business decisions then they usually spend some time doing that too. But the biggest part of being a writer is writing. Your words are your product. Imagine if Nabisco suddenly stopped making Oreo cookies. First of all, the world as we know it would cease to exist. But second, they wouldn't sell any more Oreos. We would not be able to buy Oreos because there would be none. That's the same thing with your words as a writer. If you don't produce any, there won't be any...no matter how many good ideas you have.

An important mental shift for any writer is when they decide to make writing a priority-making it a job. Take some time to figure out what your goals are, and above all, write every day. Publishing a book is akin to getting a master's degree when it comes to the amount of effort you need to put in, and just like a master's degree, you don't usually get paid for writing along the way. Keep working, keep honing your craft, keep learning how you can best express your ideas and I'll see you on the other side...the published author side.

**One notable exception is Orson Scott Card who, when asked if he sat down to write every day responded with something like "No. That sounds too much like work." Though he did mention that when he's writing a project he will average about 4 hours in the morning and 4 hours in the afternoon...hmmm that sounds suspiciously like a job after all.