Where to start on writing a book? Several questions.
I want to write a book (yes I know seems to be the popular thing right now). I really don't care if I sell one copy. This is more for myself since I have been wanting to do so for many years. Where do I begin when I am not the best of writers? Do I just write a lot of stuff down then come back and compile it into one? Is it best to turn a horrible life story into ficton in order to protect the people involved?
There are two things that I always tell people who are just getting started with writing a novel. The first is don't be afraid to jump around. A lot of times when we get an idea for a story, we have specific scenes or characters in mind. While you could start at the beginning and work your way up to these things, you run the risk of killing your interest in the project. Just jump ahead and start writing the parts you want to write. The stuff in between is surprisingly easy to write when the strongest sections are already in place. The second thing I tell people is; don't be afraid to write crap. A lot of times we think our writing isn't good enough, or that a project is too large, but thinking stuff like that is also going to kill your interest, and it isn't going to help you get the book off the ground. Write something, anything. Don't worry about spelling, grammar, punctuation or any of the other rules of writing. Just get those words on the page. You can always edit it later, but you can't edit something that isn't there. If you make a little progress each day, eventually it will be done, guaranteed. As for whether or not you should fictionalize a real life story, that's entirely up to you. Do you want to write fiction, or do you want to write a memoir/biography? Think about what you like to read, and use that as the model.
Having written two books, and by no means an expert. Just start writing down thoughts, ideas as they flow into your head. Don't worry about any organization. When you get an idea write it down. It will all come together.
Writing a book is not an easy task. If you are writing it for yourself you probably already have an idea what you want to write about.
Step 1) get an A4 sheet of paper. Write down a basic timeline for the book. Work out where you want your story to start, and where you want it to get too at the end. The middle bit (the journey) is always the toughest bit.
Step 2) Characters. Decide who your main characters are think of their back stories. Think how you want your characters to grow through the book. Note this down on paper as well.
Step 2) Once you have a packed timeline and character plans rewrite everything into a chapter plan. This time break the book down into sections and chapters, weather you have three chapters, or three hundred it is up to you. Work out where each chapter begins, what the goal of the chapter is, and where each chapter ends.
Step 3) Now you have a rough guide into what form you want your book to take start writing. Most importantly do not over rely on your writing plan. As you write ideas change and so do characters. Don't assume you have to stick with what you planned a few months back.
Do you just write lots of stuff down and then compile it? Yes. my above suggestions is doing that in chapter order. That is the only difference. Writing in chapter order will help your book form shape and help readers perceive a beginning, middle and end. If you write the book in the wrong order, more often then not that comes across to the reader as jumbled character development and jumbled ideas.
Turn your idea into fiction. Maybe the 'star' of your book likes the idea when you discuss it, but when the book is actually written they might hate it. If the book becomes a huge success, that person will always have the book and its story hanging over their shoulders. If you want to make the 'star' feel more involved just add a note to the front of the book stating you have written a true account of "Mr XYZs" experiences, or influenced by the life of "Mr XYZ".
Hope this helps!
I'm sort of having the same dilemma you are. I never gave writing much thought, but since I have gotten sick and lay in bed for most of the day I have kept myself busy by writing a journal, everyday, as much as I can write. At the moment I have four college 3 ring nootbooks full of my menadering thoughts stemming from the beginning of 2008. Along with every entry, I have the title and artist of the song that is playing as I write. The reason for that is I want to make it into an audio book someday with a soundtrack of my life.
What I remember about writing is this:
The first draft is always from the heart.
The second draft comes from the mind.
Pretty much everyone has said basically the fundamental part of actually starting a book, and that is just fill pages with words and thoughts, and judging from the Hubs you have posted throughout the months, you actually have something to say. I wish you the best, its going to be tough.
I love that "first draft from the heart" and "second draft from the mind" - a very good way to look at it!
I think MT Dreamer said it perfectly. That's how I work. Not only do you run the risk of losing interest as MT said, but for me, I tend to forget things if I don't write them down so if something pops into my head that I don't want to lose, I type it and save it and let it all come together as I go along. I use a dashed line to seperate segments on the page where I'm pretty sure there will be a chapter break or a new section. That way I can keep going without feeling that I have to write an entire chapter before moving on. As the author, chances are that you will read and reread your own work over and over and make changes probably every time so keep that in mind as you write, each part doesn't have to be perfect to keep going.
If you are worried about using real people in your book, make sure to ask them each individually before you get started and maybe even have them sign a release stating that you can use their name and likeness. Otherwise, change names and places as needed. Best of Luck!
You have received awesome advice. I am a seat of the pants type of writer. I don't use an outline, timeline, plotline or any other line. I get an idea and run with it. Sometimes I start in the middle, sometimes with the beginning, sometimes with just scenes yet to be placed, I have been known to start at the end, but that's rare.
I know my characters well and sometimes they take me to places where I would not have dreamed of going. I am currently working on my sixth novel. I'm hubbing about my daily progress, frustrations, excitement. Feel free to read the hubs and use anything helpful.
