Help for book writing...?

Question

I have an idea for a book and I need some help. I have all these ideas swimming around in my head and really have no idea where to start with it all. Can anyone give me some ideas on how I can begin to put this down on paper? Thanks!

Answer 1

Write down your character sketches first (their name, where they live, hair/eye color, do they wear glasses, their physical build--muscular, skinny, obese, etc,) and keep it in a separate notebook for future reference; create a time-line as to what happens when, and then take pen to paper. :) Authors and agents alike will tell you to "write what you know about", so if need be, do research!! Some of the best novels come from ideas swimming in someone's head (I get my ideas that way, too). Enter some writing contests to see if your writing sounds good enough to be published. Writers' Digest has an annual contest for this (last year their top prize was $3,000 and a trip to New York to talk with agents) and be sure of your word count (double-spaced typing in about 9 inches long/ 6.5 inches wide---allowing for 1 inch margins all around on 8.5 x 11 inch paper---averages about 300 words per page in 12 point type). And, don't use these fancy letter- fonts. It's too hard for them to read and they'll just throw it away. Last but not least, if you use a foreign language, KNOW WHAT YOU'RE WRITING (don't put a lot of words down that don't make sense when translated; don't mix past tense verbs with present tense nouns, for instance). Even if you make up a language for your characters to use, write it down somewhere and keep track of it. Use a THESAURUS/DICTIONARY and be sure of spelling.

Answer 2

For me the high-quality factor I've located is to learn a different writers biography on writing. Stephen King has a well one, Janet Evanovich, and a different one referred to as storyteller. You will also seem at a few authors web sites for the reason that on the whole they have got a piece all approximately procedure. Holly Black and Libba Bray each have useful resource hyperlinks and sporting events you'll use to train. There are lots of books as good, corresponding to writers marketplace, gotham writers workshop. And for those who nonetheless do not discover some thing handy simply google precisely what your watching for and you'll be able to be amazed.

Answer 3

the mind is like a pen; you just have to learn how to use it