how do you write a book

hattie_pea

I remebr reading about a chap who writes using what he calls the snowflake method. MAybe the link below will hep you structure your novel?

http://www.rsingermanson.com/html/the_snowflake.html

Ordinary_Joe

kickingkay wrote:

do you mean info on what has happened in my life im not sure i know what you mean,
im affraid im not particularly good at writing refrence pieces, i ramble lol

I wasn't talking about writing about your life. Unfortunately there's no guarantee that people would pay for it which is why most authors write.

The information that people are paying for doesn't neccessarily need a weighty tome. It just has to be about something people need information on and are prepared to pay for.

If it's something you know about write about that and then edit it until you cn answer the question of does it tell me everything I need to know.

I know of a guy who's probably just made a nice few quid writing about how he can get other people to do the background work on preparing an ebook for publication. He's sold that for £3 each (on a special offer). It could be about anything though Best barbeque recipies, best regional dishes I really do mean anything. You wouldn't believe how many people are out there waiting for information on something and will apy someone for it because they can't be bothered to research it themselves.

Chrismojam

I find mind mapping helps a fair bit (Tony Buzan et al)....(or rather I would do if I applied the seat of my pants to the seat of my chair for anything other than work or surfing!)

BIG sheet of paper, idea for the story in the middle......kind of spidergram thing off it.....you'll pick up on lots of other things which you may have missed out on otherwise....

Me and my sis have always said we should write a book, but there are so many other life stories about people slipping through the net etc, that by the time we ever get to write it, someone else would have already written about it.....but then again, there are always people out their who want to read these stories (me included......I tend to prefer real life....)

I bought a writing course many years ago, did the first assignment......got really good feedback from it.......then got a bit half hearted about it and just picked it up now and then....WILL SOMEONE GIVE ME A KICK UP THE BUM!!! PLEASE!!!!! I have this writing course, which, if I took the effort could actually earn me a bit of money (from magz etc), have a alternative therapy course which I bought about 1.5 years ago, read through the first few lessons, never even done the first assignment!! and an advanced ECDL course bought last year:mad: I must do something with these courses, otherwise what a waste of money!!

lady_fuschia

I think the main point you have to realise is that writing will not make you rich. If you're going to write you should write because you love to write, for the pleasure of it. Whilst we hear in newspapers about people like JK Rowling who have made millions from their work, your average writer of a moderately succesful paperback will never be able to afford to give up the day job. These days an average of 7.5% of a book's sale price gets back to the author (compared to 57% to the bookseller, an 13% to the publisher). Frankly in terms of time invested, you'd be better off getting a job in a pub.
Its also important to realise that just because people you meet think your life story is interesting doesn't necessarily mean it will make a book that strangers will want to buy. There's a difference between "good story down the pub" and "bestselling paperback". There's also been an influx of real life "misery memoirs" (stories about people with unhappy childhoods made good) in the past few years, and the market is going off them- big time. If your story is of this type and you're still determined to make a book of it, I'd suggest you fictionalise heavily- write a novel, not a memoir- change the names and genders of main characters, change the setting, add in events and conversatons that never happened. The problem with real lives is that they often don't have a "story" as such, with a beginning, a miidle and an end and a consistent narrative- real life is much more random than that, which makes it more interesting to live but less interesting to read about. If you try and impose a traditional story structure on what you're writing, even if it means missing things out and making things up to give it that structure, you'll have a far better chance of making a succesful, readable story.

Dr.Shoe_2

I found that the thing about fiction is that you come up with ideas all the time that change the entire course of the book!

skintchick

THe first step would surely be to establish whether you can actually write? Your comment that you ramble makes it sound like it isn;t really one of your talents - not everyone can write (although everyone seems to think they can!)

Just realised this sounds a bit nasty! Not meant to! I just meant that if you want to do it to make some money, then there's no point putting months of work into it to discover it won;t sell.

Chrismojam

skintchick wrote:

THe first step would surely be to establish whether you can actually write?............

I quite agree with this.....one thing I was once told was....to read a book or story and think 'could I have written that better'....if so....give it a whirl.....see how you do....

Now what does that mean? Does it mean that the person who wrote it was crap and got published anyway.......or that you can write anything...get published and people will buy it....or was it just a weak market at the time and now it will be much tougher to get into???

lady_fuschia

It might be worth you joining a writer's circle or workshop group. Many toen libraries and colleges have them- you essentially get together with other people who are serious about writing (often there will be a published writer to lead the sessions) to read and share comments and suggestions about others work (the whole point is that everyone is brutally honest so make sure you can take blunt criticism as well as praise!) and help you to polish it to a saleable level.
If there's not one in your area you could consider setting one up- find a venue and put an ad in your local paper.