1. Plot the story and topic.
Once you’re clear on your goal, start thinking about the topic of the book. If you’re writing a non-fiction book, think about exactly what you’re trying to communicate or teach in writing this book. It’s the first and foremost work to plan a story-line before you begin to write.
Rather than covering a broad overview of a topic, go deep with one element of the topic. This allows you to share much more information with your reader and gives you the opportunity to write additional books related to the topic.
If you’re writing a fiction book, create your story and characters around a narrative that you know something about or have a passion for. If you’re a history buff, maybe you write historical fiction set in the time period that interests you. You certainly don’t have to do this, but it gives you an anchor for the various ideas you may have about a potential novel.
Once you have a general idea of how your book will end, create the book outline moving toward that end.
If you’re writing non-fiction, you may be breaking down chunks of information to teach your readers something sequential. Or each chapter might be an individual lesson or essay on its own, all leading to a final converging point or message. You may decide you want to support or enhance the material with stories, quotes, or examples.
2. How to write
I write my books on my phone using the Pages word processing software. You want to write using something that allows you to easily edit and make changes without wasting a lot of time.
Also, you’ll eventually want to send your manuscript to be edited and formatted, and it’s much easier and less expensive if you’re able to send it in a format your editor can easily edit.
Some people really enjoy writing in longhand, as it stimulates creativity and forces you to write slower. If you decide to do this, you’ll likely have to go back and type it all on your computer anyway. So you might as well start there unless you simply can’t write unless you have a pen in your hand.
3. Write. Write and Write.
This is the most important part of writing your book. You can’t write only when you feel inspired or motivated. You must create a daily (or 5 day a week) writing habit. It’s best if you can write at the same time every day and commit to a number of words you’ll produce at each sitting.
Attach your new writing habit to a trigger or cue which prompts you to begin writing. This trigger is a previously-formed automatic behavior, like brushing your teeth or walking the dog. Select a trigger that happens every day and one that occurs at a good time for you to write. Eventually, your new writing habit will be so associated with your trigger that the combination will feel automatic.
Start small with a goal of writing 200 words each day for the first week. Then increase the number of words until you reach 1000-1500 words a day. At this point in my post here, I’m at 1245 words. That gives you an idea of how much you might try to write each day. It’s really not all that much.
If you’re writing an 80,000-word novel, it will take 80-90 days of writing 1000 words a day to finish it. If you’re writing a 30,000-word non-fiction book, you can have it done in just over a month with consistent writing.
4. Write. Don’t critique
As you’re writing, try not to constantly review and critique your work. Just write. That consistent writing habit is so important. You can always go back through the book many times to re-write and edit if you don’t like something. But it will give you a huge boost to just finish the book and stay committed to the process.
5. Polish.
Once you finish the book, set it aside for a few days or a couple of weeks. You’ve been so close to this project while writing it that you need to create some distance. Then go back and read over the entire book again, correcting mistakes, rewriting sections as necessary, cutting out wordy parts, and tightening it up.
Take out the words and passages that aren’t absolutely crucial to the story or message.
6. Find a professional editor.
Even the most experienced, professional writers use editors. You don’t want a book full of inconsistencies, grammatical errors, and misspellings. You also want to make sure the book flows properly, and that your use of words is correct. A good editor polishes and refines the book before publication. The editor checks facts and verifies headings, statistics, data in graphs, and footnote entries. For fiction, the editor will check for consistency and logic and will read with the needs of the audience in mind.
7. Publish.
Launch it a get it out there so others can read it, and you can have the satisfaction of having your first published book under your belt.
With every book you write and publish, you’ll learn more and become a better writer.
You’ll be inspired by other writers as you research and read more about writing and publishing. Everyone has to be a beginner in the beginning, but the more you write, the more of an expert you’ll become.
