How to Just Start Writing

Honestly, a book is just a bunch of words. Anyone can write a book. It doesn’t matter if it doesn’t make any sense to anyone but you, or if only your neighbor gets to read it. Go buy a notebook, a pen or pencil and JUST START WRITING! You can write a book! 

Many times when people ask famous authors, “How do I write a book?” they actually mean, “How do I write a good book that will get published and read?” The answer to that question is a bit more complex. But not to worry, anyone can do it! It takes work. I don’t mean twenty minutes during your lunch break once a month. I mean hard work – the kind that makes you think, write and re-write everything you create. Garrett Pierson, in his book How to Write a Book ASAP, shares some strategies that can teach how to just start writing your first book.

There is no secret writing club or underground technique, however, which eliminates the amount of time it takes to write a book. And you, as an author, must take that time constantly and consistently. Your time must be spent pre-writing, writing, editing, re-writing, and researching. As the author of three bestsellers, Scott Berkun, has stated, “It takes effort to learn the ropes, send out smart queries, and do the research required to both craft the idea for a book, and then to propose it effectively.”

A good tip to just start writing is to keep a notebook or recording device with you at all times. That way you can write down any inspiration that comes to you or anything you hear that sounds like it could be relevant to your book. Even if you don’t use all the words you write down, being constantly on the lookout for insight and promptings will take you that much closer to thinking like and eventually becoming a writer. 

When all is quiet, spend some time meditating. Picture yourself as a published author. Envision yourself in a year or less signing your book, doing radio and TV interviews, talking with movie producers. Then, when you believe you can do it, get busy and just start writing.

The First Three Book Writing Techniques

 

Obviously, to learn everything you need to learn about writing a book you need to study hands on with professionals like Garrett Pierson who provides would be published authors with an extensive “How to Write a Book ASAP” training course.

To get you started, however, here are the first three steps to publishing your first book:

1.       Set a schedule. The key is to find a time and a place that you can work on your book undisturbed. You want to find a time when you are awake and alert. Whatever activity you are replacing your writing with, whether it was reading or watching TV or oversleeping, commit to doing without that activity in your life until the book is finished, published and marketed.

You want to find a place where you are comfortable and alone (unless working with a partner or someone who will type while you dictate to them). There are many people who will type what you speak into a recording device for very reasonable fees. They don’t need to be present when you are working. Some people work better if they have someone keeping them on task. Some people only get distracted. Make the right choice for you.

2.       Keep to your schedule. There will be emergencies, or situations that seem like emergencies that will try to entice you away from your goal of writing a book. Be strong. Be determined. Think about the finished product. Think how proud you’ll be as a published author.

To help, create a cover page design and a back cover design for your book and look at them often. When situations come up, do everything you can to stick with the schedule you have set. Many non-published authors have found that once they have veered from their schedule – even once – it was extremely difficult to start over again.

3.       Create an outline. Some people might tell you that the next step is to begin researching. But how will you know exactly what to research if you haven’t figured out more-or-less what will be contained within the pages of your book?

Use an outline by chronology, character, plot or place. Any of these can help give your book the initial form it needs to become a living, breathing entity. After you have an outline, you can always revise it later – and most do. But knowing this, you can begin the process of researching without wasting too much time researching topics you might never use.

Those are the first three steps to writing a book. You’ll notice that not a lot of writing has taken place yet. But I promise you that you will become a published author quicker if you follow these steps instead of just starting one day with Chapter One. Most who have taken the “start with Chapter One” unrecommended route have never gotten around to Chapter Two.

Why Spending the Time to Write Your Own Book Might Be a Good Idea

There are many things that civilized people want to accomplish while on this beautiful place we call Earth.  Some want to cure a disease. Others want to break a record. Many want to raise honorable children who will continue to provide strength and stability to their communities in years to come.  Still others want to become authors. Here are a few reasons why spending time to write a book might be a good idea.

 

1.       Leave your mark on society. Authors receive the gift of immortality. Although our mortal frames give up after a hundred years or so of wear and tear, the names, experiences and written works of authors continues on. Authorship can be a selfish endeavor.

 

2.       Share. It’s one thing to know a delicious recipe or understand how to communicate effectively; it’s another thing to distribute that information to the masses. Authorship can be a selfless endeavor.

 

3.       Shock. Whether it is a gruesome non-fiction, or a frightening fictional tale, some books have the ability to surprise and astonish readers – even though they know that doing so was your intention from the beginning. Authorship can be an eye-opening endeavor.

4.       Entertain. Maybe you don’t know anything of vital importance to the rest of the world. Maybe the only thing of value is your sense of humor, or your ability to tell a story that really captures the attention of your readers. Making people happy is a circular activity and is impossible to achieve without before, during, and after making the maker of happiness happy as well. Authorship can be an enjoyable endeavor.

 

There are other valuable and worthwhile activities we can accomplish in the relatively short period we’re alive, but becoming an author, whether our intent is selfish or selfless, eye-opening or enjoyable, is something we can and should all achieve.

 

 

 

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