Some think that writing is easy. Some don't attempt it. Then you have those who have the best idea for a book, but who can't seem to start it.
First, have an idea. (That's why you're reading this, right?)
Write it all out. Write everything that is rattling around in your brain, even if it doesn't make sense. Get it all out of your head.
Then make it make sense. Arrange all of those thoughts to make a storyline.
Once you have a basic idea of the story, make an outline. Outline how you want the book to go. Do a basic outline of each chapter. You may not stick to it, but at least you now have a plan to deviate from.
Now, start trying to create characters for your outline. Come up with names, where they were born, parents, and background stories. What makes your characters tick? Do they have pet peeves? What are their fears? This is the time to get inside your characters and to figure out everything about them.Do you have your characters and outline all set?
Get to writing! It's okay if you get stumped or go off of your plan, that's the beauty of writing.
Writing is whatever you want it to be. In the end, this book is your labor of love, so make sure that you love it.
After you've written something, go back and edit. You may take stuff out, or erase entire chapters, and that's totally cool! Editing doesn't have to make everything grammatically correct or into the perfect dialogue on the first pass.
Editing means taking out the unnecessary, shortening detail that doesn't need to be there, and shoring up your sentence structure as well as making sure that you've got the right homonyms.
Once you've edited and fixed all the minuscule mistakes, continue writing!It's a cycle.
First you write, then you edit, and, finally, you polish.
Continue the cycle until you've finished the story.
Congratulations! You're all done (in theory). Now go out there and make literary history (or, you know, finally write Chapter 10).
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