The First Steps In Writing A Book

More valuable information! I might even know what I am doing at some point...

You are an inspiration for writers. I know I have to take this to heart!

Bill!

You have left us writers with some great advice and food for thought!

I don't mind the home work, not one bit! In one of my current novels. I am experiencing a difficult time with changing direction in the plot just a little to make sense. The main character has teamed up with a second antagonist, which this second one will continue to the end of this book. As the main character has reached his demise. Any suggestions? Absolutely love reading your awesome stuff!

Shared & Up...:-)

All excellent recommendations.

I think the summarizing paragraph is very important. A challenge is to do it in one or two sentences, like a movie scriptwriter's logline.

The concept of "sparks" is new to me. Can you give some examples from famous novels? Would that be like a happening that changes the trajectory of the story? Would the "sparks" in HUCKLEBERRY FINN be: a) when Huck's father comes back to town; b) when his father kidnaps Huck and locks him in a cabin; c) when Huck escapes and meets the runaway slave Jim; and d) when Jim sacrifices his freedom to nurse the wounded leg of Huck's friend Tom?

Useful tips, Bill. Writing is not easy and writing a book more so. These tips will definitely help those wanting a helping hand to ease out the teething troubles.

Great advice Bill. For me writing a book seems like such a daunting task. I could never embark on a project of that magnitude while still working. But we never know what lies ahead for us so who knows. Great job as usual, now on to read part 2. Have a great weekend.

These are very useful suggestions, Bill. I will certainly use your ideas if I try to write a novel. I love them!

Thanks for sharing more wonderful tips, Bill!

Just what I needed Bill! I have bought so many books lately about how to start writing a book but I still have a blank first page for some reason. Sometimes too much information create an overwhelming feeling and it becomes impossible to sort the information out. You have done that for me and I will save this and pin it. Thanks for sharing and for making it doable, Tina

Finally getting a chance to catch up on my HP reading! Agreed, the baby steps bring us closer to getting the darn thing done.

Being mainly a nonfiction writer, the title is the biggest step forward for me. Once I have that clearly in mind, have done some SEO research on it, etc., the book seems to build itself around it. In all honesty, I don't know how you fiction folks decide on a titles! So I can see how that might be quite a struggle... and an accomplishment.

Dear Bill,

You practice what you teach...so glad you are already thinking to your third book.

Meaningful and motivating...Happy Friday! Love, Maria

This is very good advice for all of us aspiring novelists. Judging by the number of comments on this Hub, I am guessing that you have found a need are filling it beautifully.

These are great tips on how to get started. Summing a book up in a paragraph is indeed challenging!

Thanks again, Bill, for these very sensible instructions. So many writers will thank you when they succeed. I hope to be one of them, so I'll say "thank you"now.

I always envision great novel writers wracked with uncertainty and up into the wee hours of the morning, not knowing what to write, but I think that is because of the movies I've seen. I can see these suggestions being really helpful to novelists.

Thanks again billybuc for these words of encouragement. I have been working on two novels that I can't seem to complete. After reading this hub I think I am going to re-examine them. As usual you have a lot of great ideas. Voted up!

I like this post for many reasons. 1. It is very relevant to me. As I am working on a novel. 2. It's nice to hear that I am not crazy for feeling the hardship of writing a book. 3. It is encouraging.

I hope one day to be a published writer. Hopefully soon we shall see.

Thanks for posting this. It was great!

I've always wondered about that myself, Bill. Afterall, what are imaginations all about? That was my point with Stephen King - I'm sure he didn't experience 80% of what he wrote about (thank goodness).

Billy,

Thank you.

Sally

Billy,

Just wondered, is it possible to use the content one's Hub in an e-book?

I thought this would be considered by HubPages to be duplicate content!

Thanks

Sally

Here's a 'PS' for you Bill. I've posted a more involved version of this on your 'Artistry with words' blog. A 'quick' insight into the creative process I went through.

As you probably already know, Bill, I have a few under my belt and one in the pipeline as well as the one I'm in the early stages of now (200+ pages, chapter 6 of 20).

The one I've recently finished and awaits publication after the cover's been sorted, amounts to 705 MS pages, over 156.5K words and 21 chapters.

My main characters are carried over from one to the next part of the saga, new ones added and some earlier ones killed off (I've become known as 'Lanc the Slayer' in the literary world). It's the Conquest era, after all. Some don't get killed off, some won't because when these stories finish with leafy old England they move on east to Denmark, Russia and Asia Minor - maybe even (secretively) back to England.

Where do I get my characters?

The main one is based on an idea I borrowed from an interview in a national Sunday tabloid with the singer James Blunt who said he had an ancestor who was related to the Danish royal family in the 11th Century, who fought alongside Harold at Hastings. Ker-chink!

Just what I'd been looking for! Many are from the Chronicles, 1066-1072 and later, a number have been created. It's like the Bayeux Tapestry, a mix of fact and fiction!

We all need sparks, whether writing a novel or whatever. I never thought about it being a spark. ( interesting word. ) and it makes good sense. Your helpfulness never ceases. Thank you.....

A great guide on how to get started on what I would imagine is an overwhelming process. I predict the views on this hub will set a new record when your novel becomes a bestseller!

The spark definitely has gone out of my novel. I have about 300 pages of crap right now. I really either need to start over from the beginning or scrap it and start a new project.

This is so useful for me! I'm one of those who gets the idea, writes a few things down, maybe the introduction, then I get stuck!

I'm going to keep this hub beside me to use as I get down to my story next time. Thank you so much for the perfect guide - told you my week was going well and this has improved it even more!

