A Guide To Understanding The Process Of Writing A Book
Authoring a book can be very challenging, especially if you haven’t got any experience in professional writing. However, just because writing a book can be a challenge, that doesn’t mean that it’s impossible for an amateur to write their own book. While it will definitely take a lot of hard work, perseverance, and patience, it is something you can achieve if you set your mind to it.
The first thing that you need to do is to familiarise yourself with the individual stages of book authorship. This post will tell you all about them:
Hiring Assistance
If you are going to write your own book, then you are going to need help. While it’s theoretically possible to write and edit one’s own book, in practice, it’s very unrealistic. You will more than likely need an editor to help you. An editor will be able to go through your book once the first draft has been completed and help you to revise and edit it. You can find editors in every city in the United States, from Boston all the way down to Los Angeles. In order to find Boston copy editors (or L.A ones, for that matter), you can conduct online research. Always read an editor’s reviews before hiring them to work on your book.
Writing space
Once you have found an editor to hire, you can get started with planning and writing your book. You need to work out where you are going to be writing. Every writer needs to have their own writing space. This should be a place that is calm, peaceful, and relaxing– it is somewhere where you need to be able to shut out the world and focus on your book. Many writers go away to hotels, holiday resorts, or second homes to write their books. This is so that they don’t get distracted by commitments back at home, family members, or friends.
Extensive research
Before you can write your book, you need to extensively research the subject that your book is going to be covering. Whether it’s fiction or non-fiction, you need to know your book’s subject like the back of your hand. If you don’t know about the subject that you are writing about, then your audience will be able to tell immediately. If you are having trouble learning about your book’s subject matter, then it might be worth taking a quick online refresher course. You should also ask for help and research as you go along.
Story Outline
Once you have researched your book’s subject, you can go ahead and set out your story’s outline. A story outline is necessary, whether your book’s fiction or non-fiction. If your book is non-fiction, you still need to have a driving plot, that takes your book to each individual chapter. The editor that you are working with may be able to help you to work out your story. Some people find that storyboards are a great way of formulating literary stories.
Writing Routine
With your story outlined, your book’s subject research and your writing space organized, you can go ahead and get started. In order to ensure that you are able to write your book efficiently, it’s a very good idea to work out a writing routine. A writing routine that you stick to will make it a lot easier to complete your book on time. It’s highly likely that you will want to get your book finished sooner rather than later, so it’s important to have an efficient, manageable routine. You must ensure that you don’t push yourself too much, or you will burn yourself out. Burnout can impact a writer’s performance significantly.
First draft
Once you have started writing, you need to work towards a first draft. A first draft is a finished copy of your book, that is then edited, revised, and changed. While it’s important to complete your book on time (and according to your schedule), you mustn’t rush it. If you rush your book, then it will show in your first draft. After you finish your first draft you will have to go back and edit (or rather, your editor will). The more rushed your book was during the writing stages, the more that will need to be edited, and the more time will need to be set aside for it in the future.
Revise and Edit
After your draft has been completed, as already mentioned, you need to go back and revise and edit it. This process should be completed by an accomplished and experienced editor. The editor will go through the draft and highlight areas and changes that need to be made. You yourself will also need to go through the book so that you can make any changes to the story’s structure that need to be made. You know your plot and characters better than anyone else, so there’s no one else that will be able to make these kinds of changes.
Graphic design
Once your book is completed, you can begin thinking about things like graphic design and marketing. Do you want your book’s cover to have any graphic images on it? If you do then you need to hire a graphic designer to do it for you. Before you hire a graphic designer, however, you need to sit down and think about how you want your book’s cover to look. Your book’s cover should be a reflection of its contents with reading stickers. Tell the designer that you work with about your ideas, so that they can work on your book’s cover with them in mind.
Online Marketing
Lastly, you need to think about marketing (or alternatively publishing). When your book is completed it’s highly likely that you are going to want to sell it, so that you can make money from it. You can either sell your book to a publisher which is very difficult, or you can market it on Amazon, and sell it there. The latter option allows you to keep nearly all of the profits from the book’s sales. If you want to sell it to a publisher, then you will need to pitch it to a variety of different publishing houses.
Writing a book isn’t easy, but it is fulfilling. It’s also like an addiction. Once you have finished your first book, you will want to start on a second, then a third. As long as you are dedicated, motivated, and have lots of unique ideas, then writing a book will be a very straightforward process for you.
