So, You Want to Write a Book…

Inspiration has struck, and you have a brilliant idea: You are going to write a book! Now what?

If you’re ready to write your novel, read through the tips below to set yourself up for success. Remember that everyone is different, so everyone’s process will look different. The following are simply various suggestions and options that may or may not be ideal for your specific style or situation. Think of this article like a buffet—I encourage you to pick and choose the concepts that appeal to you. After all, if you try a particular option that causes you to dread your writing hour, it’s only going to do the opposite of its intended purpose. Don’t be afraid to pivot and try something else.

Set Yourself up for Success 

Before sitting down to write, make sure you have everything you may need: use the restroom, grab your favorite water bottle or cup of coffee (or both!), put on some background music, wrap up in a blanket, light a candle, have a healthy snack handy, etc. The point of this step is to limit your distractions and set the tone for a successful writing session.

Consider Using an Outline 

Do you like the excitement of finding out how your story unfolds as you write it (a pantser)? Or do you prefer to have an idea of what you are building toward (a plotter)? If you are a pantser, this might not be a viable option for you, but for a plotter, typing up an outline can help you get an idea of the overall plot, have a clear timeline of events, ease writer’s block during the writing phase, and remind you to answer the big questions you lay out at the beginning of the book before typing “The End.” Keep in mind that this outline may change as you write your book, and that’s okay too. It’s just a guideline to keep you on target.

Create a Character Bible

This is a list of your characters and includes any pertinent details about each of them and how they relate to the overall story. Does the protagonist have green eyes or blue? Is their best friend into baseball or dance? Whatever you decide, you don’t want to accidentally change the details halfway through. Having a character bible handy could help keep the details consistent throughout your entire manuscript. Try to return to this bible often and add new characters and details throughout your writing process to keep it current.

Craft an Amazing Opening 

You want to draw your readers in on the first page by crafting an amazing opening. The first few sentences are vital, so don’t waste your first sentence! If you lose your reader’s attention from the start, they are likely to never finish reading your book. Consider opening in the middle of the action (like arriving late to a party), making a furtive statement to create foreshadow, introducing the main character right away, and balancing information with mystery. Death, emotion, and imagery can all create immediate intrigue, but don’t draw it out to the point that you bore or frustrate your reader either.

Want to read some of the best first lines in fiction for inspiration? Check out this article from Penguin Random House.

Help Your Readers Love (or Despise) Your Characters 

Just like the actual people around us in everyday life, we are all unique and bring something different to the table. Our backgrounds, interests, dislikes, dreams, and skills are all individualized. Flesh out each important character in your book by giving them a motivation for their actions, a back story, a distinct personality, and making them feel real. If your reader can develop a passionate feeling toward your characters, whether it’s love or hatred, they’ll be deeply invested in the outcome of the story.

Read Your Dialogue Out Loud 

It may feel awkward at first to read your writing out loud, but often when we write dialogue, we forget how to make it sound authentic and the result can feel forced or clunky. If you read your written dialogue out loud, you will get a better sense of whether it sounds natural or not. For example, one common mistake I see rather often when editing is the overuse of names. In actual conversations, we generally only say someone’s name to get their attention or for added emphasis. Another good trick to learn how to write natural dialogue is to watch your favorite shows with the subtitles on so your brain can process it visually. 

Want more tips on dialogue? Check out my Writing Dialogue series, a trilogy of articles all about common mistakes, various methods for acknowledging the speaker, and crafting realistic dialogue.

Be Cautious of Filler 

While you want to include some imagery and description so the reader doesn’t feel left out or as though they missed something, you also want to ensure that your story makes steady progress and doesn’t remain stagnant with too much filler or an info dump. Literary hero, Kurt Vonnegut, once said, “Every sentence must do one of two things—reveal character or advance the action.” Focus on creating real substance with every sentence and sprinkle in the background information throughout the story instead of all at once. 

Need more help with figuring out Proper Pacing?

Use a Thesaurus (But Don’t Overdo It) 

Repetitive language can become dull and monotonous reading material. On the other hand, language that is too flowery can become tedious to read, difficult to follow, and feel pretentious. Your goal should be to use a variety of words without overdoing it. Unfortunately, there is no solid line that I can point to that shows exactly how far to take your thesaurus and when to set it down, but your editor can help with this! As a basic rule of thumb, be cautious to not use your thesaurus simply to find large words in an effort to make yourself sound smart because doing so will likely only repel your readers and cause your writing to become less coherent.

Implement Word Count Goals 

You can set a daily word count goal to help keep you in the creative zone, but make sure to choose a realistic goal you can stick to in the long term. If you find yourself avoiding writing all together because you feel overwhelmed, there’s your sign that you set too lofty of a goal! Set smaller, attainable goals that will encourage rather than hinder you. If you go over your goal, that’s a bonus. But remember, slow progress is better than no progress, so be kind to yourself and willing to pivot when necessary. 

Want more information on word count goals? Check out my article on Improving Your Writing Craft.

Writer’s Block 

If you’re experience writer’s block, consider referring back to your outline (if you made one) to remember details you may have forgotten or to choose another scene to work on. There is no rule that says you have to write your book in the same order of events your readers will experience it. If you feel inspiration strike for a future scene, work on that part and return to this current scene when you’re ready.

In fact, even the greatest authors use this trick—they place a concept in brackets like this [insert exciting battle scene here] to be written in better detail later. So if you’re at a particular scene that you aren’t quite ready to flesh out, make a note to return to it later and move on for now. As a bonus, changing it up like this can actually help you to formulate the bridge between point A and point B.

