In the scope of creative writing formats, there are extreme differences and style if you were to go from work to work. However, while there are poems, short stories and songs, the writing format of the book is something that all of us as people have experienced. Whether it be in religious aspects of our life, or just sitting down to read "Harry Potter," it's very hard to escape the creativity inherent in books.

However, there are those bibliophiles and writers like myself who wish to take our own shot at the process and write a book of our own. How do we go about this, then? Sometimes authors can take years or a lifetime to write a book, while at the same time an author might be able to push out a book every year if not sooner. This also doesn’t go to mention the level of writing education one has had, whether one has spent their whole life studying how to write versus never really studying, but just enjoying the art of writing.

The first step to writing your book is to ignore any of the doubts you have and just have fun with it. It won’t matter how long it takes, it won’t matter how much you know about writing, all that will matter is your enjoyment of telling the story that you want.

Now this brings up the second step to writing a book: you need a story for it. Honestly, when looking at examples such as "Game of Thrones" on the fantasy front, or historical fictions like "Signora da Vinci," such grand stories are intimidating and thoughts like “I can’t match that” will pop up. The thing to note about stories though, especially ones in books, is that they evolve. They grow like a seed. The premise of your story could simply be “a mother goes to the store," and from there anything can happen.

Working off of that prior premise, the mother going to the store, you need to know who the mother is. This is the real tricky bit about writing a book: the characters. Now, one of the important things to know is your characters. Pretty much it helps to know everything about your characters so they can react naturally in the world of the story. Say the mother has an extreme fear of dogs, and on the way to the store she runs into a large barking dog which rattles her. From that point on her reactions and personality will shift due to her fear and anxiety of running into the dog. This is what I mean about a story evolving, one little detail or moment can cause ripples.

Characters, oddly enough, are living things within the world. If you have trouble making characters, base them off of people you know, but don’t write your friends into your books. Sometimes that can turn out poorly. If one friend has a curious fascination with bugs put someone in the book with the same quirk.

With all this in mind you have the beginning of writing a book. The story idea, basics, or, as elaborately as you want (but knowing them in full), the characters, and all that remains is the will and conviction. A book cannot be written on wishful hopes alone. This is the most difficult part of writing a book: actually writing it. Taking even an hour of your day to begin writing is the most important part. A story cannot exist without its author’s creating hand.

So take the time needed, know your characters, and don’t stress yourself out about the story or how long you take with it. The purpose of a book, your book, should be whatever you want it to be, whether you want people to enjoy the adventure or mystery you write, or just have something fun to do, you are the author. Have fun with it.