Monday, August 29, 2011

Writing Your First Book



Writing your first book is one of the most important, creative accomplishments a writer will experience. The entire process from idea to manuscript is a very personal creation. In fact, many writers relate the experience to that of having a child. Your book will take on many different dynamics throughout the process, and so will you as a writer.

It doesn’t matter, what your subject matter is. It doesn’t even matter whether you’re writing fiction or nonfiction. The focus, determination, and creativity involved in writing a book, is an enormous undertaking which should be applauded.

The idea portion of the journey usually comes first. As a writer, you have a fantastic idea for a book. Or you may have a specific story that you want to tell. Either of these is a great place to begin your writing process. It’s not going to be extremely productive worrying about the finished product of your book, before you even start.

Getting started for some, will be the most difficult part. There are two basic ways to begin the preliminary work for your book. Although there are many different approaches, these are some of the most popular. The first of these is done through note taking. You can do this manually or electronically, the choice is up to you.

When you get a wave of inspiration about your book topic, write it down. Don’t let good ideas or specific details about your subject matter simply pass you by. Some of the brilliant nuggets that pop into your head can be of great use when you are putting the whole book together. These are useful when you actually begin to write.

Another preliminary approach to practice before you write is research. Research is important to writing nonfiction, and fiction as well. When you are writing someone’s story, even if it is yours you need the facts. The facts told in your book will be decided by you. But they will need to be specific and flow well as you write. Proper research can help you tell a story through writing in the best possible way.

Research is also quite important to fictional writing, too. For instance, you may be writing about a character visiting a specific location. It doesn’t matter whether this is a city, state, or country. Your reader will want to find details that are very descriptive. Researching the area you’re writing about, can be crucial to adding not only ambiance to a story, but also depth.

Once you’ve culminated notes, ideas, and research you are really ready to write. Some writers prefer to write via their computer. Others like to write by hand and then type later on. This is obviously a matter of individual taste. The important thing is to get started in the process. Most often when writers begin writing, it is very difficult to stop. This is why beginning is important, and not allowing anything to deter you.

Everyone has busy schedules these days. Setting aside time to write daily, or even weekly, can be helpful. This will be a productive way to work and to allow your focus to be only on your book and making progress.

Need a writing coach? thepublishingguru (at) gmail.com

1 comment:

  1. Writting is so interesting. I want to write articles for a magazine (a writer has suggested me to do so and then I can work for them as a freelannce writer)
    I hope you show me how to write articles about a specific subject. Thanks a lot and have a nice day!
    I'm ericnguyen from Vietnam, I'm 18 years old.

    ReplyDelete

 
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