Another idea to get your creative juices flowing is to get your mind in the zone with some writing exercises. Take a creative writing course at your local community college. Join a writing community where you can discuss your book with fellow writers (there are countless of these on social media, such as Facebook). You can also sign up for Reedsy’s weekly writing prompts email or check out their list of prompts on your own time. And finally, check out my Unlocking Creativity article, guest-written by Justin Wigg of BusinessHubCity, for more ideas on strategies to fuel success and nurture your creativity.

Take Breaks & Reward Yourself 

If you are anything like me, you can’t force yourself to be creative. When you try to force it, your writing will likely turn out pretty poorly, so you may as well take a break. It’s called recharging, not quitting, and you’ll come back stronger than ever when you feel refreshed.

On the other hand, it’s also easy to get in the zone and forget to take care of yourself. Remember to step away from time to time and perform some self-care, which can go a long way for your mental health. Take a guilt-free break and read a book (for pleasure, not research), hang out with your family or friends, soak in the bathtub, go on a walk and get some fresh air, or simply veg out in front of the TV.

You should also reward yourself to create positive reinforcement. Set milestones at which you plan to do this, and most importantly, be sure to follow through! Treat yourself to a fancy dinner out, a latte from the local coffee shop, or that bottle of wine you’ve been saving. Also, having a writing companion, whether in an online community or in person, to celebrate your victories with you could really highlight your achievements for what they are.

Leave Before the Party Ends (But Don’t Rush the Ending)

Along with the opening, the ending is one of the most crucial elements of your book. You want to leave your readers satisfied, yet wanting more. Don’t linger so long that you’re the last one at the party, so to speak. If you write a fantastic story only to let it fizzle out at the end without the expected grand finale, your readers are going to feel disappointed and be left with a bitter taste on their tongues. You do not want the last thing your reader thinks or feels about your book to be negative, as that will affect their overall feelings toward your book and will show in their review and the lack of sales you could have made to them on your other books.

So, while you want your readers longing for more, you also want to be sure that all of your promises were fulfilled by the last page (once again, your outline can help you keep track of these). Take your time and ensure you aren’t ending in haste. Ideally, your readers should feel bittersweet about finishing your book—you want that dream combo of euphoria and sorrow. If you’ve done it right, there should be absolute satisfaction with the overall story and the execution of the ending (this does not mean it has to be a happy ending, just that all the loose ends are tied up in some manner), while at the same time leaving room for your reader to have a sense of sadness that they can’t stay in your fictionalized world forever. Talk about author goals!

Finding this balance can be tough, but a good developmental editor can help with this. If you manage to conclude your story in a powerful enough way, your reader will be eager to leave you a glowing review and recommend your book to others, plus they’ll be keeping their eyes peeled for more books you’ve written.

Self-Edit

When you are finished writing, it’s time for the self-editing phase. You are looking for big-picture issues as well as nitty gritty details like grammar, so you’ll need to do this over several rounds. Self-editing is important because it can help hone your craft as you begin to truly understand the areas in which you thrive and those in which you can improve. Learn more about what exactly to look for during this step in my Tips for Writers article titled Self-Editing Checklist, which includes a downloadable checklist.

Seek Feedback

Next, it’s time to seek out some alpha and beta readers. Typically, your first round would be with alpha readers, then you’d perform your rewrites based off their notes, and then you would submit the revised draft to a fresh round of beta readers. The goal of alpha and beta readers is to provide the overall feel a reader will have of your book. Are they connected to the characters? Did they like the way it ended? Was anything confusing or unclear?

You could ask some close friends or family members to do this for you, but asking people you know to alpha or beta read also comes with the caveat that they might be too soft on you and simply say something like, “It’s great!” Ultimately, this sort of feedback can hurt your book since you will lose out on the chance to improve your story before publishing.

Because of this, I suggest you be daring enough to seek out alpha and beta readers who you do not know and who will give you honest feedback. Keep an open mind when receiving their constructive criticism, and remember that these people aren’t trying to dash your dreams, but rather improve your manuscript. Try not to take anything personally, but rather view it as a lesson and grow from it. How can you use their advice to hone your craft and become an even stronger writer, maybe even one who makes a bestselling list?

If finding alpha and beta readers feels too daunting a task (how do you know they won’t steal your work or give harsh criticism without the constructive part attached?), consider hiring a professional developmental editor instead. Sure, it costs money, but with a professional, you can expect quality feedback that will really help to enhance your book to its best possible version. Rather than a vague statement that a beta reader might give—such as, “I didn’t like the protagonist”—a professional developmental editor will provide you with a detailed editorial letter with specific reasons for their feedback and suggestions on how to improve both your book and your writing craft in general. And as a bonus, you’d only need to find one person instead of many!

Hire an Editor! 

Regardless of how great of a writer you are and even if you use alpha and beta readers, you will still need a professional editor at some point in the process. An editor can help you with a variety of issues that you may not catch no matter how many times you look over your manuscript. In fact, the more you self-edit, the more you will miss because you become too close to see the errors. On the other hand, your editor will provide a neutral set of fresh eyes and can help you with a variety of factors, from the big-picture aspects right down to the grammatical, spelling, and punctuation errors.

Be aware that there are Four Rounds of Editing, each with a unique purpose and order. Ideally, you would hire a professional editor to complete all of these editing rounds, but if for whatever reason you can’t, be sure to clarify with your editor exactly what service or results you are wanting from the edit so you are both on the same page with your expectations.

Now, Go Write Your Book!

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Red Quill Editorial LLC