So, you have this great idea for a book. Maybe it\u2019s a story that\u2019s been burning a hole in your brain since childhood. Maybe it\u2019s a sudden inspiration you got after watching two movies and combining some ideas. Maybe you have expertise the world really needs right now. Maybe it\u2019s some entirely different thing.<\/i><\/p>\n
On the other side of the writer\u2019s journey, you\u2019ll have a book that\u2019s ready to self-publish or send to an agent or editor. The day it\u2019s ready to move forward will be one of the landmark days in your life as a writer.<\/i><\/p>\n
Trouble is, there\u2019s this whole writer\u2019s journey in between those two points. If you\u2019ve never taken that journey before, it can be easy to get lost. Even if you have done it before, it might have been a difficult trek with lots of twists, turns, dead-ends, and time spent wondering how to move forward.\u00a0<\/i><\/p>\n
In martial arts, there\u2019s a word: sensei. It means teacher, but literally translates to \u201cone who has walked this path before\u201d. It\u2019s a good word for what we\u2019ll be doing today. Guest writer Jason Brick has written over 80 books, and is going to tell you his road from idea to finished book. You don\u2019t have to do it exactly as he describes here, but it\u2019s easier and better to change a well-known process than to try and make up your own from scratch. So without further ado, heeeeeeere\u2019s Jason!<\/i><\/p>\nHi All!<\/h2>\n
Like the man said, I\u2019ve written, edited, ghostwritten, or substantively contributed to 84 books as of this writing. You can find most of them on Amazon, or track me down on Facebook and I\u2019ll send you one for free just because you\u2019re buddies with Erin and Blaine. Over that time, I\u2019ve honed down processes I learned from grizzled writing veterans like Lawrence Block and Jack Rochester, and fine-tuned it to work for me.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Some of this will be perfect for you. Some of it will be pretty good with a few tweaks. Some might not work for you at all, but if you start here and move forward you will find you get more written, faster, and with higher quality. Let\u2019s get to work.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Steven Covey didn\u2019t lie. Start the process by envisioning what the book will look like when it\u2019s finished. Start with an overarching summary. For fiction, it should be something like your elevator pitch: a one or two sentence description of the plot and themes. For nonfiction, it should describe the high-level benefit a reader will gain from your book.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Armed with that summary, you\u2019ll need to find your desired word count. Different genres and styles have different requirements and traditions about book length. You can read all about them in this article here. Self-publishing is much more flexible about this than traditional publishing, but it\u2019s still a good idea to stay within 10 or 20 percent of those numbers.\u00a0<\/p>\n
With those two pieces in place, you\u2019ll have the general framework of your book and a sense of how long it\u2019s going to be. That\u2019s enough to move on to step two.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Your book is like a tent. It has taut sections and slacker sections, and the whole thing is held up by a handful of support poles that keep the thing open and inviting for everybody. Once you have a general notion of where your book is headed, you need to build those support poles. This process looks different depending on whether you\u2019re writing fiction or nonfiction.<\/p>\n
Popular fiction has a rhythm that you\u2019ve gotten used to over the course of your entire life. Readers expect to find certain points where the action rises and gels, and if they don\u2019t get them when they\u2019re expected, they tend to become disappointed. The most common support poles include:<\/p>\n
Make notes, maybe even detailed notes or entire half-finished scenes, for each of these points in your story. They\u2019ll be holding up all the connective tissue of your tale, so you should think about them and work on them the longest.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Divide your book into parts, each dealing with a major subcategory of your topic. These might be individual elements, or they might progress through the journey you want your reader to take as they become progressively more immersed in your subject.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Your book should have between 4 and 6 such parts, each of which is divided into 3 to 5 individual chapters. For each part, note what the chapters will be and the general overview of what you will cover for each.\u00a0<\/p>\n
As with fiction, the structure of your book will hold up the details within each. The better handle you have on how each part works, and interacts with the other parts, the better your book will be.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Pro writing tip #258: you don\u2019t have to write your book in order.\u00a0<\/p>\n
There will be scenes, sections, chapters, snippets of dialogue, worksheets, top tens, and other elements of your book that you\u2019re absolutely riled up to make happen. Write them now, while they\u2019re still burning a hole in your mind.<\/p>\n
