Writing that First Book
I get a lot of questions about book writing. My response had been just write. Not everyone's thoughts are like mine, nor do they think as I do, so then how can they just sit down and start writing with no foundation? Everyone has some kind of method, if you have not written anything, then the advice I give is of no substance to you. I later had an "aha" moment and said I need to be more clear and transparent to and for some of the people asking, for I do not desire to discourage any one from fulfilling a dream of becoming a published Author, or telling their story.
The first order of business is to decide what it is you desire to write. Will it be fiction, non-fiction, biography, autobiography. If it is non-fiction meaning a true story but not about yourself, then you will need to get permission from those you will be writing about, mainly because you will be using their names and actual events in their lives. If your work is biography or autobiography about someones life or your own, the same rules apply. You will have to secure documentation for them to sign giving you the go-ahead to write about them. Some people are happy that you are writing about yourself and are willing to allow you to use certain parts of their lives to add to your story. They may require to read your manuscript before you decide to publish to make sure they agree with your depiction of them. Get it all in writing. Now that you have the business part out of the way, the first thing to do is outline. Outline the steps of how your story will go: birth to now, teenager to now, etc. Write it all down. Then you need a timeline. Years chronicled, what music, food, TV shows were on, how was your hair, that's for every year you will be discussing to present. It's a lot of pre- writing before the actual writing takes place. In case you forgot, luckily the internet has all those timelines at your disposal. You may go through several drafts before you find your voice. Once you find your writing voice it should flow freely. Will it be a narrative, 1st, 2nd, or 3rd person telling the story? You need to know that also. Many people say in order to write a book you must read a lot of books. Find an Author whose style you like and copy the style.
If it is fiction, your imagination is all you need. You need no permissions from anyone, no sign offs!! You will need to do an outline of what your story will be about. You need to make a timeline. You need to see if it will be narrative or 1st,2nd,3rd person. You need to decide what music you will have your characters listen to. How will they dress? What will they watch on TV, cable, internet, etc. What type of characters will they be? If you have an idea for a character trait and can't pin point how you should write the character, guess what I'm sure you happen to know someone with the personality that you want to write about, watch that person. Pay attention to how they move their lips, eyes, everything about them. Use that to build your character. Most writers are voyeurs. We watch every one and everything. Pay attention to scents, dew on the grass, the world is your story, use it.If you get into a funk or reach a block and just can't figure out what to do with your character, step away and go watch some people. Don't stare just casually observe people, I'm sure you will get some motivation. Character names can come from many sources, colors, street names, baby name book, food, zodiacs, states, or cities{example: Dowling, Sapphire, Leo, Aqua, Black, Blue,Scorpio, Mango,Chicago, NY, Amethyst, Red}. It's your story have fun with it. Create. Create. There must be a struggle, obstacle,an enemy, real or imagined by your character(s), and an ending where they found a solution to their problem. Now, after you figured all that out.......you can just write.
Once you have written your piece of work that you love so much, the necessary sign offs you received them all, you received a lot of positive feed back, you're feeling great. Great! Job Well Done! Congratulations!!! Now it's time to send it to an editor. Once you hand it over, get your mind right, because the editor is about to tear your beautiful work a new one. Don't take it personal, the first ever edit hurts the most, after you guys go back and forth it's less painful. They have to make sure it flows. Now be careful of those that try to change your whole story line, you can fire them. Once the edits are complete it's time to send your manuscript to a publisher. You can shop it around to big publishing houses and see who bites, and you can self publish and go through many online self publishing companies, The big publishing comapnies may decline your work and will not return your manuscript. Unless you include a return address envelope. Oh Yeah and before you let anyone read your work; your editor, family and or friends, please copyright your body of work. No one sees it until you paid the money. It takes a while before you get the actual copyright form but it is documented when you send the payment. I recommend online.
I hope that this has helped those seeking my assistance, happy writing and much success to you
The first order of business is to decide what it is you desire to write. Will it be fiction, non-fiction, biography, autobiography. If it is non-fiction meaning a true story but not about yourself, then you will need to get permission from those you will be writing about, mainly because you will be using their names and actual events in their lives. If your work is biography or autobiography about someones life or your own, the same rules apply. You will have to secure documentation for them to sign giving you the go-ahead to write about them. Some people are happy that you are writing about yourself and are willing to allow you to use certain parts of their lives to add to your story. They may require to read your manuscript before you decide to publish to make sure they agree with your depiction of them. Get it all in writing. Now that you have the business part out of the way, the first thing to do is outline. Outline the steps of how your story will go: birth to now, teenager to now, etc. Write it all down. Then you need a timeline. Years chronicled, what music, food, TV shows were on, how was your hair, that's for every year you will be discussing to present. It's a lot of pre- writing before the actual writing takes place. In case you forgot, luckily the internet has all those timelines at your disposal. You may go through several drafts before you find your voice. Once you find your writing voice it should flow freely. Will it be a narrative, 1st, 2nd, or 3rd person telling the story? You need to know that also. Many people say in order to write a book you must read a lot of books. Find an Author whose style you like and copy the style.
If it is fiction, your imagination is all you need. You need no permissions from anyone, no sign offs!! You will need to do an outline of what your story will be about. You need to make a timeline. You need to see if it will be narrative or 1st,2nd,3rd person. You need to decide what music you will have your characters listen to. How will they dress? What will they watch on TV, cable, internet, etc. What type of characters will they be? If you have an idea for a character trait and can't pin point how you should write the character, guess what I'm sure you happen to know someone with the personality that you want to write about, watch that person. Pay attention to how they move their lips, eyes, everything about them. Use that to build your character. Most writers are voyeurs. We watch every one and everything. Pay attention to scents, dew on the grass, the world is your story, use it.If you get into a funk or reach a block and just can't figure out what to do with your character, step away and go watch some people. Don't stare just casually observe people, I'm sure you will get some motivation. Character names can come from many sources, colors, street names, baby name book, food, zodiacs, states, or cities{example: Dowling, Sapphire, Leo, Aqua, Black, Blue,Scorpio, Mango,Chicago, NY, Amethyst, Red}. It's your story have fun with it. Create. Create. There must be a struggle, obstacle,an enemy, real or imagined by your character(s), and an ending where they found a solution to their problem. Now, after you figured all that out.......you can just write.
Once you have written your piece of work that you love so much, the necessary sign offs you received them all, you received a lot of positive feed back, you're feeling great. Great! Job Well Done! Congratulations!!! Now it's time to send it to an editor. Once you hand it over, get your mind right, because the editor is about to tear your beautiful work a new one. Don't take it personal, the first ever edit hurts the most, after you guys go back and forth it's less painful. They have to make sure it flows. Now be careful of those that try to change your whole story line, you can fire them. Once the edits are complete it's time to send your manuscript to a publisher. You can shop it around to big publishing houses and see who bites, and you can self publish and go through many online self publishing companies, The big publishing comapnies may decline your work and will not return your manuscript. Unless you include a return address envelope. Oh Yeah and before you let anyone read your work; your editor, family and or friends, please copyright your body of work. No one sees it until you paid the money. It takes a while before you get the actual copyright form but it is documented when you send the payment. I recommend online.
I hope that this has helped those seeking my assistance, happy writing and much success to you
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