I would like to write my first book

tonyheaney

I have always wanted to write a book. I have an idea about writing a zombie book. I know that zombie story is a bit tired but i have one or two ideas.

I have never written a book and have no idea where to start. i need hits tips etc.

EileenG

It's a good idea to plot out the book before you start. Know who your main character are, what they want and why they can't have it. Make sure your world build is solid, but remember the story is about characters, not the scenery.

Then sit down and write it. Keep writing until you've reached the end.

Then go back and rewrite it. And repeat.

Then edit and polish.

Then get beta readers to go over it and tell you all the things they don't like. Fix them.

Repeat.

Then think about looking for a publisher.

Piliger

I am writing my first book. I like writing on my computer so I tried a few specific apps aimed at writers and have been using Scrivener for 6 months now. It is brilliant at helping me structure things and set targets etc.

endacl

No offence OP, but if I were you I'd take a look at basic sentence structure, use of capitals and punctuation before attempting a book.

Eire-Dearg

endacl wrote: »

No offence OP, but if I were you I'd take a look at basic sentence structure, use of capitals and punctuation before attempting a book.

That's a forum post not a novel.

endacl

Eire-Dearg wrote: »

That's a forum post not a novel.

True. So?

Piliger

endacl wrote: »

True. So?

So I am guessing he finds you rather petty response a bit unhelpful as it seems to be suggesting that his forum post is an indication oh his ability to write a book.

endacl

Piliger wrote: »

So I am guessing he finds you rather petty response a bit unhelpful as it seems to be suggesting that his forum post is an indication oh his ability to write a book.

Not at all. Writing is a technical skill. Aside from the 'inspiration' bit, of course. The OP expressed a desire to write, while at the same time demonstrating a deficiency in the technical skills required. Petty? Perhaps. Yet entirely apposite.

It was a constructive criticism. Not a put down.

GalwayGuy2

I'm a bit of a seat of my pants writer, so my advice will be more to that style than Elle's advice. It's a little more garnered towards planning at the micro scale than at the macro level.

1) Every character has a story. There must be a reason, no matter how one dimensional, for any character that is mentioned in the book. To continue this, every character has a plan and, usually, that does not go with the main characters. Where's theres characters, there is micro or macro conflicts. This goes by scene as well as broad narrative.

2) Everything in the world must have a why. You don't have to explain it, and sometimes it adds depth if you don't explain it, but there should be a reason why something is there. If you add a doll to the side of the road, then you should have a story in your head, but not on the page, about how that doll ended there. This goes for character descriptions as well. Why does that gothic girl have a cross on her cleavage? There should be a reason why.

3) Avoid alliteration. IMO, use it as spice rather than meat. Our minds seem to be set to write in alliteration, but it does jar people out of the story. Experiment with setting the tone of a scene with the rhythm of a line. Read some Poe as an example.

4) Have fun! But remember to write even when it is not fun. Also, schedule.

If I could sum up one advice, it would be 'Ask why, all the time'.

Das Kitty

I don't like to plot in advance. I get bored writing if I know how something is going to end. I find the plot in the first draft and then emphasise it in second draft.

What I would say, and this will apply regardless of whether you're a structured pre-plotter or a make it up as you go along type, is that you just need to sit down on your bum and write.

It's the only way that book is getting written, one word after the next until you get to the end.

If you haven't written before, I would suggest starting with sorter pieces to hone your skills. The novel will help with that, but when you get back to the second edit you will find that you have a lot to do in the early chapters where you were learning.

Knowing how to accurately punctuate before you begin is also a huge benefit to further drafts.

However, none of that matters if you don't sit down and write and get to the finish line on the first draft. That's what most aspiring novelists fail to achieve, and if you can achieve it you will already be doing better than most.

Piliger

Imho I would suggest somewhere between those two approaches. Yes the story does need to have structure. But not necessarily all the way to the end
So you sit down and make a little plan for how the start will unfold ... and maybe just a thought or two on how the middle 'might' unfold, with a few possibilities.
You might have some idea in your mind about the later stages but you don't need imho to structure them or plan them or even write down what you might do.

