Writing Basics 101

Writing 101 Back to the Basics

Do you have a story that sits in the back of your head? First any idea or thought can be a story. Second always write it down on something so that you don’t forget about it. Simple keywords or small sentence can be an awesome reminder of what you wanted to write about. Are you ready? Let’s get started.

I am a firm believer anyone and everyone can write a book. It’s just like learning to do anything else in this life, riding a bike, cooking your first meal, raising your first child.A book is just that too. Raising a child, you create it, you nourish it, help it grow, and watch it become the best thing you could have ever imagine. However just like our children we must protect our work. If you would not trust your child’s life with someone, you should feel the same way with your book. It’s too easy for someone to take your work and claim it for themselves.

So let’s get started CREATING your first book. There are several types of books that can be written it’s just finding where you fit in and how well you work in the setting. Therefore we are going back to the basics of writing.

1. Who

2. What

3. Where

4. When

5. Why

6. How

These six categories will be what you base your book on. Now to help you out these are also going to help you determine the title of your book. Ask yourself Who? Who would my audience be? Children, Young Adults, Adults, ect…What? What would that age group want to read? Learning, Humor, Mystery, Romance, ect..Where? Where would my story take place? When?When do I want this story to take place, Past, Present, Future? Why? Why do I want to write this kind of book for this group of people? How? How do I want my story to end? Should it end with a lesson, an open ending so that there may be a chance for another book to go along with it. Once you have answered these then you can move forward.

Characters: How do you imagine your characters? Are they going to real people or illustrated?

Motivation to write: Writing sometimes needs a little motivation and inspiration. How you get that will determine what you are likely to write about and how much you will write.A special place, music, or even time can encourage the best writing. Example: My inspiration is music. Create a music play list and set it to set the mood that you need to write. I listen to David Cook and Kelly Clarkson while I write my Young Adult Novel, but I listen to nature sounds like birds and the ocean when it comes to my children’s books. Now when that doesn’t work I enjoy writing outdoors. Weather can also play a great role in how we write.

Now it’s time for your first assignment of the class I want you to work on answering the questions from the beginning and once you have, begin brainstorming and remember write everything down.

NEVER, NEVER, NEVER WRITE IN INK!!!! ALWAYS WRITE IN PENCIL!!!!

After years of writing and illustrating I'm still learning that I am behind with the times and new advancements that the world keeps making in the arts. It seems as if it changes daily if not hourly, however I push myself forward. There is a small catch to this life if you have convinced yourself that you are going to make loads of money real fast off a book think again. You don't become a writer to make money, you become a writer because you simply love to write and you are good at it. If you do it for any other reason you will burn out quick and be disappointed in the end. Always write about what you know or what you have a great imagination for.

I write children's books and young adult novels for example; my imagination is strong, however I do not enjoy writing romance or horror books because I know how to make people smile and laugh so I stay in the categories where I can make that possible. However I read everything I can get my hands on to keep my mind fresh and so that my work stays fresh as well. Your book wants to stay as far away from other written books as possible, it's too easy to fall into something that has already been written about. Right now vampires and zombies, and wizards are all the rage so if those are the things you want to write about you have to make it fresh and top it.

When writing a novel your chapters should be no less than 2500 words and let them come to a natural ending. When you read most novels are between 20 and 30 chapters long there are some longer if you choose not to make your book into a series. Give it an interesting beginning, move through it slowly climbing to you major climax, then onward to an exploding ending. Sure it sounds easy enough but the trick is to keep on target and keep your audience from snoozing before they get to the ending or simply closing the book before the ending.

Surround yourself with cheerleaders people that encourage your writing. These people will later be the be way of promoting your work. remember practice makes perfect.