10 GREAT IDEAS TO KEEP YOU WRITING
Most of us will have had an idea for a book in our minds at some point, however it’s just a brave (or should I say crazy) few who follow on with the design and actually write one. The fact is, that getting published by going it alone has never been easier, there are countless print on demand services out there who will gladly publish your work once ready (check our article on choosing one here), you can then get your work out into the world without too much stress if you want to.
But even with the great POD services, it’s still YOU that needs to write the book, so here we have compiled ten great tips which cover many aspects involved with writing a book.
1) Design an outline – plan where the book is going to take the reader, what’s its purpose, its ending and path to get there. The clearer you have designed this map the easier it will be to write your book.
2) Make time – most people who start writing a book do so whilst they’re working at the same time, if you work a 40 hour week or are looking after children full time (or even both!) then set a realistic time frame that you know you’ll be able to keep to. Set a time each day and lock yourself away to write when it arrives – No excuses!!
But even with the great POD services, it’s still YOU that needs to write the book, so here we have compiled ten great tips which cover many aspects involved with writing a book.
1) Design an outline – plan where the book is going to take the reader, what’s its purpose, its ending and path to get there. The clearer you have designed this map the easier it will be to write your book.
2) Make time – most people who start writing a book do so whilst they’re working at the same time, if you work a 40 hour week or are looking after children full time (or even both!) then set a realistic time frame that you know you’ll be able to keep to. Set a time each day and lock yourself away to write when it arrives – No excuses!!
3) Tell people – let those around you know that you have started to write a book and pick your place to write carefully, you want somewhere which is designed with the purpose of peace & quiet in mind. Turn off the internet, Facebook, Twitter and mobile phones too.
4) Keep inspired – still be willing to take a break from time to time and get out of your normal environment, going for a walk in the fresh air will do wonders for the mind.
5) How much? – You don’t have to feel as though you need to write 2,000 words each day, again if you aim to write one page a day (300 words) then that’s brilliant, you still want to enjoy what you’re doing, it will show clearly in your work if you’re not.
6) Count your words – have a defined end word count that you wish to achieve and then break this down into chunks. A small/short eBook story will be about 15,000 to 20,000 words where as a novel could go up to 100,000 words, be clear and you can break it down into well spaced chapters.
4) Keep inspired – still be willing to take a break from time to time and get out of your normal environment, going for a walk in the fresh air will do wonders for the mind.
5) How much? – You don’t have to feel as though you need to write 2,000 words each day, again if you aim to write one page a day (300 words) then that’s brilliant, you still want to enjoy what you’re doing, it will show clearly in your work if you’re not.
6) Count your words – have a defined end word count that you wish to achieve and then break this down into chunks. A small/short eBook story will be about 15,000 to 20,000 words where as a novel could go up to 100,000 words, be clear and you can break it down into well spaced chapters.
7) Mark your calendar – if you want to write a book of 80,000 words for example, and you know you can achieve 300 words per day then it will take you 267 days , look forward on the calendar and mark the exact date in big bold letters, hey presto! You now have a deadline.
8) Ask your friends – get feedback early on from friends and even members of your writing group (if you belong to one), early feedback can save time at the edit stage and stop you having to re-write complete chapters again.
9) Get your thickest skin ready – you will get rejections when you send your book off to publishers (if not self-publishing) and you may even get a couple of bad reviews online, learn to embrace the feedback and where your able to adapt, just don’t let it make you give up, you’re better than that!
10) Keep going – There are a lot of authors who only really came into themselves as great writers once they were the other side of the first novel, they take all of the lessons learned into the next book and as a result grow.
Do also check some of our other articles from the writer’s room and let us know if there is a topic you’d like us to cover.
