How to write a book

My first and second books, as displayed by my friend
and fellow author, Richard J. Tomack.

July 28, 2014
          Day 89

So let's say you want to write a book.  Where do you begin? 

If you think it starts with a great idea for a book, you're very close, but incorrect.  Actually, when beginning a book, you have to first start with an absolute determination to eventually complete the book-writing process.

No great idea will get you anywhere if the book never happens.  And no book will ever happen without a person first choosing to believe in him or herself.  You must begin with this basic desire and determination to succeed before you can ever hope to see a finished product displayed on a bookshelf.

So...

Step 1: Determination to complete. 

Step 2: Have a great, original idea with a thorough plan.  If someone asks you what your book idea is, you'll need to be able to give them a thorough answer, and not just a foggy idea.

Wrong: It's about aliens with penises on their heads!

Right Better: It's about a race of aliens from a nearby galaxy with penises on their heads.  They find Earth, and find out that some Earthlings have penises, but in the middle of their body, not on top.  The book becomes a fun adventure as three of these aliens form an unlikely bond with three men and three women, all of whom work in The White House!

Now for me, steps 3 and 4 can become interchangeable, so decide what works best for you once you're ready to start.  In no particular order though, they are...

Steps 3 and 4: Create an outline, and begin to write.  These two steps are interchangeable, because you need to decide what your own brain would prefer. 

Do you need to figure out a chapter topic or scene description to help get you going?  If so, you'll probably prefer to create a basic outline first, so as each new chapter or part of your book-writing arrives, you know how it needs to evolve, or what subject matter needs to be discussed. 

Or do you need to just write, and let your creativity pull everything together first and foremost?  If so, then beginning to write is what you need to do right off the bat.  The outline can form over time.

Either way though, an outline is crucial to keeping you focused, and helps you concentrate on the many tasks at hand.  And it is MANY tasks, because book writing isn't just about writing; it's about storytelling, stories-telling, story-arcing, and connection.  It's not easy, but you can do it! 

For me, I wrote my first book without an outline.  I didn't know where it would go, and I just let it carry me forward.  I wrote my second book with an outline.  It had a plan of action, a general setting or character structure for each chapter, and it had absolute turning points in the story which were predefined.  And now that I'm working on my third book, I'm learning to do BOTH of these different systems at the same time, which I think may work best of all.  I started writing my third book with ideas and notes (approximately 25 pages' worth of notes!), but no hard outline.  I've decided to allow the outline to slowly form as I need it to.

Step 5: Find an ending.  An ending doesn't have to be earth-shattering, and it shouldn't be lifeless either, but it should feel finished.  Unlike the reader of a book, you as the author must know how it ends before you get there.  It may not all reveal itself to you in one moment or one day, but it should start coming to you sooner rather than later.  Knowing the ending will only help you find your way to that place in your book.

Even in a series like I've been working on now, concluding with my upcoming third book, each book's finale needed to be strong, leading up to my third book's ending, which I want to feel not just big, but gratifyingly so too.  I want my readers to feel they got any and all questions answered about the series by book three's end, and to feel as if, even though more could always be said, that I gave them a great overall story filled with many cool smaller stories.

Beyond these five steps, you need to then begin editing your book.  That's worthy of its own long blog entry, so I won't go into it here, except to say the editing phase for a book should take you months to do, it should be handled by a professional editor, and your book should ideally be seen by multiple smart people who can rip you to shreds if they need to, in order to help you achieve the best finished version your book can be.

So to recap:

Step 1: You need to have the determination to really do this, and not just start it.

Step 2: You need to have a great idea.  Not a foggy idea, not a general idea, but a really great idea you can turn into a plan of action as you write.

Steps 3 and 4: Form an outline, and begin to write.  Figure out what works best for you, but definitely HELP YOURSELF by forming some general outline as you go along!

Step 5: Find an ending.  You may not even have the exact ending in mind when you begin the book.  That's fine!  That's normal!  But you do need to figure out how it'll end before you finish. 

That's all I've got for now, but by all means, reply and ask me anything!  (Just don't ask me about the aliens with penises on their heads.  I'm trying to forget.)