04-12-2012, 09:30 AM
One of the books I wrote was on how to write and self publish a book. Since this isn't a forum about that, I'll leave it to you to find that book if it really interests you, but a little advice for you on how to go about writing a book.
First, create an outline. Write down the gist of the overarching story plot. Then divide it up by books, and then by chapters per book, so each one has a chunk you think will produce a reasonable amount of words for said book/chapter.
Next, set aside a little time every day so that you can write, and then read the plot for the chapter you're working on and... write.
Keep in mind that the first draft is a first draft, so don't try to edit it until the whole thing is written. Write Now, Edit Later. First drafts are always crap, no matter who you are. That's why we call them first drafts, and why we have editors.
When I write books, I wrote them to a goal of 50,000 words, and with a format of 6 x 9, that comes out to about 300 pages if the font is reasonable. For the type of books I write (usually instructional), this works well. Novels are usually going to be around 80,000 to 150,000 words, with 80,000 being the preferred by publishers most of the time.
To keep from being overwhelmed, figure out what a reasonable amount for you to write per day is, and divide your goal word count by that to determine how long it will take to write your manuscript. Some of them take years to write, but as long as you are persistent, it'll get done.
Take it from me, though... that outline is the most important step.
First, create an outline. Write down the gist of the overarching story plot. Then divide it up by books, and then by chapters per book, so each one has a chunk you think will produce a reasonable amount of words for said book/chapter.
Next, set aside a little time every day so that you can write, and then read the plot for the chapter you're working on and... write.
Keep in mind that the first draft is a first draft, so don't try to edit it until the whole thing is written. Write Now, Edit Later. First drafts are always crap, no matter who you are. That's why we call them first drafts, and why we have editors.
When I write books, I wrote them to a goal of 50,000 words, and with a format of 6 x 9, that comes out to about 300 pages if the font is reasonable. For the type of books I write (usually instructional), this works well. Novels are usually going to be around 80,000 to 150,000 words, with 80,000 being the preferred by publishers most of the time.
To keep from being overwhelmed, figure out what a reasonable amount for you to write per day is, and divide your goal word count by that to determine how long it will take to write your manuscript. Some of them take years to write, but as long as you are persistent, it'll get done.
Take it from me, though... that outline is the most important step.