Back soon! Ann

As always, your hub is filled with great advice. If I would've taken a creative writing class in high school or college, I would've probably known most of these basics before I wrote my first novel. Since I'm sure there are other people out there who never took those classes yet want to write a novel, they should find this article very helpful. I learned from experience, but you provide a way for people to learn these things before they even get started. Great job!

Some valid pointers for a second timer who is trying to put things into perspective as a narrator.

Enjoyed Rushdie's video. He is a fine author!

I like your ideas on the sparks. And your right - any novel I've read has them. Tom Clancy was a master at adding background. You did have to work at getting into his novels, but then once you did, you had trouble putting them down.

I don't know that I'll ever write a book, but I will definitely keep these suggestions in mind if I do. I've also heard you should write about things you know about. Wonder where Steven King came up with a car that had a mind of its own and a cat buried in a cemetery that came back to life?

Thanks for the hub. I am trying my hands at writing a novel and I am having trouble finding the time to do it. I realize if it was important enough I would find the time, but I have a full time job and family needs (2 small kids and a wife) that are pulling me. I know, excuses. :) I am using ywriter (a great program to help organize thoughts) and that helps, but I appreciate the hub to push me to continue on!

I think I will dig out my latest novel billy and check it for these sparks, they do sound important and of course we want what we do to be the best it can be. Bookmarking this and again thanks for all your help and advice. ^

Billy

Fascinating read. I have wanted to write 'my story' since I was a young girl. I hope I get to do it sometime though I have this idea that I would like to write a non fiction book on felting.

It is strange how one sometimes start out with a goal in mind and then the posts shift when you are least expecting them to. That I guess is what makes life so very interesting. The trick I think is to have your eyes wide open for the opportunities and seize them before they too are lost.

Best wishes,

Sally

I have ghost written a number of books and ebooks, but every time I think of writing a book with my byline I get writer's freeze. This is when you become completely immobile with fear. It's a phrase invented by me because of my personal experience. I presently have a novel, completed but needs editing, close to copywriting, and this has been the situation for the last six months. I wrote the novel pretending I would use a pseudonym. Now, as we near the end I am at writer's freeze. it sucks. if you could tell me how to deal with writer's freeze I would be very, very grateful.

Great hub! I would love to writer a full-length novel one day. I have gotten half--way through a manuscript once but neglected to finish it and then lost it all (200 pages approximately) when my computer crashed :( oh how I wish we had cloud storage back then! It makes me scared to start again having lost so much, but I hope one day I will finish!

More great ideas Billy; your teachings are endless and how lucky are we to have as our Teacher. Great hub and voting up for sure. Enjoy your day .

Eddy.

I learned some things from you today, namely that I went about planning my novel backwards. I got an inspiration from a very unusual ancestor and decided to do a novel based on her. It had to be fiction because I found one paragraph describing her. After I wrote a couple of chapters, I realized two things: one, I had to postpone writing the novel until I had time to check out some historical facts, including the lay of the physical geography, which were pertinent to the story; two, since I don’t go for writing a bunch of sex and gore, it was sounding more like a teen novel. I realize that the teen and YA market is a great market, so I want to re-slant the book toward older teens and young adults. In the meantime, I’ll keep reading your hubs and learning. Thanks for the advice.Voted up++

P.S. What do you think of prologues? Do people (I read them faithfully) actually pay any attention to them or do they skip to the first chapter? I want to include one instead of using a back story to explain the beginning.

Excellent tips and very motivational. One day I'll get around to my book. Hopefully :)

All these tips are so useful, especially for anyone who has never wrote a book. The thought of that really is overwhelming but you make it sound much more possible by breaking it down into these steps. I especially like the advice on having those sparks and avoiding writing too much back story in the beginning. Those are so helpful to keep in mind. I'll be pinning, as well, for reference. :)

I have followed these first steps and ready for part two!

Bill, this is great information, simple but effective. You are spot on, 100,000 words is very daunting, but I think this hub will help me to get back on board and take it a step at a time. Bless you, I'm pinning this for reference. Take care and have a smashing day my friend.

Morning Bill, I am sharing breakfast with you this morning, although I have eaten a couple of hours ago LOL, anyway, off to the doctor today, so at home for the moment.

These are truly helpful tips here. I am off to a great start in the writing of my book and also have a great ending. However, it is that transitioning of writing a story by starting really at the end and then going back to the beginning, which is very tricky! I am using both the first and third person.

Those sparks are oh so important at just the right places!

Enjoy your day,

Faith Reaper

Your reference to the difficulty of writing the first novel versus the ease of subsequent novels reminds me of what my mother said when she gave birth to my sister. She said the third one was a piece of cake. Just thought I'd share that random thought with you. :-)

I had an interesting assignment a couple of weeks ago in my fiction writing class. We were to write a beginning passage then a final passage tying the two together. I'm using my novel-in-the-works for all of my assignments. At first I thought it would be difficult but I actually found it enlightening. I used the first few paragraphs of The Gifts of Faith, chapter one as the base. Then I actually wrote the final paragraphs of the book. I felt thrilled and excited after completing the assignment. I now know how my story will end. All I have to do now is fill in the events leading up to the finale. Pretty cool!

As always this hub is inspiring and unbelievably helpful. Everyone keeps telling me I have a book inside of me. I haven't found it yet! My 90 year old uncle is currently writing a book. He reads me a chapter every now and then and I have to say it is fabulous! Voted up, useful, interesting and awesome.

A well-advised hub on writing a book I have been thinking about my good first book your ideas are helpful.

How timely this hub is for me. I've finally started working on the first chapters of a book with a story line that's been floating loosely in my head for years. Two chapters in and I'm still not sure if I want to be speaking in first or third voice. I had not thought of planning a strategy for the 'sparks'...only knew that there needed to be some. Thank you for putting some direction behind my march!