As to writing about real people, get releases. If you choose to fictionalize it, state in the front that while the incidents may have happened the characters are from your imagination. You should be covered if you do it that way.
Join a local writing group you can share your work with and get feedback. Or attend writing conferences where you an do that.
In the long run, just write.
Hi; spent years wanting to write a book myself. But didn't until my mum died, don't really know why. Still if you want to write a book start with something small. Plan out the story, a start a middle and where you want it to end. Figure out your main person hero you know. Then start writing. Remember you can always go back and change things. Also once you have finished your story give it some time before you read it back. A fresh look will sort out any major reading or continuity problems. But most of all, just enjoy the writing. That is what it is about, have fun and good luck.
peeples....An excellent decision and I encourage you to go forward with your desire to write a book, for whatever your reasons are. After reading several of your wonderful hubs, I have no doubt that your book would be something to be very proud of.
Actually, by having this desire and stating your intention, you have already "started." You may be aware that there is a good number of our own hubbers who have published e-books. Further, most of these writers have published informational hubs on what to do, where to go, "how to," in step by step format.
You may want to read some or all of these helpful hubs.
Our "Nell Rose,' just recently put out a fabulous hub, providing all the info you could possibly need in terms of e-books. Our Vincent Moore has published Poetry Collections and billybuc also has e-books to his credit, to mention only three.
If you're asking for an opinion to your final question, I would lean strongly toward a Non-fiction, peeples. Protection for individuals involved, can always be accomplished by giving them all a fictitious name. I wish you the best of luck.....
You have your own support team and help at your fingertips, right here in HubVille.....Isn't it a wonderful place to hang out?? lol
I would do a basic outline of the story. Then do character development on each character. Then do a more deep outline. Then go from there to fill in the story. Know your characters BEFORE you start to write. That way their words and actions fit them.
When I wrote my two books I did as above. My character development spans several pages for each of the main and secondary characters. Even if it isn't necessary for the story I came up with who their parents were and their personalities. Its so very important to know your characters.
what i would do is write down some of what is going to be in the book and then start a rough draft. as you go, things will come to mind , so write them on a separate sheet of paper and number them for when they occured. when you are done the rough draft, insert the number of each thing you wrote down on the separate piece of paper and then as you re-write your book, you can add them in.
Read a book of classic literature and then see if you get any inspiration. If not, read another one. If you still don't, read another one. Keep this going. Reading these books will turn you into a great writer who simply lacks a subject. At some point, figure out what your subject is. It can be anything: feminism; the sordid world of marketing and business; the great outdoors; American middle class society; El Salvador--anything at all. If you want to write a book based on your life's experiences and your experiences aren't much different from everyone else's, I would suggest making it into a comedy in which others can relate. Once you have your subject, just start writing. The plot is not quite as important as the ideas you convey to your readers along the way.
Awesome stuff peeples - I think deciding that you want to write one is the first step. I recently made a similar leap...
Different peeps (sorry, I could not resist) have different techniques that they are more comfortable with and generally the two schools of thought seem to be either that mentioned by Duchess - dive in and let the adventure take you where it will - or the more rigid approach - use a Mind Map, such as Freemind, to plan your attack.
Which version will work better for you is something that you alone can choose based on your creative process. Neither process is right or wrong, it is more about finding what suits you best and I have learned that my own technique is a mixture of the two.
I don't have the beautiful, free-flowing creativity that Duchess seems to have and would feel quite out of my depth without fairly determined structure.
Conversely, Duchess might feel quite limited and restricted by the structured approach I prefer with mind mapping and structured characters, plots, settings.
The only advice I would like to give on the foundation of the answers you have received so far is: follow the method that appeals to you, and if that method evolves and changes into something uniquely you, congratulations!
My experience has been one where the "great initial plot" was contrived and mind-mapped; then ancilliary bits of stuffing were added and this in turn necessitated the addition of new character etc. The entire process was still fairly organic, driving itself forward into new areas.
I personally believe that it is this organic growth, which has not been planned out in intricate detail, that will give your book a flavour of you.
Try a short story with a mind mapping-type download (you can find them on google etc) and see how you feel about that structure. Not for you? Broadly plan you plot, find a quiet space and start writing.
Best of luck and keep us updated. Tell us an awesome story!
As with anything else you should start with the end(ing) in mind.
What should the outcome look like? What should it feel like to hold the book in your hands, polished, finished?
by Leah Lenau 10 years ago
How do you write your books?From my experience, everyone has a different writing method. Is there a certain method you use? Do you share a method with another writer? Just scribble it all down or organize everything? Drawings of your characters, maps of locations, a time line on the wall to help...
by FelineFrance 13 years ago
Okay, here is my problem I try to learn every freakin' detail about my main character before I start writing. I am very afraid of criticism and allowing others to read my work. I wish there was a way to make myself completely anonymous. Should I seek advice or criticism before I start writing? I...
by wj-writingjockey 7 years ago
I know that book writing is not an attractive hobby because if your attention drags in between it will lead you no where. And it is obvious that for writing your first book you do not need any age limit. But what should be the appropriate age to write your first book if you want to be a famous...
by LilySomers27 13 years ago
Where to start? Has anyone ever had a goal that they would like to achieve, but don't even know where to begin? I love reading and writing and would be so proud to be able call myself an author one day, but just don't know where to begin. I have actually jotted down character names, where the book...
by Martha Sugg Drexler 14 years ago
Is it more important to develop characters first and then write a story around them or vice versa?
by Susan Ream 14 years ago
I have had many people encourage me to write a book. I've had quite a few experiences in life (good and bad) that I've come through, learning much in the process. One of the BIG trauma's of my life was raising an extremely rebellious oppositional defiant son. He has grown to be a...
