Writing is my passion, and I have been doing content marketing from a long time now. My colleagues have started asking me to write a story book or a novel for kids, even I want to start on one, but every time I try to take this idea seriously, I feel that no matter how good a content marketer am I, I wont be able to write a story book at least. Can anyone give me tips on how to write a book?
Hi Sanyia,
I study computer science.
We are taught that before you start writing a program (which requires lots of people and man-hours) you should first plan and research your program.
"Who is going to use the software and what does it do" is usually the first question that you answer. In your case, look at who your reader will be. I'd also suggest looking up what your target audience is currently reading. If you want to write fantasy, read some fantasy books.
The second part "What does my program do"
What I would do is, split the task into three simpler tasks.
Task 1: Start by just basically writing one sentence briefly describing what happens in each chapter, or even just a basic plot for the story.
Example: This guy finds a cool sword, then he uses the sword to save the world.
Then you can start asking more questions about this sentence. Like:
-Does he save the world by himself?
-Who are his friends, who does he interact with?
-Who is the villain?
(I could think of more questions but you get the idea)
Then you should have a basic plot.
Task 2: The Characters
Almost everyone on here will tell you to "Love your characters, even your villains"
You could open a separate document and then write brief descriptions of each character and then later making these brief descriptions more complex.
An example of this you could use the following template:
-Name
-Hometown
-History/Back Story
-Flaws
-Strengths
(and obviously a few more)
Task 3: Places.
Do each town or place the characters are in or visit look and feel different?
You could do something similar to what I suggested in Task 2.
If the book is a fantasy story I would use a template like this:
-Name of Town
-How does it look
-Who lives here
-Laws of the town (and how they are enforced)
-Legends (specific to this town)
-History
-Culture (Do they speak differently?)
And once again, you could add many more to template.
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Doing this should give you a very good idea of where to start without wasting lots of time going back to re-write code (In your case, rework your book).
It should also help you to construct a decent story-line and a basic idea of your characters that you can later even expand on.
I hope this helps! Good luck!
Don't want - do it!
Bear in mind that no-one ever writes the perfect book without a lot of trial and error; you have to find your own unique voice, and then you have to stop feeling embarrassed at the idea that someone else will hear that voice.
What you write is just the beginning, as you'll see if you look at any of the comments about shared work on here. You have to do a lot of polishing before you'll have a finished product.
The important thing is that you get on with it!
Sound advice from Jeff.
A few quotes on writing.
Writers write. Dreamers talk about it - Jerry B. Jenkins
Nothing will ever be attempted if all possible objections must first be overcome - Samuel Johnson
If you wish to be a writer, write – Epictetus
Good luck.