Monday, 8 April 2013

How To Write A Book: Simply Start Writing

By Carmen S. Rivera


Want to write a book? You can. You start writing, and you keep going. At around 80,000 words, you've got yourself a book. Now what? You sell the book to a major publisher, hit the bestseller lists, and order your new cherry-red Ferrari.
Learn More About [How to Write a Book & Become a Published Author - Brian Tracy]


That's how writing a book and getting published works. But if you try to follow that process - just sit down and start typing - the chances that you'll sell the book are slim. To sell your book you need to know the kind of book you're writing before you start, and also whether there's an audience for that kind of book. It sounds unfair, but in order to sell your book, you have to prove to the publisher that people will want to read it.

Start with an outline just like your English teacher taught you. The first part can be about who the characters are, what they do and how they are connected. The next part can be about what you where you think your story will go. Think is the key word here, because your imagination may take an unexpected path.Write. Anything and everything is game. You may want to focus only on your idea, but you may find more freedom to put the idea in a different context to see where it goes from there. After you have written your story you will revise and edit. You will find many directions and then you will find the right one. And then when you are done you will revisit, edit and revise again and possibly find another direction.

Everyone has a book inside them, or so the saying goes. But few people get that book out. Often it's because of lack of time. So, how can you get your book written inside a week or two?I was talking to a friend yesterday who complained they couldn't find time to write their book. They had an idea, but could never find the time. They wanted to know how did I manage to get books written so quickly - was there a magic formula I used. So I told him my story and thought I'd share it here.

I've written 27 books which have been published by traditional publishers, plus I have written five books which I have published myself. Not one of these books has taken me more than two weeks to write. And, even though one of them is 12 years old, it still continues to sell well in seven different countries in five languages and is one of the most borrowed books in libraries (according to my PLR statistics). So, even though it only took two weeks to write, it can't be that bad!

Here's my 'trick'. When I get an idea for a book I get a ring binder and label it with my book title. Then I chuck into that ring binder some blank paper and a few plastic punched pockets to store things in. Then as I go about my work over the coming days I'll just scribble down on the paper in my folder any ideas I get which might be useful for the book. Also if I see any articles in newspapers or magazines, I'll rip them out and place them in the plastic pockets in the binder. Similarly, if I see a web page which might have some value to my book, I'll print it out and shove it in the binder. I do not make any value judgements, I do not try to put things in order, I simply chuck everything that might be useful into the ring binder. I also jot down questions that people ask me that are related to the book subject and I try to come up with my own questions which the book might answer. Anything and everything is collected into the ring binder.




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