Capitalize on that enthusiasm and just get it all down, with all the fire and enthusiasm they\u2019re demanding. Once you finish each, place it into your story between the poles that are most appropriate. You\u2019ll find that knowing where they go in the overall structure of your story will help you write them more effectively.<\/p>\n
Once you\u2019ve finished with the parts you\u2019re most excited about, scribble down a few notes about each of your support poles. Many writers find that, after they\u2019ve written the hot scenes, they\u2019re ready to write these support poles outright. Others just have a few extra details or bullet points. Either way, flesh them out further while you\u2019re in this writing mode.\u00a0<\/p>\n
At this point, you\u2019ve got the bones of your book lined out. You know how the story or information will flow, and you\u2019ve identified the parts that are most important in general or most exciting to you. From here, it\u2019s time to add the connecting tissue that bridges the gaps between those points, as follows:<\/p>\n
You can always deviate from your outline once you\u2019ve written down, but it\u2019s better to start with an outline and change it than to try writing without the outline in place. This is one of the most important ways to avoid having to spend endless time in revision.\u00a0<\/p>\n
At this point, you have a list of blocks you need to write, and a top-level idea of what each block should be. Give yourself an appropriate amount of time to attack each block. Some you\u2019ll write in their entirety, because you have all you need right now to write them out. Others might just get some bullet points or sketchy notes. Some might be both, with some notes for thin sections but other paragraphs written completely.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Don\u2019t judge how much you get done in each block. Just get down what comes most naturally, and move on to the next. Whenever possible do each block in one session where you can concentrate on them undisturbed.\u00a0<\/p>\n
After your binges, you\u2019ll have a certain number of blocks for your book. Some of those will be in solid rough draft state. The rest will be partially done.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Count the number of blocks that still need work. Estimate how long it will take you to finish each block. Put that time in your schedule, then keep that schedule<\/i>. Again, you don\u2019t have to write the blocks in order. It can be a good idea to alternate between easy or fun blocks and blocks that take more work.\u00a0<\/p>\n
It\u2019s exactly that simple, though I\u2019ll be the first to admit it might not be that easy.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Consider this writing schedule a promise you make to yourself, and keep that promise as vigorously as you would a promise you made to somebody you love.\u00a0<\/p>\n
While you\u2019re keeping the promise you made yourself in Step Six, use the following technique each time you get stuck for even a few seconds.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Think about the last time a nine year old kid told you the story of a book, show, movie, or video game they like. They didn\u2019t get artful. They just spewed out information. They talked really fast and used the phrase \u201cand then\u201d a lot.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Write like that whenever you have to. It\u2019s okay to put in \u201cand then there was a big fight\u201d, or \u201cand then they had their first kiss\u201d, or \u201cthen the hero spent the night drinking and worrying\u201d or \u201ci\u2019ll put in that quote from Dr. X here\u201d, and move on.\u00a0<\/p>\n
At this stage, your most important task is to maintain your momentum. Use the excited nine year old technique to maintain it.<\/p>\n
Here you go through your draft in order for the first time. You clean up the nine year old text, perfect the sentences, and make sure about continuity issues that might not have been apparent as you were writing things piecemeal.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Again, set a schedule and stick to it. Often it\u2019s better here to set your goals by hours of writing instead of finishing specific chapters. Setting a finish line can make you hurry through the hard parts, where you should be taking your time.\u00a0<\/p>\n
When you reach the end of this step, spell check it and send it to your beta readers, then stop writing. Think about other things, or work on your next book, while you wait for the feedback to come in.\u00a0<\/p>\n
After a month or so, you come back to your manuscript armed with the ideas and suggestions of your beta readers. How to revise a book is a subject for another article (which I\u2019ll be writing for everybody next month, so stay tuned!), but here\u2019s something to remember about revisions.<\/p>\n
The better you writer your initial draft, the less revision you\u2019ll need and the easier those revisions will be. Writing a great initial draft relies much more on your process for writing it than your talent as a writer. Nail down these ten steps, or build your own with them as a starting point, to make sure your initial draft is as good as you can make it.\u00a0<\/p>\n
We couldn\u2019t have said it better ourselves. You might have caught Jason\u2019s pre-pandemic workshop about productivity<\/a> or some of his earlier articles. If not, track him down on our Facebook group if you have any questions. He\u2019s a huge writing nerd (like us), and happy to geek out about this with you.\u00a0<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"