Copyright © 2025 The Arena Media Brands, LLC and respective content providers on this website. HubPages® is a registered trademark of The Arena Platform, Inc. Other product and company names shown may be trademarks of their respective owners. The Arena Media Brands, LLC and respective content providers to this website may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website.
Copyright © 2025 Maven Media Brands, LLC and respective owners.
As a user in the EEA, your approval is needed on a few things. To provide a better website experience, hubpages.com uses cookies (and other similar technologies) and may collect, process, and share personal data. Please choose which areas of our service you consent to our doing so.
For more information on managing or withdrawing consents and how we handle data, visit our Privacy Policy at: https://corp.maven.io/privacy-policy
Show DetailsNecessary | |
---|---|
HubPages Device ID | This is used to identify particular browsers or devices when the access the service, and is used for security reasons. |
Login | This is necessary to sign in to the HubPages Service. |
Google Recaptcha | This is used to prevent bots and spam. (Privacy Policy) |
Akismet | This is used to detect comment spam. (Privacy Policy) |
HubPages Google Analytics | This is used to provide data on traffic to our website, all personally identifyable data is anonymized. (Privacy Policy) |
HubPages Traffic Pixel | This is used to collect data on traffic to articles and other pages on our site. Unless you are signed in to a HubPages account, all personally identifiable information is anonymized. |
Amazon Web Services | This is a cloud services platform that we used to host our service. (Privacy Policy) |
Cloudflare | This is a cloud CDN service that we use to efficiently deliver files required for our service to operate such as javascript, cascading style sheets, images, and videos. (Privacy Policy) |
Google Hosted Libraries | Javascript software libraries such as jQuery are loaded at endpoints on the googleapis.com or gstatic.com domains, for performance and efficiency reasons. (Privacy Policy) |
Features | |
---|---|
Google Custom Search | This is feature allows you to search the site. (Privacy Policy) |
Google Maps | Some articles have Google Maps embedded in them. (Privacy Policy) |
Google Charts | This is used to display charts and graphs on articles and the author center. (Privacy Policy) |
Google AdSense Host API | This service allows you to sign up for or associate a Google AdSense account with HubPages, so that you can earn money from ads on your articles. No data is shared unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy) |
Google YouTube | Some articles have YouTube videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy) |
Vimeo | Some articles have Vimeo videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy) |
Paypal | This is used for a registered author who enrolls in the HubPages Earnings program and requests to be paid via PayPal. No data is shared with Paypal unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy) |
Facebook Login | You can use this to streamline signing up for, or signing in to your Hubpages account. No data is shared with Facebook unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy) |
Maven | This supports the Maven widget and search functionality. (Privacy Policy) |
Marketing | |
---|---|
Google AdSense | This is an ad network. (Privacy Policy) |
Google DoubleClick | Google provides ad serving technology and runs an ad network. (Privacy Policy) |
Index Exchange | This is an ad network. (Privacy Policy) |
Sovrn | This is an ad network. (Privacy Policy) |
Facebook Ads | This is an ad network. (Privacy Policy) |
Amazon Unified Ad Marketplace | This is an ad network. (Privacy Policy) |
AppNexus | This is an ad network. (Privacy Policy) |
Openx | This is an ad network. (Privacy Policy) |
Rubicon Project | This is an ad network. (Privacy Policy) |
TripleLift | This is an ad network. (Privacy Policy) |
Say Media | We partner with Say Media to deliver ad campaigns on our sites. (Privacy Policy) |
Remarketing Pixels | We may use remarketing pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to advertise the HubPages Service to people that have visited our sites. |
Conversion Tracking Pixels | We may use conversion tracking pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to identify when an advertisement has successfully resulted in the desired action, such as signing up for the HubPages Service or publishing an article on the HubPages Service. |
Statistics | |
---|---|
Author Google Analytics | This is used to provide traffic data and reports to the authors of articles on the HubPages Service. (Privacy Policy) |
Comscore | ComScore is a media measurement and analytics company providing marketing data and analytics to enterprises, media and advertising agencies, and publishers. Non-consent will result in ComScore only processing obfuscated personal data. (Privacy Policy) |
Amazon Tracking Pixel | Some articles display amazon products as part of the Amazon Affiliate program, this pixel provides traffic statistics for those products (Privacy Policy) |
Clicksco | This is a data management platform studying reader behavior (Privacy Policy) |