Have you ever considered writing a book by yourself? At some point in your life, you might have wanted to see a book written by you. We often get the inspiration from the incidents of our life, or a favorite author or any book.
Even if you are curious about it, this question may keep appearing in your head- how to start writing a book for beginners? Do not swat over it because you are in the right place for the right instructions.
I am providing some essential steps to help you to become a better writer to start your writing. All you need to do is being diligent in following these steps.
Let’s not wait anymore!
Make a small start
I have seen writers mostly dealing with the problems like-
- Writer’s block
- Procrastinating
- Not maintaining routine
- Jumping into the huge task at first
When it comes to writing you must give it time and patience. Words won’t come out of you like machines, of course, you need to produce it. That is why maintaining a routine is a must.
Start with small achievable work. At first, plan to write a chapter, now divide it into paragraphs, divide the sentences in the paragraph. Thus you can start writing.
Once you start in this way, it won’t feel like a heavy task, rather you will work in the flow. Before you know it, you will hold the grip.
Procrastinating is the biggest enemy for writers. They think writing is such a huge task, it will take a year or years then you become the Hamlet questioning yourself –to be or not to be! These all are nothing but the result of you’re overthinking. You might never want to start writing in fear of it!
So brush off your thoughts and start with small accomplishments. Consider every chapter as your accomplishment. And yes, never compare yourself to great writers at first. This might result in the very opposite of what you intended to. Remember, sometimes comparing with others brings nothing but depression!
To feel pain is okay, use it to motivate you
If you are already burdening yourself with the thought that writing a book is a huge responsibility, you cannot do it, and then you know the pain I’m talking about.
As a writer you will have these feelings- too tough, huge task, time-consuming, I don’t have the ability, people won’t like it, etc. All these can be summarized in the word ‘Pain’.
The good news is- it is okay to have pain as long as you channelize it in a positive direction.
When you are having all sorts of unusual thoughts causing you pain, ask yourself these questions:
- Am I prepared to miss the advantage I will have when I publish a book?
- What will I miss if I don’t write a book?
- What are the consequences 4/5 years from now?
Answer your questions with honesty and then rethink. There you will find your rhythm.
Already counting the benefits you are going to have? Good job!
Also, you can read some inspirational biography of the writers. Just by seeing their struggles and rejections you will find motivation and think that it’s ‘okay to feel the pain’.
Do not expect perfection in your draft
You are making a big mistake if you are expecting perfection overnight. For writers, it is important to write for the waste bucket first! Yes, you heard me right- waste bucket! Because at the initial stage, just scribbling your ideas are important. Forget about perfection.
When you are writing a draft forget about grammatical or other mistakes. Writing a book requires a framework. And your draft is your framework.
Create an Outline for your Book
Starting to write without any outline is a bad idea for writers. Because you might forget the entire other things you thought of including.
That is why it’s important to create an outline of ideas you want to include. For better help, you can jot down points relating to each chapter. It’s similar to brainstorming. Remember, brainstormed ideas work like the ‘backbone’ of the bigger tasks.
Adapt into a creative writing state
If you look closely you will find that the good writers often claim that they just get into the flow of creative writing and that’s the reason behind their interesting content.
However, it’s very normal to feel like ‘words aren’t coming out of you’. It’s called the ‘Writers Block’. But that doesn’t imply that you cannot ever produce anything.
Though getting into the flow is not a child’s play, there are ways to get back into the track.
I think it is better to change your state rather than forcefully working with it. Writing in such a state result in bad content. For a writer, bad contents are most likely to be nightmares. So yes you better not be too forceful on you.
Here the things you can do to get relief from this state:
- You can read any book for 30 minutes
- You can watch any lesson on YouTube
- You can talk to your friend
- You can take a nap
- Or you can just shut off your Pc and go for a fresh walk
- Exercising can also be a better alternative
These things will boost your energy. Naturally, you will feel like writing again, or some new ideas may also pop in your head. Thus you will eventually adapt to the creative writing process.
Be sure to proofread and edit your book
Are you done writing your book? Now it’s time to proofread. Although it’s not necessary to be a perfectionist while writing, it’s necessary to be clear when it comes to editing. Because your book is going to tell a lot about your future. So you can’t just aimlessly make a poor attempt to edit it.
In this case, I’ll recommend
- To re-read and vigorously edit by yourself first
- Show it to an expert, it can be your friends or teacher
- You can ask for reviews from readers, it will help you in the future.
- You can check out in the following sites to hire editors – :Fiverr, Freelancer, Topal, Guru Or in Upwork.
Lastly, I’d say don’t be too rush or try to be a perfectionist when it comes to writing a book. A writer is never a better writer if he or she doesn’t listen to the heart. Your heart might give the imperfect output, but eventually, it will take you to your goal. I’ve seen writers out there being fearfully honest in their writing, and guess what that’s the thing audience liked about their writing.