Then .... you have to sit and write Find a place you can relax and be comfortable. And then just let it flow. It doesn't have to be all perfect first time. Not nearly. You can come back later and fill in character colour, atmosphere, if that's your style ... or come back and add technical and other content if that is your style.

I tend to write during the late evenings. So during the day I think about the next scene or two I want to write and often go for coffee with a notebook and write down possible ideas. Later I often get interrupted because I have to go and check something technical, like a location on Google .. for names or photos or a street view. Yesterday I got waylaid when I googled a restaurant in London, did a street view, looked at their web site, internal photos and menus. Saved the info and then later in the evening I sat down to write the scenes. I'm half way through mine and I have discovered this pattern works for me, but everyone has their style.

tonyheaney

EileenG wrote: »

It's a good idea to plot out the book before you start. Know who your main character are, what they want and why they can't have it. Make sure your world build is solid, but remember the story is about characters, not the scenery.

Then sit down and write it. Keep writing until you've reached the end.

Then go back and rewrite it. And repeat.

Then edit and polish.

Then get beta readers to go over it and tell you all the things they don't like. Fix them.

Repeat.

Then think about looking for a publisher.

hi

Thanks for the great advice. i have one question. regarding "Then get beta readers to go over it and tell you all the things they don't like. Fix them." what happens if some one steals my work?? what do i do?

tonyheaney

Piliger wrote: »

I am writing my first book. I like writing on my computer so I tried a few specific apps aimed at writers and have been using Scrivener for 6 months now. It is brilliant at helping me structure things and set targets etc.

Do you have the link for Scrivener

tonyheaney

endacl wrote: »

No offence OP, but if I were you I'd take a look at basic sentence structure, use of capitals and punctuation before attempting a book.

Why does being dyslexic make it impossible for me to become a writer?

tonyheaney

I feel stuck. I feel like my story is on the tip and I need something to push it over, and then it will flow continuously. Does that make sense? I'm guessing its geed to read books related to what i want to write too??? would that also make since? endacl hows my syntax???

Piliger

tonyheaney wrote: »

Do you have the link for Scrivener

Sure here it is. Any questions feel free to PM me.

Piliger

tonyheaney wrote: »

I feel stuck. I feel like my story is on the tip and I need something to push it over, and then it will flow continuously. Does that make sense? I'm guessing its geed to read books related to what i want to write too??? would that also make since? endacl hows my syntax???

I found that last year when I started to read a lot, my urge to write increased a lot and I found it easier to write too. I was lucky and found two great book series of a similar style that I wanted to write, which resulted in 43 books read in 2013 on my kindle. I think it really helped me.

EileenG

tonyheaney wrote: »

hi

Thanks for the great advice. i have one question. regarding "Then get beta readers to go over it and tell you all the things they don't like. Fix them." what happens if some one steals my work?? what do i do?

No one will steal your work. Why would they?

You are the one with the story on your hard drive.

It's a myth that the world is full of people waiting to steal stories. For a start, your plot is not as original as you think. I guarantee that anything that is in your story is in another book somewhere. What is original is how you handle it.

Second, what will they do with it? If they try to get a publisher to take the story, they'll face the same rejections you will.

In general, what makes a story a best-seller is the name on the cover. If your name is Stephen King, JK Rowling or Dan Brown, then your book will sell a lot. But if you happened to find a briefcase containing the only copy of Stephen King's new novel and took it to a publisher, saying it was yours, the chances are you won't sell it.

Piliger

EileenG wrote: »

Then think about looking for a publisher.

Forget about publishers. They will sit on it for 6 months and then if you are astonishingly and amazingly lucky they will sign you to an appalling contract locking you in to them and give you 15% or something.

Self publish on Amazon and Smashwords etc. in eBook format and get 70%. It just means investing some extra time in good editing and a cover etc.

EileenG

Piliger wrote: »

Forget about publishers. They will sit on it for 6 months and then if you are astonishingly and amazingly lucky they will sign you to an appalling contract locking you in to them and give you 15% or something.

