Writing a Book?

Question

I am 14 years old and i hope to become an author went i am older. I am know in the begining stages of starting my first book. I have titled it The Road to nowhere. I would like some tips on how to plan, write, edit, publish my book, etc.

Please help me.
Thanks

Answer 1

Scetch details of your main characters - looks, mannerisms, background, etc. Write the details down - or even draw them if you are a visual person.

Then take your main character or characters and imagine them in some odd/out of the ordinary (out of your current work's context) places or scenarios – anything goes! Write down ideas on what would have to happen to your type of character or how they would react to the scenario you placed them in.

This may seem futile, but it will help you flesh out your characters further and give you insight into what you may want to happen to this type of character in a potential story. You may even come up with multiple story lines and can see if one of them just seems to be the best or easiest to continue

Strong well-crafted main characters can inspire readers to love your story as well as drive you to write a great story for these imagined beings to be in! :-)

This should get you going. Then you may want to write an outline of you story (a kind of synopsis), including the ending. I have heard that John Irving writes his endings first, down to the last line, and works backwards. The idea of the outline is to give you goals as you proceed. Writing the ending first may give you the "spark" you seek - and also give you something to strive for.

Answer 2

Woah, don't get ahead of yourself here (with the publishing part). You shouldn't worry about publishing at all yet - you should focus the most on developing and improving a solid style and voice. The stuff I wrote three years ago when I was 14 pales in comparison to what I can write now, and the stuff I write ten years from now will be even better.

As for the planning, writing, and editing, here's a few tips. Pay close attention to your characters and dialogue. Think to yourself constantly, "would this character really do that?" And make your dialogue realistic. If someone hasn't had a good education, for instance, they shouldn't be using long, complicated words and sentences. Make sure dialogue isn't clumsy or over-explanatory - nothing ruins a good book more than badly written dialogue. Figure out how you're best at describing setting - are you the wordy type, the short but potent metaphor type, or any number of styles there?

If you have a good English teacher, maybe you could ask them to edit your work. They'll know all the technical things that could be wrong, and could give you tips on content - after all, they've probably read a lot of books in their time.

But just have fun with it for now! Read a lot of books in the genre you like best. Experiment with multiple stories - don't push yourself into just one and not work on anything else. I want to be an author too when I get older, as a side thing, so I wish you the best of luck!

Answer 3

I am also fourteen and have dreams of becoming and author as well. So I guess it's nice for me to hear of some one else who shares my dream.
Some websites that might be useful for publishing are ...

www.julu.com
www.agentquery.com
www.querytracker.com
www.absolutewrite.com/forums/

Of course, there are many, many more than that.
As for planning your book, I would suggest making up an outline or synopsis (either detailed or leaving room for a lot of freedom - it's your choice). This is what I did as I started my book. It has proved very useful and has saved me a lot of stress that I experienced before.
Writing, I think, should be the fun part. This is where you create characters (which, by the way, it might be useful to get to know your character (s) as much as possible BEFORE writing the book) and weave your own dreams and ideas into creative writing. Leave lots of space for different ideas, even if they're not in your outline, because, like I said, you want to have FUN writing.
Editing takes a lot more time than actually writing a book. If you plan to publish your book, I would suggest either getting the help of a teacher or mentor or even parent (as many people as you can) with editing. You will have to change entire sections and/or chapters of your book as you revise and edit.
Going back to writing the story, not knowing how your book is going to end is okay. You will discover it as you write your book.
Age has no meaning whatsoever in writing, so don't feel intimidated by it. Writing is a pasttime, hobby, and, of course, a career for some.
So have fun!!!
Good luck!!!

With bravado,

rebel angel

Answer 4

The only tip that matters is "A writer writes, always."

Write daily. Stephen King said that he writes 10 pages every day, including Christmas. You don't have to write 10 pages daily, but write something. It really doesn't matter if it is crap (but try to write the best you can).

You might actually want to focus on short stories for now and work up to books (though not all authors do, Ray Bradburry being famed for his short stories). When you eventually are looking for an agent or publisher, name recognition is worth more than money and getting published in literary journals (Analog, Science Fiction and Fantasty, or whatever covers your genre of choice) is by far easier (still not easy though).

Answer 5

There are many helpful websites and books that provide GREAT answers to your questions. I know, because I've asked the same ones, and these are what have helped me.

The books also suggest other books to read-- follow their advice.

Some books that're good- I can't remember the exact titles, but they're something like this...

The Kid's Guide to Becoming a Writer
Market Guide for Kids

Some other good books, while written more for adults, are...

The Elements of Style
Writer's Market

Check out the following website; it has the titles of the books I mentioned and others; it also answers many of your questions:
http://www.realkids.com/home4.htm

Good luck!
It's a lot of work to write a novel, but, like another post-er said, if you make yourself a goal, a plan, and stick with it-- you can do it!