Self publish on Amazon and Smashwords etc. in eBook format and get 70%. It just means investing some extra time in good editing and a cover etc.

Let's see, 15% of 3000 at €10 each is €4500.

70% of 200 at €3 is 420.

GalwayGuy2

I wonder is there any graphic, map, whatever, to keep track of characters?

One of my favourite things to do is have other characters storylines touch on other characters.

Piliger

EileenG wrote: »

Let's see, 15% of 3000 at €10 each is €4500.

70% of 200 at €3 is 420.

Wow ..that's great maths.

Piliger

GalwayGuy2 wrote: »

I wonder is there any graphic, map, whatever, to keep track of characters?

One of my favourite things to do is have other characters storylines touch on other characters.

Index cards ?

GalwayGuy2

A bit more interactive.

I'd love if there was connections between this big cosmo of secondary and major characters.

Piliger

GalwayGuy2 wrote: »

A bit more interactive.

I'd love if there was connections between this big cosmo of secondary and major characters.

I don't want people to think I'm pushing anything. But see my post above where I mention Scrivener.
I also use a little app called Scrapple for cross linking boxes with characters and plots.

GalwayGuy2

Scrivener looks pretty cool. Actually perfect for what I was looking for.

But, money I'll use my hand until I can buy something better.

Piliger

GalwayGuy2 wrote: »

Scrivener looks pretty cool. Actually perfect for what I was looking for.

But, money I'll use my hand until I can buy something better.

Well ... €33. You'd spend that on a weekend. It is an investment. Get the trial anyway.

GalwayGuy2

It' definitely worth the money.

Piliger

GalwayGuy2 wrote: »

It' definitely worth the money.

I'll try to make this my last comment on Scrivener because it is looking like I am connected with it or something.

But just to say that Scrivener is designed not just for novel/book writers. It is also for screen writers, playwriting, thesis writing and business documents.

Anywhere where somewhat longer documents are made up of segments and where research notes, web links, images etc are used to support the writing process. By writing in segments (Which can be a few paragraphs) those segments can be moved around in order, by dragging and dropping, incredibly easily.

Great tutorials here.

GalwayGuy2

GalwayGuy2 wrote: »

I'll use my hand until I can buy something better.

Snigger



sorry!

GalwayGuy2

No, Scrivener does sound perfect. Could be more interactive, but that'll probably happen sooner or later.

I'll download the trial. But, you know, 33 euros is a lot of money when you have nothing :P

Piliger

GalwayGuy2 wrote: »

No, Scrivener does sound perfect. Could be more interactive, but that'll probably happen sooner or later.

I'll download the trial. But, you know, 33 euros is a lot of money when you have nothing :P

Believe me ... I know what you're saying. Keep in mind that there's eating and drinking in it. Lots to learn. Homework to do before blasting away. Before you start with any work do two things: Watch the tutorial videos and inside the program in the Help menu there is 'interactive tutorial'. The actual Manual is crazily huge and complex. The 'interactive tutorial' is like a cut down simplified and better structured manual.

pickarooney

Try Storybook if you want a free alternative.

Hedgemeister

Piliger wrote: »

Index cards ?

I don't usually offer advice, but, I do use index cards for my characters. Basic stuff at first, than add more info as the story unfolds and the characters grow.
Staple the index cards into a folder and use a different folder for your plot, just to keep things in line. This stops me going off on silly tangents.
This system works, for me.
Eventually, you get to know your characters, and will get to 'know' them very well as the story-line progresses.
Advice from many people is (I found) confusing.
Begin your story and let it flow, flow, flow...
You will probably use only 30% after it's edited, then edit it again, and again...than, get somebody else to edit it.
You'll be lucky to end up with 10%, but that 10% will be worth all the hassle.
After each Chapter is complete, put it aside and wait six weeks (no less, and NO peeking) before reading over it at your leisure.
You will be greatly surprised by your own work.
Forget about publishers until you have a book finished, to your satisfaction.


Best of luck with your venture.