And, most of all, have FUN :)

Answer 6

just start writing. get a basic plan of what you want to do, then start writing.
when you have a genre picked, find a book of that genre and of a length of about how long you want your book to be, and open it up. editors go by # of words, not # of pages, so count the number of lines of print on a full page in the book, multiply it by 9 (the # of words in a line of average), then multiply that by the number of pages to get a basic idea of how many words are in the book, and thats about how many words long you want your book to be
when you are writing, occationally go back and reread over what you've written to catch mistakes or change things that you don't think are quite right. have people you trust not to steal ideas (family, best friend, etc) read over your book and make notes on things that confuse them or mistakes they've caught and edit you book based on that. don't have too many people read it tho.
if you're having a problem with getting your first sentance to sound right (most writers do), ignore it and come back to it later, then change it to sound right. make sure when you write your book to not go over more than three or four viewpoints. past that, it tends to get confusing. also make sure that the main character gets the most time in the book. try not to divide the book up into chapters until the book is finished, breaks will occur naturally.
do not let people start controlling your book at all! don't let them change major events or anything like that. let them only edit grammer or spelling, and state where they get confused on something.
good luck with your book!

Answer 7

Plan out all of your characters, even the minor ones. Plan out their favorite things, least favorite things, eye color, hair color, anything and everything. Plan out their histories. Make them come alive.

Write your story. Don't think about anyone else. Write for yourself. The beginning should pull you in, the end should leave you thinking, and everything in between should be just as interesting.

When you're finished, go back and re-read it. Read it out loud, if you need to. Find any spelling problems, grammar problems, anything you need to fix. Have a dictionary ready.

Keep fixing it. Don't try to rush any step of the process. Fix it and fix it and let someone read it. You should join a writing club, to allow others to critique what you write.

Then, you'll have something to be proud of.

Good luck!

Answer 8

how I started my book, basically I took a basic idea that I enjoyed reading about and twisted it all around. But I'm writing a romance novel, so that's what you have to do for that genre (every basic idea has been done 20 times over). The best thing to do, is wait until NanoWrimo starts (November) http://www.nanowrimo.org/ and start your novel then. That is when I started my book and I got a lot of help from fellow participants in shaping my idea and plot idea. Though I didn't complete the novel in the 30 days, I didn't scrap it as I intended to finish it before the next one and start my next novel in the same way.

You need to get a basic plot outlined out and ask yourself all kinds of questions about the story. The easiest way for a story to flop is that you have a plothole you didn't know about and there is no way to fix it later without having to go back and change many details.

Getting it written is the biggest challenge. Write everyday. Give yourself a quota you have to keep. Maybe you choose to write 4000 words each day. If you fall behind, you gotta keep up the next day. Stay on track and don't get lazy and put it off and put it off, you'll never get it done that way.

Ok, so you have your book written and you've proofread it really well, now you are ready to get it published. You can goto http://www.lulu.com and self-publish, but you probably wouldn't be successful in it. lulu.com will put your book on amazon.com and barnesandnobles.com etc, but that doesn't mean anyone is buying it. No one is looking for it, for one, and generally a 250 page book is going to cost the consumer about 10 dollars that way in the least. You'll probably read up on about some famous authors being self-published, but you have to dig deeper than that generic phrase, they won't give details. Self-publishing usually is better with non-fiction. Fiction, you will be much better off finding an agent.

Now, be prepared to be rejected and to wait weeks for that rejection. Nicholas Sparks sent queries to 25 literary agents, 24 turned him away. The first one who responded was the only one who wanted to go with him and she had never sold a book before, but look at him now.

Now before you get all excited and start querying agents (I'll give you a link to how later on), you need to be started on another books. Agents are looking for clients, which means that they are more inclined to give you a go if you will be committed. One hit wonders usually aren't what they are looking for.

Now, here are some very helpful links which I suggest you read over.

http://www.nicholassparks.com/writerscor...
Nicholas Spark's own advice.

http://www.hollylisle.com/fm/articles/fa...
Holly Lisle's advice, it is VERY thorough. Read through it all.

http://www.aar-online.org/mc/directory/v...
A listing of GOOD literary agents from the Association of Authors' Representatives.

http://www.spacejock.com.au/selfpublishi...
Why selfpublishing isn't the best route to go.

http://www.hollylisle.com/fm/articles/ag...
How to query an agent.

http://www.adlerbooks.com/mostask.html...
FAQ on Literary Agents and Publishing

Those are just a handful of good resources. You can google and get more information if you need it. I hope I helped you!

Answer 9

start by writing a "plot" of an out line listing point form ideas..
there is the:
i-introduction
cf- complicating factor (problem)
ra- rising action (problem growing bigger)
c- climax (top point in problem)
r- resolution ("downhill"solving end of problem)

***think of a mountain and climbing the mountain***

Answer 10

first you need a computer. or a type wirter if your good at typing and wont make mistakes. and perhaps some white out. LOLOLOLOLOL OMG LOL